(image via Depositphotos)
Officer Investigated After Video Shows Suspect Being Punched While Restrained
(screen capture via Facebook)
A Louisville Metro police officer is facing an internal investigation after video surfaced on social media of him striking an individual several times in the face.
The video was posted to Facebook Sunday and shows five police officers involved in the attempted arrest of the man at Jefferson Square Park.
The video shows the officers force the man to the ground, and as that’s occurring, one of the LMPD officers begins striking the individual in the face. Once the man is mostly on the ground, the officer can be seen repeatedly striking the individual.
The four other officers continue to pin the man down as they try to arrest him.
The man, identified as Denorver Garrett, was booked on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Chief Erika Shields said in a statement, “This raises serious questions and is not consistent with LMPD training.” Read the full article here.
Former Louisville Detective Charged But Not For Killing Breonna Taylor
Deceased ER tech Breonna Taylor (AFP/Getty Images/Fair Use)
A grand jury indicted a former Louisville police detective on Wednesday for endangering Breonna Taylor’s neighbors by recklessly firing his gun during a raid on her apartment in March. No officer was charged with killing Ms. Taylor.
Grand jurors indicted Brett Hankison, the former detective, on three counts of “wanton endangerment,” saying he had threatened three people’s lives by firing bullets that traveled through Ms. Taylor’s apartment and into theirs. A pregnant woman, her husband and their 5-year-old child were asleep in that apartment, and the bullets shattered a glass door but did not harm the couple and their child.
Mr. Hankison had fired into the sliding glass patio door and window of Ms. Taylor’s apartment building, both of which were covered with blinds, in violation of a department policy that requires officers to have a line of sight.
He is the only one of the three officers who was dismissed from the force, with a termination letter stating that he showed “an extreme indifference to the value of human life.”
The Times notes that several legal experts had theorized the officers wouldn’t be indicted for Taylor’s death since it was her boyfriend who fired his gun first when the cops entered the apartment without apparently announcing who they were under a ‘no-knock’ warrant. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced a 72-hour countywide curfew beginning at 9 pm in anticipation of protests. Taylor’s family agreed to a $12 million settlement last week.
No officers were charged directly with Breonna Taylor’s death.
A Kentucky Grand jury indicted one officer for shooting into the neighboring apartment.
The 3 wanton endangerment charges against Hankison are for Breonna Taylor’s neighbors.https://t.co/1MDaA4LQOH
— Dianne Gallagher (@DianneG) September 23, 2020
Protesters are confused and livid. “Is that it?” Someone asked. #Louisville #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/A2jou7MLgi
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) September 23, 2020
Wow.
We are seeing live photos of protesters crying in the street learning of the charges, lack of charges against the three @LMPD officers involved in the raid that killed #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/3kFtiegs6A
— Marvis Herring (@Marvis_WLKY) September 23, 2020
Breonna Taylor was killed in her sleep by the police.
This is not even close to justice. This is an ugly reminder that our justice system does not hold police officers accountable for their actions.https://t.co/DnMQTxtyjR
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) September 23, 2020
Louisville Officials Agree To $12 Million Settlement With Family Of Breonna Taylor
Deceased emergency room tech Breonna Taylor (AFP/Getty Images/Fair Use)
The settlement of a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by relatives of Ms. Taylor, a young Black woman killed by white officers in a botched drug raid six months ago, is expected to be announced Tuesday by the family’s legal team and city officials, according to those briefed on the agreement.
Besides the multimillion-dollar settlement, among the highest to be awarded in a police killing in recent years, the city has also agreed to institute a number of changes in policing. They will impose more scrutiny on officers during the execution of search warrants, like the one that precipitated the death of Ms. Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency room technician, and make mandatory safeguards that were common practice in the department but were not followed the night of the March 13 raid.
Ms. Taylor died after her boyfriend said he mistook police officers for an intruder, as they rammed in the door of her apartment after midnight to execute a search warrant. He fired his handgun, striking one of the officers, setting off a response in which a torrent of bullets sliced through Ms. Taylor’s apartment and two adjoining ones, leaving her bleeding in her hallway.
There was no effort to render her aid, as the officers outside scrambled to get an ambulance for the wounded officer.
Louisville Police Fires Pepper Balls At Local News Crew
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It was previously reported that the officer was firing rubber bullets, but Jessie Halladay with the Louisville Metro Police Department said LMPD officers do not use rubber bullets, and it was likely that was Rust and Dobson were hit with pepper balls.
In response to what happened to Rust and Dobson, WAVE 3 News General Manager Ken Selvaggi issued a statement saying, “We strongly condemn the actions of the LMPD officer who tonight repeatedly fired at and hit our reporter and cameraman, both of whom were courageously and lawfully covering breaking news in their community. There is simply no justification for the Louisville police to wantonly open fire, even with pepper balls, on any journalists under any circumstances.”
During night two of several hundred protesters gathering downtown, crowds appear to be larger and police are continuing their efforts to clear the area.
Watch the brief video clip of the encounter below. One commenter on the YouTube page wrote, “It’s almost like they [police] are trying to start a war with civilians.”