LOUISVILLE, Ky., (WDRB) -- A Louisville woman who was shot in the face with a rubber bullet by police during the Breonna Taylor protests in May 2020 has been paid $150,000 by the city to settle a lawsuit, according to her attorney.
Shannyn White was protesting downtown on May 29, 2020, when Louisville Metro Police officers met them “with a show of force that included flash bangs, tear gas, pepper balls and 40 millimeter blunt-impact projectiles,” according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.
The lawsuit claims White was unarmed and peacefully protesting, armed with only her cellphone, as she was videotaping and chanting “hands up, don’t shoot,” when she was shot in the forehead by an officer with a rubber bullet.
LMPD did not issue any warnings, directions or commands regarding the potential use of force if the group did not disperse, the suit claims.
The civil case was dismissed on Aug. 28 after Metro Government agreed to pay White $150,000, according to her attorney, Ashlea Hellman.
“We are pleased that the city of Louisville has recognized the harm that the poor policing tactics of the Breonna Taylor protests have caused,” Hellman said in a statement. “Rushing to aggressively quell protestors with no organization resulted in many individuals (protestors and police) being unnecessarily injured.”
Hellmann said body camera footage showed LMPD was providing officers with “less than lethal” ammunition without accounting for how many rounds were being shot or if officers were using them properly.
Image from the lawsuit exhibits shows Shannyn White soon after being hit with the LMPD rubber bullet in the face during the Breonna Taylor protests in 2020. This image has been edited because of the graphic nature of the injury. (Image courtesy court document)
“Though LMPD wants to refer to these rounds as ‘less than lethal’ rounds, in reality, when in the hands of untrained officers, they can kill,” she said. “This time, Shannyn was incredibly lucky that she didn’t lose her eye due to this carelessness by LMPD.”
Body camera video from the lawsuit shows officers firing dozens of rounds at the protesters near the 500 block of West Jefferson Street.
At one point an officer says, “just light them up, just hit them”.
Another officer can be heard congratulating a fellow officer on a good shot.
After White was hit, she “dropped to her knees, screaming in excruciating pain, and was immediately unable to see," the complaint says.
Her friends surrounded her, shielding White as she was bleeding profusely.
The lawsuit claims police did not attempt to help White or call an ambulance for her.
The officer who shot White and the officer who gave the order are not identified by name in the suit.
White’s story garnered national attention and her social media accounts were “flooded with death” threats, the lawsuit says. Her face is scarred from the injury.
In a statement, a spokesperson for LMPD declined to comment on the case but said the department’s “new leadership and administration is committed to constitutional policing for all citizens. … LMPD remains focused on reducing violent crime to provide a safer Louisville for all residents and visitors.”
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