The protest began firing on Saturday around nine in the evening local time (today around 03:00 CEST). Police tried to resuscitate the affected man, but he died. Shortly afterwards, there were reports of another person being shot, who is now in hospital with injuries, but is out of life threatening. Police have not yet released further information on the incident.
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“It is tragic that this area of peaceful protest has now become a crime scene,” said Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.
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The shooting park has been the center of demonstrations for weeks since the deaths of Taylor and another black man, George Floyd. He died after a harsh intervention by a white police officer. Floyd’s death provoked an exceptionally strong and widespread wave of protests in the United States and elsewhere in the world, bringing to the fore public attention to other cases of black deaths following police intervention.
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Taylor was shot dead by police with eight bullets when she broke into her apartment without notice on suspicion of drug dealing. However, her boyfriend considered them criminals and started shooting at them. Police returned fire and hit Taylor eight times, who was sleeping in the next room. No drugs were found in the apartment.
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Protesters are demanding the prosecution of three intervening police officers for Taylor’s death. None of them is facing any charges yet, one of them only lost his job. In response to the case, the Louisville city government has banned a type of court permit that allows police officers to break into the suspects’ homes without prior notice.
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