Demonstrators protesting the decision by a grand jury in Breonna Taylor’s case on Thursday clashed with counterprotesters in Louisville, USA Today reported.
On Wednesday a grand jury decided not to indict the three Louisville Metro Police officers on charges related to 26-year-old Taylor’s death in March. One officer was charged on three counts of wanton endangerment for firing shots into nearby apartments.
Protesters — who had for months called for justice in Taylor’s killing — took to the streets again after the announcement Wednesday. Hundreds were arrested Wednesday evening alone, authorities reported.
Another two dozen people were arrested early Friday morning for allegedly damaging business and government property. At one point Thursday night the Black Lives Matter protesters clashed with roughly a dozen armed counterprotesters, USA Today reported.
“We’re not here to start nothing,” one man wearing military-style garb and carrying long guns told USA Today. The group reportedly claimed they were there to protect businesses from looting.
On their website, the group described themselves as “a nonpartisan association of current and formerly serving military, police and first responders” whose goal is to “defend the Constitution.” The Southern Poverty Law Center lists them as “one of the largest radical anti-government groups in the U.S.”
Dozens of protesters were arrested Thursday after 10 p.m., an hour after Mayor Greg Fischer’s (D) curfew. It’s unclear if any counterprotesters were arrested.
Kentucky state Rep. Attica Scott (D), the lawmaker who proposed a bill that would ban no-knock warrants like the one officers used to enter Taylor’s home, was reportedly among those arrested.
One man dressed in a camouflage helmet and a green vest told reporters he was a member of the “Oath Keepers” and had come to Louisville from North Carolina, USA Today reported.
Updated at 10:05 a.m.