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2 Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor protests

Riot police intervene in protesters in Louisville, Kentucky, on Sept. 23, 2020, after a judge announced the charges brought by a grand jury against Detective Brett Hankison, one of three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor in March. (Photo by Ben Hendren/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Louisville, Ky., police hold a press conference after at least 1 officer shot.

Louisville, Ky., police hold a press conference after at least 1 officer shot.STORY: Louisville police confirms two officers were shot Wednesday night during a demonstration. https://bit.ly/3mMdEq7

Posted by WISH-TV on Wednesday, September 23, 2020

LOUISVILLE,
Ky. (AP) — Hours after a Kentucky grand jury brought no charges against
Louisville police for Breonna Taylor’s death and protesters took to the
streets, authorities said two officers were shot and wounded Wednesday
night during the demonstrations expressing anger over the killings of
Black people at the hands of police.

Interim Louisville Police
Chief Robert Schroeder said a suspect was in custody but did not offer
details about whether that person was participating in the
demonstrations. He says both officers are expected to recover, and one
is undergoing surgery.

He says the officers were shot after investigating reports of gunfire at an intersection where there was a large crowd.

Several
shots rang out as protesters in downtown Louisville tried to avoid
police blockades, moving down an alleyway as officers lobbed pepper
balls, according to an Associated Press journalist. People covered their
ears, ran away and frantically looked for places to hide. Police with
long guns swarmed the area, then officers in riot gear and
military-style vehicles blocked off roadways.

The violence comes
after prosecutors said two officers who fired their weapons at Taylor, a
Black woman, were justified in using force to protect themselves after
they faced gunfire from her boyfriend. The only charges were three
counts of wanton endangerment against fired Officer Brett Hankison for
shooting into a home next to Taylor’s with people inside.

The FBI is still investigating potential violations of federal law in connection with the raid at Taylor’s home on March 13.

Ben
Crump, a lawyer for Taylor’s family, denounced the decision as
“outrageous and offensive,” and protesters shouting, “No justice, no
peace!” immediately marched through the streets.

Scuffles broke
out between police and protesters, and some were arrested. Officers
fired flash bangs and a few small fires burned in a square that’s been
at the center of protests, but it had largely cleared out ahead of a
nighttime curfew as demonstrators marched through other parts of
downtown Louisville. Dozens of patrol cars blocked the city’s major
thoroughfare.

Demonstrators also marched in cities like New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Atlanta and Philadelphia.

Taylor,
an emergency medical worker, was shot multiple times by white officers
who entered her home on a no-knock warrant during a narcotics
investigation. State Attorney General Daniel Cameron, however, said the
investigation showed the officers announced themselves before entering.
The warrant used to search her home was connected to a suspect who did
not live there, and no drugs were found inside.

Along with the
killing of George Floyd in Minnesota, Taylor’s case became a major
touchstone for nationwide protests that have drawn attention to
entrenched racism and demanded police reform. Taylor’s image has been
painted on streets, emblazoned on protest signs and silk-screened on
T-shirts worn by celebrities. Several prominent African American celebrities joined those urging that the officers be charged.

The
announcement drew sadness, frustration and anger that the grand jury
did not go further. The wanton endangerment charges each carry a
sentence of up to five years.

Morgan Julianna Lee, a high school student in Charlotte, North Carolina, watched the announcement at home.

“It’s
almost like a slap in the face,” the 15-year-old said by phone. “If I,
as a Black woman, ever need justice, I will never get it.”

Gov.
Andy Beshear, a Democrat, said he authorized a limited deployment of the
National Guard. He also urged Cameron, the state attorney general, to
post online all the evidence that could be released without affecting
the charges filed.

“Those that are currently feeling frustration, feeling hurt, they deserve to know more,” he said.

The case exposed the wide gulf
between public opinion on justice for those who kill Black Americans
and the laws under which those officers are charged, which regularly
favor police and do not often result in steep criminal accusations.

At a news conference, Cameron spoke to that disconnect: “Criminal law is not meant to respond to every sorrow and grief.”

“But my heart breaks for the loss of Miss Taylor. … My mother, if something was to happen to me, would find it very hard,” he added, choking up.

But
Cameron, who is the state’s first Black attorney general, said the
officers acted in self-defense after Taylor’s boyfriend fired at them.
He added that Hankison and the two other officers who entered Taylor’s
apartment announced themselves before entering — and so did not execute
the warrant as “no knock,” according to the investigation. The city has
since banned such warrants.

“According to Kentucky law, the use of
force by (Officers Jonathan) Mattingly and (Myles) Cosgrove was
justified to protect themselves,” he said. “This justification bars us
from pursuing criminal charges in Miss Breonna Taylor’s death.”

Cameron said an FBI crime lab determined that Cosgrove fired the bullet that killed Taylor.

Taylor’s
boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, opened fire when police burst in, hitting
Mattingly. Walker told police he heard knocking but didn’t know who was
coming in and fired in self-defense.

Cameron, who is a Republican, is a protégé
of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and has been tagged by some
as his heir apparent. His was also one of 20 names on President Donald
Trump’s list to fill a future Supreme Court vacancy.

At a news
conference, Trump read a statement from Cameron, saying “justice is not
often easy.” He later tweeted that he was “praying for the two police
officers that were shot.”

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, are calling for policing reform.

Biden
says that while a federal investigation continues, “we do not need to
wait for the final judgment of that investigation to do more to deliver
justice for Breonna.” He said the country should start by addressing
excessive force, banning chokeholds and overhauling no-knock warrants.

“We
must never stop speaking Breonna’s name as we work to reform our
justice system, including overhauling no-knock warrants,” Harris said on
Twitter.

Hankison was fired on June 23. A termination letter sent
by interim Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder said he had
violated procedures by showing “extreme indifference to the value of
human life” when he “wantonly and blindly” fired his weapon.

Mattingly, Cosgrove and the detective who sought the warrant, Joshua Jaynes, were placed administrative reassignment.

Last week, the city settled a lawsuit against the three officers brought by Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, agreeing to pay her $12 million and enact police reforms.

Lovan reported from Frankfort, Kentucky. Associated Press writers Claire Galofaro, Bruce Schreiner and Rebecca Reynolds Yonker in Louisville, Kentucky, Kevin Freking in Washington, Aaron Morrison in New York and Haleluya Hadero in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, contributed.

This story has been updated to clarify that, according to the investigation, officers did not execute the warrant as a no-knock warrant, not that they didn’t use a no-knock warrant. It also has been edited to clarify that the shots fired by Hankison entered another home with people inside, not several homes.