Protests continue in Breonna Taylor’s name
LOUISVILLE, KY. » A crowd marched in Louisville’s streets chanting “Breonna Taylor, say her name” on Sunday evening, the fifth night of protests after a grand jury declined to charge officers in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer urged people to begin heading home about an hour before the curfew was set to begin at 9 p.m. as the protesters continued to march. Earlier in the day, people were gathered at Jefferson Square Park, which has come to be called “Breonna’s park” by demonstrators, as speakers condemned the grand jury’s decision, The Courier Journal reported.
On Saturday, a diverse crowd of hundreds marched chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “No justice, no peace” as cars honked along a busy downtown artery in this Kentucky city that has seen more than 120 days of demonstrations over the death of the 26-yearold Black woman in a police raid gone wrong.
A few police cars followed behind, with officers telling protesters to stay on the sidewalk and out of the street before the march ended on Saturday. Many briefly ended up back at a downtown square that has been a focal point of protests.
But as a 9 p.m. curfew time approached, a police loudspeaker announced that anyone who remained in the park would be arrested for a curfew violation. The square emptied out as people departed, many dispersing though one group headed to a nearby church where protesters had found refuge on previous nights.
As a crowd gathered outside the First Unitarian Church late Saturday, fires were set in a street nearby after 11 p.m. Police said fireworks burned a car, and windows had been broken at Spalding University and Presentation Academy buildings close by.