Former Lexington Police Chaplain Donovan Stewart is retiring from the department and filing a lawsuit claiming he and his family have been victims of "outrageous lies" spread by organizers of recent racial justice protests.
"Donovan Stewart and his family have been through enough," Attorney Scott Crosbie said to energetic rounds of applause at a gathering of Stewart's supporters in Lexington Thursday. "And enough is enough."
The lawyer said his client has been the target of a vicious campaign of "relentless, malicious" personal attacks, ranging from accusations of racism to claims that he beats his wife and children.
"He's been falsely labeled a brutal racist, a white supremacist. These statements have been stated as objective facts even though there are no facts to support those contentions," Crosbie argued.
Controversy surrounding the former chaplain stems from a February 2, 2019 incident in Fayette Mall, where Stewart allegedly hit a Black autistic teenager after he was restrained. While Crosbie says Fayette County prosecutors performed an independent review of the case and cleared Stewart of wrongdoing, the incident has become a rallying point for protesters who have demanded further investigation and that disciplinary action be taken.
Stewart is naming two organizers, Sarah Williams and April Taylor, along with a list of yet-to-be-named others, in a defamation suit.
The ex-chaplain is exiting the LPD alongside six other officers, who are set to retire amid strained relations between police and demonstrators. Lexington Police Lt. Jonathan Bastian told the Lexington Herald-Leader the retirements could become a pattern if "we continue to demonize police officers."
