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WAR ON THE STREETS
TWO cops were shot in Louisville as violence erupted last night after the decision to not directly charge officers over the death of Breonna Taylor.
The news sparked anger and mass unrest across the city with reports that 127 people were arrested, including one man suspected of shooting the officers.
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Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) Chief Rob Schroeder confirmed that two officers had been shot.
A suspect, identified by local station WLKY as Larynzo Johnson, has been arrested in the shooting.
He's been charged with wanton endangerment and assault of a police officer.
The injured officers were identified Thursday as Maj Aubrey Gregory and Robinson Desroches.
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Gregory was shot in the leg and released from the hospital, while Desroches was shot in the abdomen and had to undergo surgery.
Both are stable and expected to recover.
Schroeder said he is "very concerned about the safety of our officers."
"We have had two officers shot tonight and it's very serious. It's a dangerous condition.
"I think the safety of the officers and community we serve is utmost importance."
Taking to twitter, President Trump said that he had spoken with Kentucky's Democrat governor, Andy Beshear, who requested that the National Guard be sent in.
"Praying for the two police officers that were shot tonight in Louisville, Kentucky," Trump wrote.
"The Federal Government stands behind you and is ready to help. Spoke to Andy Beshear and we are prepared to work together, immediately upon request!"
Following the shootings of the two officers, Beshear called on protesters to go home.
"There will be many times over the coming days where there will be an opportunity to be heard, and so many people are listening right now," he said.
In harrowing footage from the city, a succession of shots can be heard ringing out near a line of police officers.
"We got an officer down," one says.
"Get to cover!" another shouts.
In other footage captured by a protester after the same incident, one person is heard saying: "Oh they shot guns at them! Real guns!
"S**t. They're blasting at the police. They shot at the police. They didn't shoot in the air. They shot at them."
Sirens can then be heard as other protesters run from the area.
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Molotov cocktail thrown at police as they charge protesters in Portland
LMPD spokesperson Lamont Washington confirmed an officer had been shot in the city just before 8:30pm on Wednesday.
Officials later confirmed that a second officer had been shot.
Footage also showed a molotov cocktail being thrown into the middle of a road in front of a line of police officers.
"Violence against law enforcement is NEVER acceptable in a civil society," Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf tweeted.
"Praying for the well being of the injured LMPD officers."
Personnel from the Louisville branch of the FBI were also reportedly deployed to the area to assist with the investigation.
The start of the evening saw protesters gather in Louisville's Jefferson Square Park, many visibly upset, following the announcement that no officers would face charges over Breonna Taylor's death.
"We don't get no murder charges?" said one.
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Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot as officers from Louisville police executed a search warrant on her home in March this year.
The officers, backed by an independent witness, say they knocked and identified themselves before forcing entry.
After the officers entered the house, Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a gun, later saying he thought they were intruders.
Taylor was shot five times in the subsequent exchange and later died.
Taylor's home had been targeted in the raid because of a known association with a suspected drug dealer who ran a drug house ten miles away.
Louisville officer Brett Hankison was charged on Wednesday with three counts of wanton endangerment – but this was related to stray shots fired into the apartments of Taylor's neighbors.
Officers Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove were not charged in Taylor's death, and no homicide or manslaughter charges were brought forward.
Hankinson, who was fired from LMPD in June, was briefly held in jail before being released on a $15,000 bond late on Wednesday.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said the officers had acted to "protect themselves" while executing the warrant.
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Taylor's devastated family, who had hoped for manslaughter charges, lamented the grand jury decision.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the family, slammed it as "outrageous and offensive" following the announcement.
"If Brett Hankison's behavior was wanton endangerment to people in neighboring apartments, then it should have been wanton endangerment in Breonna Taylor's apartment too," he said.
A person found guilty of wanton endangerment faces a maximum prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to $10,000.
It is a lesser charge than both manslaughter and murder.
In the US, a grand jury is a group of citizens, larger than a regular jury, assembled to investigate potential criminal conduct and decide whether criminal charges should be brought.
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Actress Viola Davis, who launched a campaign calling for justice in Taylor's death, called the announcement a "bulls**t decision."
The National Guard was deployed to Louisville to aid local cops in preparing for possible protests over the lack of charges.
Massive trucks drove into the city's downtown area amid precautions for potential violence.
Ahead of the curfew on Wednesday night, police in Louisville declared an unlawful assembly as protesters gathered in anger.
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Large protests were also seen in cities including New York, Denver, Chicago, Washington DC, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.
When asked about the charges announced on Wednesday, President Donald Trump said: "My message is I love the black community.
"I've done more for the black community than any other president and I say, with a possible exception of Abraham Lincoln ... nobody's done more.
"Abraham Lincoln, let's give him the nod, but beyond that nobody's done more."
Abraham Lincoln's time as president is best remembered for the abolition of slavery in the US.
Trump added that he didn't "know enough about it" but said he "heard a decision was just made" and will soon have a comment on the charges.
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Asked about the decision on Wednesday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said: "I think that the rule of law is an important thing and I hope that people will accept that.”
In June, Senator Paul introduced the Breonna Taylor Act, legislation to ban the use of "no-knock" search warrants that allow police to enter a property without warning.
Prior to the raid on Taylor's home, police had been granted a no-knock warrant, but officials said on Wednesday that no such warrants were used the day Taylor died.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron released the results of his office's ballistics report, and said it concluded that "officers both knocked and announced their presence at the apartment".
He added that an "independent witness near Taylor's apartment" corroborated his office's findings.
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"According to Kentucky law, the use of force by Mattingly and Cosgrove was justified to protect themselves," he said.
Cameron also revealed that neither Hankison nor Mattingly had any involvement in obtaining the search warrant for Taylor's home, although his investigation didn't include how it was acquired.
The charges against Hankinson stemmed from shots he fired that hit or endangered three people in neighboring apartments, not Taylor.
Hankison’s shots at Taylor weren't fatal, Cameron said later Wednesday.
He said the single fatal shot was fired by Cosgrove, but his use of force was “justified”.
Taylor "would have died within a few seconds to two minutes of being shot," he added.
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In a statement released on Wednesday, the attorney of Mattingly called Taylor's shooting a "tragedy."
But he also claimed that the officers didn't act in an "unprofessional" matter in the fatal shooting.
"They did their duty, performed their roles as law enforcement officers and, above all, did not break the law," the statement reads.
Footage also showed citizen militia on the streets in Louisville and in heated exchanges with residents ahead of last night's protests.
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Most read in News
Ahead of the yesterday's announcement, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced a 72-hour curfew beginning at 6.30pm.
The curfew was enforced hours after Fischer declared a state of emergency "due to the potential for civil unrest."
Read More on The US Sun
"Our goal is ensuring space and opportunity for potential protesters to gather and express their First Amendment rights after the announcement," Fischer said in a statement.
"At the same time, we are preparing for any eventuality to keep everyone safe."
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