5 events that highlight Louisville police’s racist past
Before Breonna Taylor: A short history of rampant racism by Louisville police
Welcome to The Breaking Point, a weekly newsletter that explores the historical legacies of injustice based on the news cycle and culture trends to understand what in the world is going on.
First, try to put last night’s hair-pulling and appalling presidential debate aside. Second, in case you’ve been living under a rock over the past few days, read The New York Times’ investigation of Donald Trump’s long-concealed tax records.
But that’s not why we’re here today. In this week’s newsletter, I want to talk about Breonna Taylor. More specifically, I want to dive into the long history of racism in Kentucky’s Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD). But instead of outlining these events like a history book, which is what I *normally* do, here’s a short list of appalling incidents that involve city politics, corruption, racism, and state policing.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
To refresh your memory: Early morning on March 13, Louisville Metro Police barged into Breonna Taylor’s apartment. The night before was her first night off as an emergency room technician after working a few consecutive days with 12-hour shifts, according to The Courier-Journal. She and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, were watching a movie and eventually fell asleep. Shortly before 1 a.m., a few loud knocks and sounds woke the couple. Walker yelled out asking who it was, but heard no response except for the door opening. Thinking it was a break in, Walker grabbed his gun and fired one shot as a warning. But the three officers — who did not announce their presence while performing a drug raid — returned a total of 32 shots, a few of which hit and killed Taylor.
On Monday, one of the police officers Brett Hankison, who was fired in June as a result of growing pressure from nationwide protests for Black lives, pleaded not guilty to three counts of “wanton endangerment,” which he was charged with last week for recklessly firing into a neighbor’s apartment. The other two officers, according to Kentucky Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, were justified in firing their shots because Walker shot first, despite his statement saying that he thought the police were intruders.
No one was arrested or charged for Breonna Taylor’s death. No justice was served.
Figure of the week: 750
The amount of dollars President Trump paid in federal income taxes in both 2016, when he was elected to office, and 2017, his first year in office. Prior to that, Trump paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years due to reportedly losing much more money than he made. (Source: The New York Times)
5 incidents that highlight Louisville police’s racist past
1. An investigation in the mid-1980s found some Jefferson County police officers to be Klan members.
In 1985, when word got out that a Black family bought a house in Sylvania, a small neighborhood in Louisville, Ku Klux Klan members threw a firebomb at the house. During an investigation of the firebombing, a Jefferson County police officer was exposed to be a Klan leader. During a deposition, the officer admitted to directing a 40-member Klan sub-group called the Confederate Officers Patriot Squad (COPS), half of which were police officers. The officer claimed the police department knew about his involvement and tolerated it as long as he didn’t publicize it. Read more on the case here.
2. In March 2000, the LMPD awarded two officers who fatally shot a Black man with exceptional valor.
In May 1999, Louisville police officers Chris Horn and Paul Kinkade fatally shot an unarmed Black man named Desmond Rudolph. The following year in March 2000, the Louisville Metro Police Department awarded both police officers with exceptional valor — an award presented to an officer who exhibited heroism or bravery, sparking citywide protests. Thanks to community pressure, Louisville Mayor Dave Armstrong fired Police Chief Gene Sherrard who presented the awards. In response, nine police officers stepped down while the rest marched to City Hall to protest the mayor’s action. Even the KKK held a rally in support of the fired Louisville police chief.
3. In January 2001, another unarmed Black man was killed. The police officer who shot him wasn’t indicted.
On January 9, 2001, Police Officer Johann Steimle fired 13 shots at Clifford Lewis, an unarmed 18-year-old Black man. According to an internal investigation, Lewis was driving an allegedly stolen minivan (it belonged to his cousin) and reportedly pinned the officer between two vehicles. Although Lewis was not carrying any weapons, the police said his car served as a weapon in that circumstance. The Jefferson County grand jury did not indict or charge Steimle, and he was cleared of any wrongdoing. Lewis’ family didn’t file a lawsuit until two years later on the grounds that Clifford Lewis’ death was caused by police negligence.
4. In 2016, a police officer was suspended for posting a racist meme on social media.
Derek Hale, a police sergeant for Louisville Metro Corrections, was suspended for reposting a racist meme on his personal Facebook page. The meme (which I refuse to post here) shows a white police officer standing in front of a police car with text that says, “If we really wanted you dead all we’d have to do is stop patrolling your neighborhoods … and wait.” Hale, who removed himself off Facebook after, said in the caption “Ha … truth.”
5. It wasn’t just Breonna Taylor. This year, David McAtee was fatally shot in June by police and National Guard forces responding to gunfire.
David McAtee, known for his popular barbecue food stand, was killed in June at the height of nationwide protests for racial justice and an end to police brutality. According to The Courier-Journal, Louisville Metro Police and the National Guard, sent by President Trump to quell “the nation’s unrest,” were trying to break up a “large crowd” in the parking lot of Dino’s Food Mart. Despite the Kentucky governor publicly asking Louisville police to release a “significant” amount of body camera footage during the shooting, the mayor announced there wasn’t any. Two of the LMPD officers involved during the shooting were either not wearing any body cameras or failed to activate it.
These events highlight just a small fraction of Louisville’s problematic police history towards Black people.
If you wish to read more, Scott Cummings and Michael Price published a detailed report in the Journal of Black Studies that explores race relations and public policy in Louisville, Kentucky. Some additional reading from The Courier-Journal, 20-year-old letter to the editor 'has heightened relevance' amid Louisville protests today.
ps: shoutout to my girl terry nguyen for editing this at the last minute. subscribe to her brilllliant newsletter gen yeet, if you haven’t already.
Story breakers 📖
How ‘The Talk’ Is Evolving Inside Black Families Amid Protests by Joshua Jamerson, The Wall Street Journal
A Neighborhood’s Race Affects Home Values More Now Than in 1980 by Brentin Mock, Bloomberg CityLab
The Wasteland Underwater by Lise Olsen and David Hasemyer, Texas Observer
Pandemic Highlights Deep-Rooted Problems in Indian Health Service by Mark Walker, The New York Times
Virus’s unseen hot zone: The American farm by Laura Reiley and Beth Reinhard, The Washington Post
Editorial: An Examination of The Times’ failures on race, our apology and a path forward by The Times Editorial Board, Los Angeles Times
thanks for reading, and don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already. see you next week!
I'm finding this late and I really appreciate your pointing out the KKK involvement in the 80's at the sheriff's department, I actually think there are some more recent LEO whose connections to these types of groups (although I do believe in this case it was again the KKK). In case you weren't aware, the LMPD has yet to sign a consent decree and the mayor just cut several programs to ensure the police got a quarter of a billion dollars in next year's budget. The same week he requested the resignation of yet another chief of police. It's so depressing and it doesn't seem like it's necessarily looking a lot better. It's very difficult to find ways to be a good ally here because there's so much denial and complacency among citizens who believe they're liberals.