USA TODAY US Edition

Anger, frustratio­n turn into violence

Protests reignite across US; 2 officers shot in Ky.

- Hayes Gardner and Bailey Loosemore

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Speaking before a crowd at the Breonna Taylor memorial in Jefferson Square Park, Until Freedom co-founder Tamika Mallory stressed nonviolenc­e.

It was just before 1 p.m. Wednesday, and hundreds had gathered at the public square – a home base through 119 days of protests downtown – to hear whether criminal charges would be brought against the Louisville Metro Police Department officers who shot and killed the unarmed Black woman while serving a search warrant at her home.

“We have to understand that we have a responsibi­lity to the rest of this nation and to generation­s to come that we conduct ourselves, again, not peacefully but nonviolent­ly,” Mallory said, “so that the story that comes out of here is that we are not the murderers, we are not the looters, we are not the burners, we are not the ones, they did it to us, and we are only responding.”

By Thursday morning, the story that reached people around the country and globe was, in fact, one of violence.

Windows had been smashed, small fires had been set and two police officers were shot during hours of protest that traversed downtown and several surroundin­g neighborho­ods after an announceme­nt that no officers would be indicted for Taylor’s death.

Interim LMPD Chief Robert Schroeder said the shooting took place around 8:30 p.m. downtown. In a news conference Thursday, he said Maj. Aubrey Gregory was hit in the thigh and was released from a hospital, and officer Robinson Desroches was struck in the abdomen and is recovering from surgery.

Larynzo Johnson is accused in the shooting.

“Last night’s situation could have been so much worse for our officers and for the people who were protesting when the gunfire rang out. ... We are extremely fortunate these two officers will recover,” Schroeder said.

Activist Adrian Baker, student body president of Louisville Presbyteri­an Theologica­l Seminary, said Wednesday’s gunfire “does distract” from the message of the protesters’ movement.

“I denounce any violence. But we have the knowledge that this could have been avoided, this type of response could have been avoided,” he said.

He called the shooting a “response to injustice.”

“We are protesting the injustice of a life being lost already,” he said. “And so, just as those police officers lives matter that were shot, we are feeling as if Breonna Taylor’s life does not matter because it’s evident.”

The decision not to indict the officers for Taylor’s death came from a Jefferson County grand jury after an investigat­ion by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

Though the grand jury charged former Detective Brett Hankison with three counts of first-degree wanton endangerme­nt for shooting into a neighborin­g apartment, it did not charge him or two other officers who fired their weapons at Taylor’s apartment – Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove – with killing the 26-year-old ER technician. The officers returned fire after Mattingly was shot. Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, said he fired one shot, not realizing they were police.

Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, has not spoken publicly since the grand jury indictment but shared an illustrati­on of her daughter Thursday afternoon on Instagram with the hashtag that said, “The system failed Breonna.”

Other members of Taylor’s family were dismayed by the decision. Some said they were not surprised but “mad as hell.”

President Donald Trump spoke briefly about Taylor while departing for Charlotte, North Carolina: “I think it’s a sad thing, and I give my regards to the

“Last night’s situation could have been so much worse for our officers and for the people who were protesting when the gunfire rang out.” Interim Police Chief Robert Schroeder

family. I also think it’s so sad what’s happening with everything about that case, including law enforcemen­t. So many people suffering.”

Tensions and emotions were high after the grand jury announceme­nt, and angry protesters marched through neighborho­ods east of downtown and back.

On multiple occasions, demonstrat­ors extinguish­ed fires in trash cans that others had lit.

Just after 7:30 p.m., someone set fire to wooden boards affixed to the exterior of the Hall of Justice. Police emerged from the building to put it out as protesters lobbed water bottles at them.

Police arrested 127 people through the course of the protests, and Schroeder said 16 “instances of looting” occurred outside the downtown area.

A9 p.m. curfew remains in effect through Friday.

Protest regular Aaron Jordan said the grand jury’s decision and Louisville’s response has “already changed things,” as people protest “all over the world.”

“People are infuriated. ... It’s big for us because we have our disagreeme­nts and stuff at the square, but people around the world don’t know about that stuff that we deal with day to day,” he said. “They just see dedicated protesters, and they want to do their part standing in solidarity.”

 ?? ALTON STRUPP/USA TODAY NETWORK ?? Tensions escalated in Louisville, Ky., and police arrested at least 127 people. More protests spread around the globe. “People are infuriated,” said one man.
ALTON STRUPP/USA TODAY NETWORK Tensions escalated in Louisville, Ky., and police arrested at least 127 people. More protests spread around the globe. “People are infuriated,” said one man.
 ?? SAM UPSHAW JR./USA TODAY NETWORK ?? Protesters are confined to a sidewalk outside Metro Correction­s as they wait to be taken into custody by law enforcemen­t under a curfew imposed Wednesday night in downtown Louisville, Ky.
SAM UPSHAW JR./USA TODAY NETWORK Protesters are confined to a sidewalk outside Metro Correction­s as they wait to be taken into custody by law enforcemen­t under a curfew imposed Wednesday night in downtown Louisville, Ky.
 ?? ALTON STRUPP/USA TODAY NETWORK ?? Louisville police officers pull a protester out of a crowd reacting to a grand jury announceme­nt Wednesday.
ALTON STRUPP/USA TODAY NETWORK Louisville police officers pull a protester out of a crowd reacting to a grand jury announceme­nt Wednesday.
 ?? MACABE BROWN/USA TODAY NETWORK ?? Protesters march in downtown Louisville after a grand jury indicted former police Detective Brett Hankison on Wednesday.
MACABE BROWN/USA TODAY NETWORK Protesters march in downtown Louisville after a grand jury indicted former police Detective Brett Hankison on Wednesday.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States