Two Policemen Shot During A Demonstration Of Taylor's Innocent Shooter Decision

Illustration (Unsplash / Clay Banks)

JAKARTA - Two policemen were shot in Louisville, Kentucky, United States (US) while securing a demonstration. The demonstration occurred when a jury ruled that two policemen who shot a black woman, Breonna Taylor, were free from prosecution.

The jury ruled the two policemen would not be prosecuted for the death of Taylor, a medical worker who was shot in his own apartment, according to Reuters. The jury considered the acts of violence by the two white policemen during the raid justified.

Hours before the demonstration, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said that the two policemen who carried out the shooting at Breonna Taylor's apartment on March 13 would not be prosecuted for her death. Another officer was charged with three counts of endangering Taylor's neighbors. However, these officers were only considered to have committed low-level crimes.

Taylor, 26, died in front of her lover's eyes after three police officers broke into her apartment and shot her eight times. Police claim they came to Taylor's residence for a search mission.

Benjamin Crump, a prominent civil rights activist lawyer representing the Taylor family, criticized the results of the grand jury investigation. He said the jury had gone too far in failing to indict three police officers who were involved in the raid on Taylor's death at all.

Protesters immediately took to the streets shouting, "No life is important until the life of blacks matters." They lined for hours around the entire city of Kentucky, amid sporadic clashes with riot police.

Getting more chaotic

The demonstration grew tense when two police officers who were in the midst of the crowd were shot and injured. This was conveyed directly by Robert Schroeder, the interim head of the Louisvile Metropolitan Police Department.

Schroeder said one police shooter suspect had been arrested and the two officers who were shot were in stable condition. One of the officers had to undergo surgery, with the injuries not life threatening. Schroeder declined to provide further details.

Demonstrations took place at night against the city's curfew. Most of the action was peaceful until several shots were heard amid clashes between protesters and heavily armed police, sending large crowds running for cover.

In another area on the edge of the city center, some protesters threw bottles of water at police. The police then responded to the throw by firing pepper balls into the crowd. A fight ensued and several office windows were damaged.