LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — It’s peaceful in St. Matthews tonight (Wednesday, Sept. 23), as usual, despite the announcement of the grand jury findings in the Breonna Taylor case, which left only one of three police officers indicted for their involvement in the killing of Taylor. (The charge was first degree wanton endangerment, for firing shots outside Taylor’s apartment.) My wife, Jeri, and I “defied” the curfew, in place throughout Louisville, but we saw no protestors, no police, on our post-9 p.m. walk. No surprise for this upper middle-class, predominantly Catholic, overwhelmingly white neighborhood, east of downtown Louisville.
The action tonight was in the Highlands, a liberal enclave, and downtown, where most of the protests have taken place in the six months since Taylor, an unarmed 26-year-old Black woman, was shot to death by police and became a symbol of racial injustice, along with George Floyd. (Early reports indicate two Louisville police officers were shot downtown tonight.)
As is the case on most Louisville neighborhoods, St. Matthews is dotted with “Black Lives Matter” signs. Our block has one Trump sign and three BLM signs, including ours, made by a kindergartner who had drawn one for his own house down the block. Peaceful protestors in the Highlands, White and Black, were met with force tonight by the police, and if the response of one of the protestors and her mother, both White, is typical, police overreaction is feeding anger and defiance among middle class White folks.
Here’s what Peggy posted after she and her daughter, Hannah, joined the protest.
We decided to walk with protestors at the urging of someone with a megaphone. All was peaceful…until (Louisville police) in riot gear blocked us in on both sides. Protestors called for white allies up front. So Hannah and I went. Then we moved to the sidewalk as directed. The police began marching down the sidewalk and pushing protestors into the street. Hannah and I got separated as tear gas began going off (which Hannah has since told me may have been pepper spray bullets). While on the sidewalk a policeman pushed Hannah into the street. Another policeman screamed at her to get on the sidewalk. She informed him she was on the sidewalk until a cop pushed her into the street. At that point, three cops began hitting Hannah in the face with wooden batons. Another protestor came to shield her. She’s fine (pissed and a little sore).
Yes, protestors were in the street. It’s been a disheartening day for them. They deserve to march wherever they want, peacefully, and express their grief, anger, etc.
The show of force by (Louisville police) was unnecessary. It created havoc. Having a first-hand view confirms for me everything #502Livestreamers have been sharing.
My heart was racing/breaking and my eyes stinging. I have no idea how protestors and #502livestreamers have sustained this for over 100 days. #respect #BLM #BreonnaTaylor.
If Peggy’s response is typical – and I’ve heard similar remarks from other White Louisvillians – the city’s inconsistent and often out-of-control response to protests is radicalizing a substantial segment of the community – White and Black. They disapprove of the vandalism that has accompanied some of the protests, but that hasn’t weakened their overall anger about police misconduct and their growing understanding of systemic racism.
Who knows: This response might even reach bucolic St. Matthews.
*
Michael Ginsberg is a freelance writer based in Louisville, Kentucky.