As protestors across the country took to the streets to demonstrate this weekend, police responses to the protestors have grown increasingly forceful. On Sunday night, Louisville police officers shot and killed a man during a protest against police brutality in the city.
Sparked by the death of George Floyd by police, protestors in Louisville had gathered in the parking lot of a supermarket Sunday night. In a press conference, Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) Chief Steve Conrad explained that his officers and the National Guard were called to the scene at the supermarket after midnight and when they arrived, they were met with a spray of bullets. LMPD and the National Guard fired back into the crowd, and one man was pronounced dead at the scene. A local media outlet has confirmed that the victim was a 53-year old man who owned a local BBQ spot, David McAtee. According to friends and family from various reports, McAtee was a good person, who was known to give police officers free meals. His mother called him a "community pillar."
Police officers in Louisville - Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
Conrad added that the LMPD is currently interviewing people of interest in the case, and will keep the public updated on the investigation. Conrad acknowledged, “I think it's very, very clear that many people do not trust the police. That is an issue that we're going to have to work on and work through for a long time.”
The civil unrest from residents in Louisville comes in solidarity of both George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the 26-year-old Louisville woman brutally shot and killed in her home by LMPD in March.