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Kentucky’s sole black legislator arrested on felony rioting charges at Breonna Taylor protests

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PHOTO CREDITS: BRYAN WOOLSTON/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK 

Kentucky’s sole black legislator, Rep. Attica Scott, was arrested on felony rioting charges at protests Thursday following the Breonna Taylor decision last week. 

Scott was arrested along with a handful of other protesters accused of starting a fire at the Louisville Public Library “not far from the church,” according to the LMPD police report. Scott was charged with rioting in the first degree, failure to disperse, and unlawful assembly. Rep. Scott is notably sponsoring a bill in the state legislature she calls “Brianna’s Law,” which would outlaw no-knock warrants across the state and “require officers to take a drug and alcohol screening following a deadly incident or after they discharge their firearm while on duty,” reported by Wave News.

On Wednesday, a grand jury decided not to charge any of the officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor. The grand jurors did, however, idict a former detective, Brett Hankinson, on three counts of “wanton endangerment,” claiming he endangered the lives of those living in neighboring apartments of Taylor. Shortly after the grand jury’s decision to not charge any officers, protesters took to the streets to express their discontent. Later that night, two LMPD officers were shot and are currently recovering.

According to the Courier Journal, Scott was released from Metro Corrections center on Friday on “recognizance bond”. Scott is expected to be arraigned October 6th. State Rep. Josie Raymond tweeted Thursday night “If you arrest the loudest voices fighting racial injustice in Louisville, we have to believe you want to silence the fight against racial injustice.” AFSCME Local 3425 put out a statement on facebook that read, “We have seen no proof that the flare thrown into the library has done any major damage, nor that Representative Scott had anything to do with it, and find these accusations inconsistent with her character and the constant support we have received from her.”

ARTICLE: YULIANIE HERNANDEZ 

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