Louisville police reportedly made nearly 100 arrests Wednesday night amid the rioting that followed the grand jury decision to charge only one officer in connection with the fatal police shooting of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor.
A suspect accused of shooting two Louisville police officers during the riots is in police custody and has been identified as Larynzo Johnson, 26. Johnson has been charged with wanton endangerment and assault of a police officer.
Shots were fired at around 8:30 p.m. while Louisville police officers were conducting crowd control operations “in response to an unruly mob that had set fires, caused property damage and failed to disperse after being warned,” according to the post-arrest complaint filed in Jefferson County.
Some of the gunfire was caught on video.
https://twitter.com/FJNewsReporter/status/1308931145145479168?s=20
Johnson “intentionally used a handgun to fire multiple bullets at officers,” the complaint said.
Two officers were struck by bullets causing serious physical injury. Police said witnesses spotted Johnson firing a handgun at officers and running from the scene.
The complaint said he was also in possession of a handgun at the time of his arrest and law enforcement recovered video of the shooting showing the suspect fire at officers.
Dozens of antifa/BLM rioters were arrested for violations such as damaging businesses, jumping on city vehicles being used as barricades, and for refusing to orders to disperse. Police said several businesses were looted early Thursday, but is wasn’t clear if any looters were arrested.
The U-Haul truck captured on video distributing supplies in Louisville for the rioters case, is reportedly tied to the Louisville Bail Initiative, a left-wing activist group connected to George Soros.
Unloading the riot shields from the Uhaul #Louisville #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/F9KqzRB5lM
— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) September 23, 2020
In relation to the shooting, Interim Louisville Police Chief Robert Schroeder said both officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were in stable condition.
“I am very concerned about the safety of our officers,” Schroeder said at a press conference around 10 p.m. ET. “Recently, we’ve had two officers shot tonight and that is very serious, that is a very dangerous position. I think the safety of our officers and the community we serve is of the utmost importance.”
Former detective Brett Hankison was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment for showing “extreme indifference to human life” when he fired his gun into three apartments. The charges were not for killing Taylor, but for putting her neighbors in danger.
A Louisville police sergeant slammed the city’s leadership in an email he sent to more than 1,000 of his colleagues, Tuesday morning.
In the six-paragraph email, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly blamed Mayor Greg Fischer, Public Safety Chief Amy Hess and former Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad for failing “all of us in epic proportions for their own gain and to cover their asses.”
New: LMPD Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly (who is being investigated as part of Breonna Taylor’s case) sent an email to around 1,000 officers at 2am that calls protestors thugs, complains about the government enforcing civil rights violations, and claims this is "good versus evil” pic.twitter.com/VcuyPDP790
— Roberto Aram Ferdman (@robferdman) September 22, 2020
“You DO NOT DESERVE to be in this position,” he wrote. “The position that allows thugs to get in your face and yell, curse and degrade you. Throw bricks bottles and urine on you and expect you to do nothing.”
Mattingly is the officer who was was wounded during the shootout in Brionna Taylor’s apartment on March 13.
Fired officer Brett Hankison was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree for firing rounds into Taylor’s neighbor’s apartment, endangering their lives. None of the officers were charged in connection to Taylor’s death.
Mattingly said that he and other officers “did the legal, moral and ethical thing that night” when they fired their weapons after being fired upon while while trying to search Taylor’s apartment as part of a narcotics investigation.
Mattingly also warned that the FBI, which he said “aren’t cops,” would open civil rights investigations against officers for making a mistake during a stressful time.
“Your civil rights mean nothing,” he wrote, “but the criminal has total autonomy.”
“Regardless of the outcome (of the Kentucky attorney general’s decision) today or Wednesday, I know we did the legal, moral and ethical thing that night,” Mattingly wrote to his colleagues. “It’s sad how the good guys are demonized, and the criminals are canonized.”