A Louisville diner pulled a gun on armed Black Lives Matter protesters surrounding an upscale restaurant during a demonstration for Breonna Taylor.
Confrontation between patrons at La Chasse and protesters. pic.twitter.com/iUFKA9zWvY
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) May 2, 2021
The demonstrators were marching to Churchill Downs ahead of the 147th Kentucky Derby, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Video footage tweeted by a reporter at the newspaper shows the unidentified diner at La Chasse restaurant pointing his gun at the protesters who were confronting him.
Some protesters intervened and urged the demonstrators to keep moving down the block. Police arrived a short time later, the paper reported.
Louisville Metro Police spokesperson Alicia Smiley confirmed to Fox News that the protesters were also armed. Kentucky is an open carry state, according to the NRA.
“During the encounter both patrons and protesters brandished firearms,” Smiley told the outlet.
At least five people were arrested in connection with the protest. Charges include possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, and first-degree wanton endangerment of an officer, Fox said.
No gun violence was reported.
The Justice Department announced last month that it is opening a sweeping probe into policing in Louisville, Kentucky, over the March 2020 death of Breonna Taylor who was shot by police during a drug raid at her home.
More than 230 police officers have either retired, resigned or been fired since 2020, according to The New York Post.