Louisville, Ky. (WDRB) -- It's been four years since Christopher McKinney died after a fight with a bouncer outside a Louisville bar. His widower is determined to get a bill passed, so it doesn't happen to anyone else.
"It just seems like it happened yesterday," Nick Clark, McKinney's widower said.
The pain doesn't go away. You just learn to live with it. That's exactly how Clark would describe losing his husband four years ago.
"Christopher was just the kindest, most thoughtful, very patient," Clark said.
McKinney died after an altercation with a bouncer outside of Nowhere Bar on Bardstown Road on January 5, 2020.
Police said McKinney was intoxicated and that employee was leading him out of the bar after showing "unruly behavior".
Witnesses told police and WDRB news they saw a bouncer knock McKinney out, and he never got back up.
"It was honestly just I mean it was just so surreal, such a surreal experience," Clark explained. "I've never experienced death really in my family like that."
McKinney was taken off life support just a few hours later.
Since his death, Nick has been pushing a bill called Christopher's Law, so no other family has to deal with death like that.
It would require bouncers to be trained in de-escalation tactics, first aid and physical maneuvers that require minimal application.
Christopher's Law, a proposed bill, would require bouncers to be trained in de-escalation tactics, first aid and physical maneuvers that require minimal application. (WDRB image)
"Security and bouncers need to know what to do in situations like that...especially in an alcohol-driven environment where basically anything could happen," Clark said.
This isn't the only time where a security guard was involved in an incident.
Most recently, a guard at Fox Den shot and killed a man in October who they said pulled out a gun outside of the bar.
Less than two months before that, police arrested a security guard for the shooting outside of Southern Restaurant and Lounge in downtown Louisville that killed two people.
It's something that's happening all over the country. Reports of bouncers being involved in deaths have appeared in Nashville, Tennessee; Statesboro, Georgia; Detroit, Michigan; San Diego and Los Angeles, California; Long Island, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Some of those cities, including Nashville, have since passed legislation protecting patrons.
"It's important to me not only so this doesn't happen to another person here locally or anywhere in the state, but also it's very important to me since Christopher didn't get justice this could be some form of justice for our family," Clark said.
After a few revisions to the bill, Clark hopes for a hearing this legislative session.
Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, is a co-sponsor of the bill and said in a statement, "Christopher's Law is an important public safety issue. It really is unthinkable that we give so much power and authority to bouncers without any vetting or training. Since Christopher's violent and needless death, Nick and his family have channeled their grief into advocacy, and have worked tirelessly to make sure that what happened to Christopher never happens to another Kentuckian. It's long past time that we pass this bipartisan bill."
Related Stories:
- Authorities identify man who died after fight outside Nowhere Bar
- Widower hoping for justice in a new law after a bouncer killed his husband at a Louisville bar
- No charges filed after man dies outside Bardstown Road bar
- Man dies after altercation on Bardstown Road
- Nowhere Bar employee involved in deadly altercation acted in self-defense, prosecutors say
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