Stay off his lawn: KY Attorney General delivers a message to protesters now facing felony charges

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron delivered a powerful message to protesters seeking justice for Breonna Taylor Tuesday evening. The message is to stay off his lawn.

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When the angry mob shows up at a public official’s home, it is normal for his reaction to be the same as any other person. The basic instinct to protect family and personal property kicks in. The same happened to AG Cameron when protesters showed up at his home to demand that arrests be made in the case of Breonna Taylor. Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American EMT was shot at least eight times during the no-knock search. When the nearly blank incident report was released, her injuries were listed as “none” and to the question of forced entry, the “no” box was checked. Witnesses say a battering ram was used as Breonna slept, and crime scene photos show it. This happened in March and the police officers involved have not been arrested. So, this story has been a part of the larger picture of African-Americans killed at the hands of police.

The police wrote that it was a Public Integrity Unit (PIU) investigation as a reason for the fatal raid. There still are no answers, which feeds the anger of the protesters. They marched from a high school in Louisville to the home of AG Cameron. Many of them sat or stood on Cameron’s front lawn. The group called Until Freedom organized the protest and instructed participants on what to do if arrested. One of the leaders of the group is on video threatening that if they are not satisfied, then the number of protesters will “triple or quadruple” next time. There were “legal observers” present to monitor arrests. It is reported by local media that loudspeakers were used to get the message out by the protesters, including addressing Cameron’s neighbors. Clearly, this was all about goading police into making arrests to publicize the demands of the demonstrators.

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As you can see in the video, they were in his yard and were rather close to his front door. Who wouldn’t call the police? As I said, they knew arrests were likely for their trespassing because they were prepared with the observers, wearing red t-shirts with “Legal Observer” printed on the back of the shirts to identify them. The AG obliged them. Now 87 of them are facing felony charges. Louisville Metro Police Department issued a statement, as did AG Cameron.

“In total, 87 people were arrested,” LMPD said in their statement. “Due to their refusal to leave the property and their attempts to influence the decision of the Attorney General with their actions, each person was charged with Intimidating a Participant in a Legal Process (Class D felony), Disorderly Conduct 2nd Degree (Class B misdemeanor), and Criminal Trespass 3rd Degree. (Violation).”

Cameron said his office will “continue with a thorough and fair investigation” into Taylor’s death and said the protest “will not alter our pursuit of the truth.”

“The stated goal of today’s protest at my home was to ‘escalate,'” Cameron added. “That is not acceptable and only serves to further division and tension within our community. Justice is not achieved by trespassing on private property, and it’s not achieved through escalation. It’s achieved by examining the facts in an impartial and unbiased manner. That is exactly what we are doing and will continue to do in this investigation.”

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Cameron, the first Republican elected to the office since World War II and the first African-American Attorney General of Kentucky, is showing he will not be intimated by the social justice mobs. This is a message that more local elected officials should be sending out. Actions have been taken against police officers involved in the death of Ms. Taylor, but no arrests.

Det. Brett Hankison, one of three officers involved in the raid on Taylor’s home, was fired for misconduct that night. The other two, Sgt. Jon Mattingly and Det. Myles Cosgrove, were placed on administrative reassignment following the raid.

Since her death, Louisville has banned no-knock warrants and legislation is being drafted to ban them statewide.

There has not been a timeline of the on-going investigation released, which frustrates advocates for Taylor. The Louisville City Council took action Tuesday night to launch their own investigation into how the death of Taylor has been handled.

The Louisville Metro Council opted Tuesday night to launch an investigation into Mayor Greg Fischer, his administration and the city’s police department, WLKY reports. All 11 members of the Government Oversight Committee voted to approve a probe of several issues related to Taylor’s death, the Louisville Police Department’s handling of ongoing protests and other matters.

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2017 Women’s March co-organizer/activist Tamika Mallory was among the protesters. Mallory last made some news during the George Floyd protest in Houston. She was flown in from NYC to deliver a speech which turned into a screed against President Trump, Republicans, Israel, and race-baiting. The protesters brought along a D-List Bravo celebrity for effect. Porsha Williams, from the “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” was arrested along with the others. I don’t imagine the observers had to instruct her on what to do when she got arrested, though. She’s the granddaughter of Hosea Williams, a civil rights activist and part of MLK, Jr.’s inner circle. Williams has been active in the Atlanta BLM protests.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta star was booked at 7:54pm local time on three charges: intimidating a participant in legal process, second-degree disorderly conduct and third-degree criminal trespassing. Later in the day a friend of Porsha’s star posted footage to social media of her leaving a facility to a bunch of loud cheers from the crowd.

Porsha posted a very powerful Instagram photo in the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 15, where she posed with Breonna’s mother Tamika Palmer. “It was my pleasure!,” she captioned. “I love you and as always praying for you Ms.Tamika Palmer (Mother of #BreonnaTaylor) Ps: Thank you for waiting on us to get out! It was heart warming exiting and seeing your family @untilfreedom it was an honor.”

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The push for mob rule is everywhere this summer. It’s time for strong messages to be sent that mob rule is not how the legal system works in America. Instead of appeasing the demonstrators and angry mobs, it’s time for spines to stiffen and for elected officials to push back against the aggression and intimidation being used.

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