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Civil unrest has been renewed after the Kentucky Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, announced the decision regarding whether or not his office would be pursuing crimnial charges against the officers involved in the murder of Breonna Taylor.
As previously reported, on Wednesday (Sept 23),Cameron revealed that a grand jury failed to indict all three officers involved in the murder of Breonna Taylor and giving just once officer a far lesser charge. Brett Hankison, the only officer terminated for the incident, was the lone officer charged among two others facing charges stemming from the fateful night that left the 26-year-old Taylor shot dead this past March. Sgt. John Mattingly and Det. Myles Cosgrove managed to avoid justice after Kentucky’s Attorney General Daniel Cameron told a media throng that the cops were “justified of their use of force” due to Taylor’s boyfriend firing at them first.
After the office rendered their decision, many took to the streets to protest noting that the charges against Hankison were in regards to the property and not for the murder of Breonna. On Wednesday night, protests in major U.S. cities — ongoing since the police killing of George Floyd — found renewed energy, as demonstrators rejected the grand jury’s decision and called for justice for the 26-year-old.
Protesters in downtown Louisville were infuriated by the fact that Hankinson, the only officer charged, was required to post a bond of just $15,000. “That’s it?” one person yelled.
The major protests which occured in Louisville, Atlanta, and New York resulted in two officers being shot in Kentucky and an onslaught of protestors being tear gassed in Atlanta.
According to the published reports, a police spokesperson confirmed that two Louisville officers were shot during the protests. Both officers are reportedly stable and one is in surgery. According to the New York Times, at least one protester was shot in the neck with a projectile. Shortly before 8 p.m., an unlawful assembly was reportedly declared, prompting Kentucky Governor, Andy Beshar, to authorize 500 National Guard members to be deployed to provide “civil disturbance support” during the demonstrations. According to a guard spokesman, they will protect “critical infrastructure sites,” including hospitals, in the city. Beshear said that his goal was to keep the deployment “limited.”
