David McAtee's brother among protesters arrested during march for restaurateur killed by National Guard

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The brother of David McAtee was one of five people arrested Wednesday night while protesting the west Louisville restaurateur's death at the hands of a Kentucky National Guard member nearly a year ago.

Jamie McAtee, 35, was charged with unlawful assembly and obstructing a highway, according to online court records. He and four others were arrested during a march held the day after Jefferson Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine said his office would not pursue criminal charges against the Louisville Metro Police officers or National Guard members who shot at and killed David McAtee a little after midnight June 1, 2020, at his barbecue restaurant at South 26th Street and West Broadway.

One person involved in Wednesday's march said it was nonviolent in nature.

More than a dozen LMPD cars followed protesters as they marched down West Muhammad Ali Boulevard, according to a video of the demonstration from Maxwell Mitchell, a member of the 502LiveStreamers media collective. As the march crossed South 15th Street, Mitchell's video shows an officer stop their vehicle, get out of the driver's seat and begin arresting a member of the march who was in the street. This prompted other officers to stop and exit their vehicles, Mitchell's video shows.

"Dispersal order was given, orders to get out of the roadway; individuals are refusing to comply," LMPD Officer Beth Ruoff said in a livestream on the department's Facebook page. "We are affecting arrests of any of those individuals who are refusing to comply with our orders."

Other demonstrators arrested face charges ranging from resisting arrest to disorderly conduct and bribery of a public servant, an LMPD spokesperson said in a statement.

Before the march began, demonstrators gathered at Jefferson Square Park. There, Jamie McAtee told told WDRB News he was marching to keep pushing for the accountability he says officials didn't deliver his family Tuesday.

"There's not a single person that's accountable for this," he said.

David McAtee, 53, died from a single gunshot wound to the chest inside his barbecue restaurant after an exchange of gunfire when a massive group of law enforcement arrived at South 26th and West Broadway disperse a crowd and enforce a 9 p.m. curfew amid protests over the police killing of Breonna Taylor.

Wine said Tuesday that a yearlong investigation found police shot pepper balls to gain control of the scene at that intersection, which led to McAtee firing out the front door of his business. Because McAtee fired his gun and "posed an immediate threat of death or serious injury," law enforcement was justified in using deadly force in response, Wine wrote in a news release announcing his decision not to present the case to a Jefferson County grand jury.

On Wednesday, protesters, including Jamie McAtee, said they won't stop their demands for justice.

"The National Guard came in here and did what they did and they left and nobody's accountable," Jamie McAtee said. "It hurts. Because it's not just like you shot a dog, it's not just like you shot some animal, you shot a person. You took a human life."

This story may be updated as more information becomes available.