A man was fatally wounded on Saturday night by gunshot during a demonstration against racism under the banner “Black Lives Matter” in Louisville, in the center of the United States, where the death in March of a black woman, killed by the police in his apartment had provoked intense emotion.
The death of Breonna Taylor was followed by numerous demonstrations against police violence, which then took on an unprecedented scale with the death of George Floyd, an African-American asphyxiated by a white police officer on May 25.
Local Louisville police, alerted by a call, said they had found a man seriously injured by gunfire in Jefferson Square Park, where the protest was being held.
“The police tried to save him, but without success,” said the police on Twitter.
Shortly afterwards, another person was shot in front of the park. Police said they did not know if there was a single shooter or two, and gave no details on the victims.
Earlier in the evening, the city’s mayor, Greg Fischer, asked the counter-demonstrators to stay away from the park. The Louisville Courrier Journal had indeed revealed that “armed patriotic groups” intended to confront the demonstrators.
The Black Lives Matter events have been particularly lively in Louisville since the death of Breonna Taylor. The 26-year-old nurse was at home with her partner when three police officers knocked on her door without warning.
The officers, equipped with a search warrant, were acting on an erroneous wanted poster concerning a suspect who no longer lived in the building and who was already detained. They hit the young woman with at least eight bullets.
–
