A man was shot and killed by police and National Guard troops in Louisville, Kentucky, early Monday morning around 12:15 am. Authorities were breaking up a gathering in front of a food market that violated the city’s 9 pm curfew. Fifty-three-year-old David McAtee was killed by the police and soldiers.
Two of the cops who allegedly shot McAtee failed to turn their body cameras on, and the Louisville police chief was fired by the mayor for his officers’ failure. The cops claim somebody in the crowd fired first, but no evidence has yet been presented to substantiate that claim.
“I don’t know what happened, but whatever happened here, my brother didn’t do nothing wrong. He was an innocent person, and innocent bystander. He did not deserve this at all,” McAtee’s sister told local reporters.
McAtee’s sister also said the gathering was not related to the protests that have been happening in Louisville and across the country. She said people meet in that area every week to eat food and listen to music. McAtee was helping to serve food since he owned a barbecue restaurant next door. Locals told reporters McAtee often served food to cops, sometimes free of charge, and said, “he was a giving man.”
Odessa Riley, McAtee’s mother, also spoke with reporters. “My son was a good son. All he did on that barbecue corner is try to make a dollar for himself and his family,” she said. “And they come along and they killed my son.”
A cell phone video from a car nearby the gathering shows police and soldiers with rifles drawn. In the video, gunshots are heard and the security forces duck behind vehicles to take cover.
People in Louisville are still reeling from the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT who was killed during a no-knock raid by Louisville PD earlier this year. Taylor’s boyfriend was recently released from prison after being detained for firing on the cops who raided the couples’ apartment. All available evidence shows he had no idea they were police.
National Guard units have been activated all across the country to quell protests and to enforce curfews. President Trump and other US officials are calling for the active-duty military to be deployed if states fail to end the unrest.
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