Louisville anti-racism protests resume amid tensions over Breonna Taylor ruling

Anti-racism rallies were held for the second night in Louisville, Kentucky, on Thursday after a grand jury decision not to bring homicide charges against officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said the panel had declined to bring any charges whatsoever against two of the three white policemen who fired into Taylor’s apartment on March 13. Cameron announced that the officers would not face charges for her death. Instead, only one of the them was charged for “wanton endangerment”.

The rallies on Thursday evening got off to a peaceful but tense start with Louisville police chief Robert Schroeder saying that he expected protests to continue for several days, and a nighttime curfew was extended through the weekend.

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Kentucky's largest city, with many of them raising their fists and chanting Taylor's name and "No justice, no peace."

The protesters marched past a National Guard checkpoint into downtown and after milling about in Jefferson Square Park, a gathering point for them in the heart of the city, the growing crowd walked peacefully along the city's Ohio River waterfront.

Louisville police said gatherings downtown were an unlawful assembly, ordering demonstrators to disperse. Officers could be heard yelling over loudspeakers for the protesters to go home or be subject to the use of chemical irritants.

American protesters demand justice for Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor was a young black woman in Louisville, who was killed by police during a raid in her apartment in March.

The grand jury decision about the officers involved in the Taylor’s death was decried by civil rights advocates as the latest miscarriage of justice.

Meanwhile, Gov. Andy Beshear led the calls to make public the evidence presented to the grand jury.

"We ought to be able to see the evidence and see the facts that led to that conclusion," Beshear told CNN on Thursday, saying he had asked the attorney general to post the evidence online.

"I trust the people of Kentucky with the truth. I trust them to be able to look at the facts, but they're not able to do that right now."

Taylor, 26, an aspiring nurse, was killed in front of her armed boyfriend after the three officers forced their way into her home with a search warrant in a drug trafficking investigation.

Her death became a symbol during months of daily protests against police brutality and racial injustice and in cities across the United States.

Similar protests have also been held in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington, Oakland, Philadelphia, Denver and Portland, Oregon, Seattle and Buffalo, New York.

Louisville’s protests on Wednesday remained peaceful until heavily armed police fired chemical irritants and “flash-bang” rounds to disperse the crowd. Reports said gunfire erupted from the crowd after the police attack.

Two officers were also shot and one suspect was arrested. The officers' injuries were "not life-threatening" and "both officers are undergoing treatment," Schroeder said.

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