LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer says it’s too early to give his administration a letter grade for its handling of the aftermath of the raid that killed Breonna Taylor.
The March raid—which has drawn criticism, investigations and daily protests—has also spurred a petition and demands for the third-term mayor to resign.
In a Tuesday afternoon interview with WDRB News, Fischer said that isn’t something he’s considering.
"No. When you take an oath of office, you do it for good times and bad times. This is bigger than any one person, and to put it on just one person all of a sudden solves everything — that's not going to happen,” he said.
WDRB News also asked why the mayor hasn’t released the city’s investigation of the raid in the spirit of transparency.
"Well, I'm all about transparency, but we're also all about wanting fair trials to take place,” the mayor said. “So both the attorney general and the FBI have asked us to keep any reports that could influence witnesses off the public scene right now, because we want to make sure, if there is a trial, a fair trial takes place."
As for Tuesday’s LMPD "sick out," some of that frustration came to a head Sunday night when some officers believed they were ordered to not wear riot gear to clear out Jefferson Square Park under threat of suspension. The mayor said that was the result of a "misunderstanding" and said he hopes the city isn't making decisions that put officer's lives in unnecessary danger.
However, he said he and LMPD's chief have the difficult task of protecting everyone while also allowing protesters to practice their First Amendment rights.
“Our protesters are reacting differently to police officers depending on what they're wearing and whether it's the soft gear or whether it's more of the special response gear that they have, so what we're looking for always is kind of protect First Amendment rights to protest, do so peacefully, good interactions with the police officers, and of course, safe conditions as well, but the number one priority is safety for everybody,” Fischer said.
Fischer also addressed the ongoing nightly protests, which he said have become more concerning to the city because some protesters are open carrying handguns and rifles.
"Well, I know the tenor of Jefferson Square has changed over the last week in particular with more open carry. When you think about this in our city here, where you can walk up and down Main Street with an assault rifle and it's legal, I mean, it just presents all types of complications,” he said. “So, nothing good's going to happen as a result of any one of those, so how we make sure that we keep safety during situations like that is of paramount importance to us.”
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