Louisville cops arrest Dem politician behind ‘Breonna’s Law’ on 2nd night of protests as BLM protesters take over CHURCH

LOUISVILLE cops arrested a Democratic politician behind “Breonna’s Law” on the second night of protests as Black Lives Matter protesters take over a church.

Attica Scott was filmed, among others, being rounded up into a riot van on Thursday night.

The politician was filmed among others being rounded up into a vanCredit: Twitter

Attica Scott was arrested on Thursday nightCredit: Twitter

One of Scott’s fellow handcuffed protesters shouted “Put up your fists for State Representative Attica Scott” as she stuck her head out from the back of the van.

Fellow demonstrators yelled back “we love you” toward the van, that was surrounded by cops.

Scott has sponsored “Breonna’s Law,” which is legislation that will regulate how search warrants are carried out and will mandate the use of body cameras during searches.

Breonna Taylor died in MarchCredit: AFP or licensors

Police fired more than 20 rounds into her apartmentCredit: Twitter

SECOND NIGHT OF PROTESTS

As a curfew went into effect after dark and police declared an unlawful assembly, a group of 200 to 300 protesters who had marched through the city for hours retreated to the grounds of the First Unitarian Church, set aside by organizers as a sanctuary near the Ohio River waterfront.

Some of the marchers had smashed windows of several local businesses, and even a hospital, along the way, according to a Reuters journalist.

However, the scene outside the church contrasted sharply with violence that flared the previous night in Kentucky’s largest city.

Angry demonstrations and sporadic clashes between police and protesters in the hours following the grand jury announcement turned bloody late on Wednesday when two police officers on crowd-control duty were shot and wounded.

Protesters took to the First Unitarian churchCredit: AP:Associated Press

People look on from the steps of the First Unitarian ChurchCredit: Reuters

Demonstrators took to the street for the second nightCredit: AP:Associated Press

Louisville police chief Robert Schroeder, his department reinforced by state police and Kentucky National Guard troops, said he expected protests to continue for days, and a nighttime curfew was extended through the weekend.

“For all of us it is a very tense and emotional time,” Schroeder told a news conference on Thursday.

Police said 127 arrests were made in the first night of protests, most for curfew violations or disobeying orders to disperse.

The protests began on Wednesday after the grand jury decided that none of the three white officers who collectively fired 32 gunshots as they stormed Breonna Taylor’s apartment would be charged with causing her death.

Police went face to face with protesters outside of the churchCredit: AP:Associated Press

Dozens of protesters took refuge at the churchCredit: AP:Associated Press

One of the officers was indicted on charges of endangering Taylor’s neighbors with several stray bullets he fired into an adjacent apartment during the March 13 raid, carried out as part of a narcotics investigation.

The other two officers were not charged at all.

Taylor, 26, a black emergency medical technician and aspiring nurse, was struck by six bullets moments after she and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were roused from bed in the commotion of the raid. Walker exchanged gunfire with the police.

The grand jury decision, announced by Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, was immediately denounced by civil rights advocates as the latest miscarriage of justice in a US law enforcement system corrupted by racial inequity.

Demonstrators in Louisville reacted to the sentencing Credit: Reuters

Cameron said there was “no conclusive” evidence that any of the 10 shots fired by former Detective Brett Hankison, the officer indicted on wanton endangerment charges, ever struck Taylor.

His two colleagues, Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly and Detective Myles Cosgrove, used justified force under Kentucky law because they were returning fire – a combined total of 22 rounds – after Walker shot at them first, wounding Mattingly in the thigh, according to Cameron.

Walker has said he fired a warning shot because he feared a criminal intrusion and did not hear police identify themselves.

Officer Hankison was fired in June, while Mattingly and Cosgrove were reassigned to administrative duties.

Louisville has agreed to pay $12million to Taylor’s family to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit.

Larynzo Johnson, 26, allegedly shot two copsCredit: LMPD

Aubrey Gregory was shot in the legCredit: Handout – Getty

Robinson Desroches was shot in the abdomenCredit: Handout – Getty

Wednesday’s protests turned violent around nightfall as police in riot gear ordered demonstrators to clear the streets after several fires were set in trash cans near a downtown park and outside the city’s Hall of Justice.

A Reuters journalist heard several gunshots ring out, and members of the crowd scurried for cover.

An arrest report said the accused gunman, Larynzo Johnson, 26, was seen on video opening fire on police with a handgun.

Johnson was charged with two counts of assault in the first degree and 14 counts of wanton endangerment. His first court hearing was set for Friday.

The alleged shooter was hit with the same charge as the cop indicted in the death of Taylor.

Chief Schroeder said on Thursday that the two wounded officers were expected to recover.

Police said several businesses were vandalized or looted during the night, but the demonstrations were otherwise mostly peaceful.

Protests also flared on Wednesday in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington, Oakland, Philadelphia, Denver and Portland, Oregon, Seattle and Buffalo, New York.

Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron reveals former police officer Brett Hankison has been indicted by a a grand jury over the death of Breonna Taylor

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