Story at a glance
- Kentucky state Rep. Attica Scott (D) was arrested on first-degree rioting, failure to disperse and unlawful assembly charges.
- She’s accused of being part of a group that caused damage at several locations Thursday night.
- Scott in August proposed “Breonna’s Law” in response to the killing of Breonna Taylor. The legislation would end no-knock warrants across Kentucky.
Kentucky’s only Black female state lawmaker, who wrote and introduced “Breonna’s Law,” was taken into custody Thursday night during protests in downtown Louisville, Ky., against the decision not to charge the officers for the killing of Breonna Taylor.
The Louisville Courier-Journal reports Kentucky state Rep. Attica Scott (D) was arrested along with a handful of protesters near the First Unitarian Church and the Louisville Free Public Library. She was arrested on first-degree rioting charges — a felony — along with failure to disperse and unlawful assembly, both misdemeanors. Scott’s daughter was also taken into custody.
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Scott is accused of being part of a group that damaged several locations. Police arrested 24 people, all but one of them were arrested near the library.
The outlet reports a window was broken out at the library and a flare was thrown inside around the 9 p.m. curfew. An attorney for Shameka Parrish-Wright, a local organizer who was also arrested, said his client and Scott had nothing to do with vandalizing the library.
“The allegations are outrageous on their face,” Ted Shouse, Parrish-Wright’s lawyer, said, according to the Courier-Journal.
Officials with a local library union even took to social media to defend Scott.
“We have heard that State Representative Attica Scott and other peaceful protestors have been accused by LMPD of vandalism at the Main Library, among other charges. Representative Scott has consistently been a vocal supporter of libraries and library workers and has been an ally specifically to our union through many battles,” Officials with LFPL’s union, AFSCME Local 3425, said in a Facebook post.
“We have seen no proof that the flare thrown into the library has done any major damage, nor that Representative Scott had anything to do with it, and find these accusations inconsistent with her character and the constant support we have received from her,” the post said.
Scott in August proposed “Breonna’s Law” in response to the killing of Taylor. The legislation would end no-knock warrants across Kentucky.
Taylor was a 26-year-old Black emergency medical worker who was fatally shot by police during a raid on her home in March. Taylor’s name has become a rallying point for the Black Lives Matter movement over the past several months.
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On March 13, Louisville officers entered Taylor’s home on a no-knock warrant and were met with gunfire from Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who said he believed he was firing on intruders and was unaware it was law enforcement. He has maintained that police did not identify themselves before entering the apartment.
One officer, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, was hit in the leg and police returned fire, killing Taylor.
A grand jury on Wednesday decided to only charge one officer with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing his gun into a nearby apartment during the raid.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said the other two officers were “justified in their use of force” because Taylor’s boyfriend opened fire on officers when they made entry into the apartment.
Cameron said despite officers obtaining a no-knock warrant, his investigation uncovered one witness who heard the officers knock and identify themselves, disputing earlier reports a no-knock warrant was served.
Protests erupted across the country following the decision, and more than 127 people were arrested in Louisville overnight Wednesday.
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