LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Mayor Greg Fischer urged Louisvillians to protest peacefully after seven people were shot and parts of downtown damaged at the end of a rally for Breonna Taylor early Friday.
At the same time, Louisville Metro Police are preparing for the prospect of protests over the weekend, including possibly calling in outside law enforcement agencies for aid.
Speaking at Metro Hall Friday morning, Fischer said he understands the frustration over the “cycle of injustice” of African Americans dying in encounters with police.
“But the violence and demonstration and the destruction that we saw last night will not get us there,” Fischer said. “It will create more tragedies, rather than prevent them and we have to work together as a community to prevent further tragedies.”
Broken glass outside of Louisville Metro Corrections after protesters upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered in downtown Louisville on May 28, 2020. Hundreds of people showed up for the mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later.
Pictured: a broken window near Louisville Metro Corrections after hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March staged a mostly peaceful protest in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020, that ended in violence. Seven people were shot, but not by LMPD officers.
Pictured: shattered glass on the sidewalk outside the Hall of Justice after protesters upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020. Seven people were shot, but not by LMPD officers.
Pictured: A broken window in the Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Louisville, Ky. Hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered downtown on May 28, 2020, for a mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later, with seven people shot.
Pictured: A broken window in the Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Louisville. Hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020, for a mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later, with seven people shot.
Pictured: A worker in the Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Louisville, Ky., cleans up after protesters smashed windows. Hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered in downtown on May 28, 2020, for a mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later, with seven people shot.
Pictured: Graffiti scrawled on a picnic table written by protesters upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March. Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020 for a mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later.
Pictured: A shattered window in the Hiko A Mon Japanese restaurant on Muhammad Ali Blvd. in downtown Louisville, Ky. Hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered downtown on May 28, 2020, for a mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later, with seven people shot and thousands of dollars in property damage.
Pictured: shattered windows at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 29, 2020. Hundreds of people gathered downtown on May 28 to protest the death of Breonna Taylor in a drug raid at her home in March. The mostly peaceful protest turned violent hours after it started, with some protesters opening fire. Seven people were hospitalized.
Two people outside shattered windows at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 29, 2020. Hundreds of people gathered downtown on May 28 to protest the death of Breonna Taylor in a drug raid at her home in March. The mostly peaceful protest turned violent hours after it started, with some protesters opening fire. Seven people were hospitalized.
A man uses a power washer to clean graffiti left behind after hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor in a drug raid in March staged a mostly peaceful protest in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020. The protest ended in violence and gunfire, with seven people injured, but police did not fire the shots.
IMAGES | Damage left behind by LMPD protesters in downtown Louisville
Broken glass outside of Louisville Metro Corrections after protesters upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered in downtown Louisville on May 28, 2020. Hundreds of people showed up for the mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later.
Pictured: a broken window near Louisville Metro Corrections after hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March staged a mostly peaceful protest in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020, that ended in violence. Seven people were shot, but not by LMPD officers.
Pictured: shattered glass on the sidewalk outside the Hall of Justice after protesters upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020. Seven people were shot, but not by LMPD officers.
WDRB/File.
A car with broken windows after protests in downtown Louisville on May 28, 2020. WDRB/File.
Protesters upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March smashed windows in downtown Louisville on May 28, 2020. Seven people were shot during the protests, but not by police officers who responded to the scene.
Pictured: A broken window in the Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Louisville, Ky. Hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered downtown on May 28, 2020, for a mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later, with seven people shot.
Pictured: A broken window in the Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Louisville. Hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020, for a mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later, with seven people shot.
Pictured: A worker in the Fifth Third Bank building in downtown Louisville, Ky., cleans up after protesters smashed windows. Hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered in downtown on May 28, 2020, for a mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later, with seven people shot.
Pictured: Graffiti scrawled on a picnic table written by protesters upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March. Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020 for a mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later.
WDRB/File.
WDRB/File.
Pictured: A shattered window in the Hiko A Mon Japanese restaurant on Muhammad Ali Blvd. in downtown Louisville, Ky. Hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid in March gathered downtown on May 28, 2020, for a mostly peaceful protest that turned violent hours later, with seven people shot and thousands of dollars in property damage.
