Louisville protests Friday end with LMPD making arrests after curfew

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Another night of protests over a grand jury's decision in the Breonna Taylor case ended with Louisville Metro Police officers arresting protesters who stayed out more than two hours after the city's curfew.

The officers surrounded between 12 and 15 protesters near the intersection of South Sixth and West Chestnut streets. Most of the demonstrators, who said they intended to exercise their rights in a march back to First Unitarian Church, were taken into custody.

In total, police made 22 protest-related arrests Friday, according to LMPD Spokesman Dwight Mitchell in an update Saturday morning. LMPD Sgt. Lamont Washington had reported 23 arrests Friday night.

Nineteen of those arrested were charged with curfew violations, according to Mitchell. Most also face charges of failure to disperse and unlawful assembly, both misdemeanors.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at Jefferson Square Park around 5 p.m. Friday and began marching through downtown Louisville, eventually arriving in the NuLu district. The gathering came just hours after Taylor's family, their attorneys and activists raised questions about a grand jury's decision to not bring charges connected to Taylor's death against the white LMPD officers who shot and killed the 26-year-old Black woman during a March raid on her apartment.

Protesters stopped multiple times in the downtown Louisville streets to take photos behind a large banner featuring Taylor's face. The banner was created by national social justice group Until Freedom, which has organized numerous protests in Taylor's name since July.

IMAGES l Protesters demanding justice for Breonna Taylor march through downtown Friday

Protesters marching down Main Street back toward Jefferson Square Park were surprised to see LMPD officers and vehicles blocking their path at the Interstate 65 overpass. Officers declared the assembly unlawful and set off flashbangs, prompting some protesters to retreat from the area.

Washington said police asked protesters "to move to the sidewalks multiple times to allow for traffic to flow."

"When that did not occur, an unlawful assembly was declared," Washington said. "Two flashbang rounds were deployed in the air above the crowd to get the crowd’s attention, at which time directions were given for the crowd to disperse and move east."

Two protesters were taken into custody during the confrontation with police, according to Washington, who did not disclose what charges those individuals face.

The majority of protesters eventually found their way back to Jefferson Square Park, where many took a breather before the group decided to march back to First Unitarian Church, at Fourth and York streets. The church has advertised itself as a safe place for protesters during nights where a curfew is enforced.

The church again offered hot meals, water and Gatorade to protesters on the property.

"I am feeling so grateful that we can provide a space that's safe where they can, after marching and after protesting, that they can come here and they can get their needs met," said Dawn Cooley, a Unitarian Universalist minister and coordinator of the Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church's Justice Center. "This is what it means to be a church."

Amber Brown was grateful for the church's hospitality.

"In the Black community, these aggressions are not new," Brown said. "These are not myths. This is something Black boys and girls have to be talked about growing up because they have to know how to deal with police growing up. There are legit conversations that you have to have with your Black daughters and Black sons in order for them to know how to deal with police."

Protesters eventually gathered in the street adjacent to the church and got angry when it appeared someone in a nearby apartment threw golf balls on the crowd below. LMPD responded and allowed protesters to walk downtown to return to their vehicles. Most demonstrators dispersed before the arrests were made at South Sixth and West Chestnut.

For livestreams from WDRB News' Chad Mills, who spent the evening walking with protesters:

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