Clean-up begins in Louisville this morning after a long night of protests and unrest and Governor Andy Beshear said he is making the difficult decision to call on the National Guard to help keep the peace tonight. Demonstrators flooded the streets in downtown Louisville chanting the name of Breonna Taylor, an EMT who was shot and killed by police in her home in March. When they came to a line of LMP officers stretched across sixth-street in swat gear, a firework was set by protestors. Police responded with tear gas.
Within a few hours, the factions has split. Some continued to merely protest with their voices. Others turned to violence and vandalism…shattering windows, setting fires, trashing cars and looting stores. Mayor Greg Fisher took to the airwaves to denounce the chaos.
“There does need to be ample recognition of the underlying inequity that causes so much of the frustration that we see in America in our city but there is no excuse for the destruction of property we have seen this evening. This is not protests it is violence. Many came tonight to express the pain, anger and frustration brought about by the tragic death of Breonna Taylor. Many were here to exercise their first amendment right to peacefully protest and I respect that right. Unfortunately another faction of people used the occasion of a protest as an excuse to cause destruction.”
Two people were arrested and minor injuries were reported. The cost of the damage could take days to assess.