KEY POINTS

  • State Rep. Attica Scott was arrested as Louisville, Kentucky, police surrounded a church where protesters were taking shelter 
  • Scott was charged with first-degree rioting, a felony. If convicted she would be unable to vote under Kentucky law
  • Police were on the scene after a flare was thrown into a library. The state worker's union has said there is no evidence she was involved

Police in Louisville arrested protesters taking shelter at a church, including the state legislature’s only Black woman representative. Rep. Attica Scott was arrested along with 22 other protesters, including her daughter and Shameka Parrish-Wright, co-chair for Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, 89.3 WFPL reports.

Scott sponsored legislation named after Taylor that would ban no-knock warrants such as the one that led to her death.

The legislator, her daughter, and Parish-Wright were charged with first-degree rioting, unlawful assembly, and failure to disperse. First-degree rioting is a felony, which under Kentucky law would prevent Scott, a Democrat, from voting if convicted.

The charge is also notable for being the same degree of felony as those made against former LMPD officer Brett Hankison for his part in the killing of Breonna Taylor, the announcement that sparked the protests. Hankison's bullets did not kill Taylor but went into adjacent appartments.

Police surrounded the First Unitarian Church when protesters took shelter there after a 9 p.m. curfew went into effect. Places of worship are among the locations not affected by the curfew.

LMPD spokesperson Jessie Halladay told WFPL that officers declared the march an unlawful assembly following “several incidents of destruction.” A flare had earlier been thrown into a library down the street, and officers who had remained on the scene moved to disperse the protest and make arrests.

“People went to the church as a safe place, others failed to disperse. Once we clear out people will be allowed to leave and go home,” she said.

Police, however, continued to surround the property for two hours until they allowed protesters to leave at 11 p.m. Wednesday’s protests following the announcement of no charges against two of the three officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s death marked the highest nightly rate of arrests since the start of the trial, with 127 people taken into custody.

A statement released by the state workers’ union challenged the assertion that Scott had anything to do with the vandalism and flare.

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