Looking to defuse anger after gunfire wounded at least seven people at a protest in Louisville, the mother of a woman killed by police on Friday urged protesters to continue demanding justice, but do so “without hurting each other.”
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear read the statement from Breonna Taylor’s mother hours after gunshots erupted during protests late on Thursday outside City Hall.
One person was in a critical condition, Louisville Metro Police said on Friday.
Photo: Reuters
Police officers fired no shots, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said, adding that they provided aid to those who were wounded.
TV video showed protesters fleeing as gunfire erupted.
With more rallies planned, Taylor’s mother joined the chorus of calls for protests to remain peaceful.
In her statement, Tamika Palmer said that her daughter — an emergency medical technician — devoted her life to others and the “last thing she’d want right now is any more violence.”
“Please keep saying her name,” her statement said. “Please keep demanding justice and accountability, but let’s do it the right way without hurting each other. We can and we will make some real change here. Now is the time. Let’s make it happen, but safely.”
On Friday, what appeared to be several hundred people gathered downtown for the second night of protests. The crowd briefly blocked traffic near City Hall and chanted: “No justice, no peace.”
Protesters carried signs calling for justice for Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, the man who died after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.
The police presence intensified at about 9:45pm on Friday, with officers in riot gear standing shoulder-to-shoulder and moving people down a key street near City Hall, the Courier Journal reported.
A police officer was seen on camera during a WAVE-TV broadcast firing what appeared to be pepper bullets directly at the camera crew.
“I’m getting shot! I’m getting shot!” WAVE-TV reporter Kaitlin Rust is heard yelling off-camera.
She told the anchors in the studio that the crew was behind the line, but police wanted them to move further away.
Police said that they would not tolerate violence or the destruction of property.
“We value the right to free speech and understand this community has a lot to say right now,” Louisville police Lieutenant Colonel LaVita Chavous said. “We hear you.”
However, police are prepared to “take whatever action we must to try to ensure no one else is injured during this time of unrest,” Chavous said.
“We ask the community to please voice your opinions in a peaceful way,” she said.
Meanwhile, Fischer said that the use of no-knock warrants by police was being suspended, the latest in a series of policy changes and others actions in response to Taylor’s death.
“To the people who gathered downtown last night to protest, and to many more throughout our city and throughout our country who feel angry, hurt, afraid, frustrated, tired and sick of story after story of black lives ending at the hands of law enforcement, I hear you,” Fischer said.
Two people wounded in the gunfire underwent surgery, while five were in good condition, he said.
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