Pictured: shattered windows at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 29, 2020. Hundreds of people gathered downtown on May 28 to protest the death of Breonna Taylor in a drug raid at her home in March. The mostly peaceful protest turned violent hours after it started, with some protesters opening fire. Seven people were hospitalized.
Two people outside shattered windows at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 29, 2020. Hundreds of people gathered downtown on May 28 to protest the death of Breonna Taylor in a drug raid at her home in March. The mostly peaceful protest turned violent hours after it started, with some protesters opening fire. Seven people were hospitalized.
A man uses a power washer to clean graffiti left behind after hundreds of people upset about the death of Breonna Taylor in a drug raid in March staged a mostly peaceful protest in downtown Louisville, Ky., on May 28, 2020. The protest ended in violence and gunfire, with seven people injured, but police did not fire the shots.
Fischer said five people shot are in “good condition,” while two others had surgery for their wounds and were “stable and recovering” on Friday morning.
He said the shots were fired from within the crowd and no Louisville Metro Police officers fired their weapons. “If you hear anything to the contrary, that is not factual,” Fischer added.
Officers rendered aid to those shot, Fischer said. That account is confirmed by videos at the scene shot by reporters.
The protest was in response to the early morning police raid on Taylor's home in which Louisville narcotics officers shot and killed the 26-year-old emergency room tech and former EMT.
The shooting of Taylor, a black woman, has drawn national scrutiny and calls for an independent probe. The protest in Louisville came as similar demonstrations flared up in other U.S. cities over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Monday.
Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend, has told police he thought they were being robbed and fired at officers when they rushed in, hitting one in the leg.
An attempted murder charge against him was dismissed last week.
Officers had obtained a "no-knock" warrant for the raid, whose main target was a suspected drug dealer who had previously dated Taylor and did not live at her apartment. Nothing illegal was found in the home.
In a major policy change, Fischer said LMPD will suspend its use of all such warrants.
“While we recently changed our policy for no-knock warrants, the use of no-knock warrants will be suspended until further notice," he said. "These changes and more to come – we’re not done – should signal that I hear the community and we will continue to make improvements anywhere that we can.”
Louisville Metro Police Lt. Col. LaVita Chavous said Friday morning there are plans in place in case protests continue over the weekend. The National Guard hasn’t been asked to deploy, but other agencies could be called in, she said.
She did not name those agencies.
Chavous also provided police's version of the events that unfolded downtown late Thursday.
She said the people shot during the protest were all involved in the same “shooting incident.” The LMPD homicide unit is investigating, she said.
We at LMPD certainly understand anger, the frustration, we saw from many last night during the protest downtown. We know there's much work to be done to build and restore trust in this community," she said.
Officers' goal was to allow for a "peaceful display" on Thursday, she said, but the police attempted to disperse the crowd once there was "significant property damage" to cars and buildings and small fires set in garbage cans.
She officers didn't fire tear gas until the shots were fired.
Among other damage to buildings caused by thrown bricks, Chavous said, shots were fired into the Louisville Metro Police headquarters building at Seventh and Jefferson streets and the Hall of Justice.
Two officers were taken to hospitals with chest pains, Chavous said. One officer was hospitalized overnight, while the other has been released, she said.
She also asked people to voice their opinions peacefully. “We value the right to free speech and understand this community has a lot to say right now,” she said.
Fischer emphasized the steps he has taken in the wake of the Taylor shooting. Besides the suspension of "no-knock" warrants, he noted that Police Chief Steve Conrad has announced his retirement and a civilian review board has been created.
That board met for the first time Friday. Fischer has endorsed giving it subpoena power.
"I just ask people to recognize that we understand this is one incident in a book of unequal power dynamic between law enforcement and African Americans in America for 400 years and this is playing out in our city," he said.
"I think our opportunity is to show the rest of the country how we can get this right, how we can work together to make change, to make positive change and do so in a peaceful manner," he said. "Ultimately that is the only way forward."
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