“I was very upset,” Scott said. She said she was innocent of all charges and wanted an official sanctuary at the church before the curfew.
According to police, a group of protesters in downtown Louisville began “causing damage” – such as smashing the windows of a restaurant and throwing fire into the library – before a county-wide 9-hour curfew began.
“The protesters went to the first Unitarian church on 809 S44 Street. People gathered on the church property, which allowed them to stay there as the curfew expired,” a police statement said.
Scott said she was arrested at 8:58 pm, two minutes before the start of the curfew, when she and other protesters crossed the street for a sanctuary at the church.
“How was I able to break the curfew before the curfew began?” She asked.
The curfew, imposed by Mayor Greg Fisher Wednesday before Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced the grand jury’s decision in the Taylor case, does not apply to those traveling to chapels.
“In Bryona’s name, neither I nor my teenage daughter tried to burn the library our people needed,” Scott told a news conference Friday morning. “They’s some ridiculous accusations against us.”
Five minutes into the video, Scott and fellow demonstrators were stopped by a police team on the street between the street and the church.
“Where do you want us to go?” In the video, Scott yells at police, some in riot gear. Three minutes later an officer approached Scott.
“Mom recording your phone?” Said the officer.
“Yes, it is,” she replied.
“You may want to turn it off, so it’s not broken, okay? Stop it and put it in your pocket, okay? Okay, go ahead and turn it off and put it in your pocket, I’m trying to be as good as I can,” the officer said before cutting the video.
At a press conference on Friday afternoon, LMPD chief Robert Schroeder announced the “illegal assembly” as members of the protest group began vandalizing property.
“Even though it was before the curfew, people should be dispersed,” he said.
“Extra responsibility” to fight for justice
Scott defeated a 34-year-old officer in 2016 to become the first black woman in nearly 20 years to serve in the Kentucky Legislature. She is a Certified Anti-Racism Instructor and has a background in community organizing and civic engagement.
“I’m basically, so it’s natural,” she said of the protest, but the 48-year-old said she had never been arrested before Thursday night.
“I always actively tried to stay in that position,” she said. When asked if he regrets being arrested with his daughter on Thursday night, he said, “Of course not.”
“I decided to dedicate everything I did to her justice, and with Briona’s mother,” Scott said.
The Grand Jury announced Wednesday that it will not prosecute LMPD officials in connection with the death of Bryona Taylor. Instead, an officer who fired shots into her apartment was charged with first-degree unwanted accident because some of the shots went into a neighboring apartment.
When asked about the Jefferson County Grand Jury decision, she said “I, I was heartbroken, disappointed, but not surprised.” “Bryona Taylor, justice has not been done to her family and community.”
“The real heartbreaking thing is, ‘Mom, I wanted to be an EMT to help people and see things on the ground, but now I don’t know, because being an EMT doesn’t save Briona Taylor.’
Scott plans to continue the protest.
“I am a mother, I have communicated with Tamika Palmer, Breona’s mother, and I have a responsibility as a woman, a black woman, a mother to continue the fight,” she said.
Scott spoke to CNN before joining the Taylor family, their lawyers and social activists at a news conference calling on the Attorney General to release documents related to his office’s investigation into the case.
“This is just the beginning of our work going from protest to politics,” she told CNN.
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