Armed Black militia members marched in Louisville to demand the truth of Breonna Taylor's death but 3 members were injured by an accidentally shooting
Saturday, July 25, 2020
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| Bryan Woolston/Reuters |
VietPress USA (July 25, 2020): Black militia member accidentally shoots his comrades during face off with Three Percenters in Louisville - as leader demands truth about Breonna Taylor's death in four weeks 'or we'll burn this motherf****r down'
At least three people were wounded when a gun 'accidentally fired' by black militia members in Louisville
According to Spectrum News 1, “Black pants, black button-down shirt, black masks, shotgun, semi-automatic or rifle. Pistols, hide holsters are under your arm. If you’re not in that uniform, won’t be in the formation. Period,” said NFAC leader Grandmaster Jay during a video post announcing the date the formation will happen in Louisville.
He and other NFAC members will not be messing around with their first and second amendment rights, as both will be on full display as they plan to go to Metro City Hall this weekend.
Fred Morris, an Atlanta-based freelance photographer, documented the pro-Black militia’s formation at Stone Mountain in Georgia on July 4 this year.
“From everything I saw, everything was peaceful. There was no kind of violence or threats or anything like that against any other people,” Morris told Spectrum News 1.
In a YouTube video where Jay made the Louisville formation announcement, he said this isn’t a protest, demonstration or march, but it’s a formation made up of NFAC members in uniform open carrying. Jay made it clear in the video that only those who know how to shoot a gun, have fired a gun, are NFAC members or who want to be inducted the day of can participate.
“Everybody else, this ain’t no spectator sport. You can come out if you want to and watch history. That’s cool, but understand the seriousness of the situation,” Jay said. “Breonna Taylor was murdered in her home. The conversations are still on going. I’m not going to reveal the details. However, I’ve got to move. I’ve got a move on this one,” Jay added.
This week, Jay, Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Louisville Metro Council President David James had a conference call.
“The conversation was productive. Attorney General Cameron discussed his continued commitment to moving forward with our office’s independent and thorough investigation into the death of Ms. Taylor,” said Attorney General spokesperson Elizabeth Kuhn via email".
Read this news from Yahoo News at: https://news.yahoo.com/gunshots-fired-rival-militias-face-173049099.html
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Three Injured as Rival Armed Militias Converge on Louisville
Louisville police confirmed three people were injured when a gun discharged as members of the “Not Fucking Around Coalition,” an all-Black militia, gathered in Baxter Park shortly before 1 p.m.
A spokesperson for the police department described the shooting to The Daily Beast as “negligent” and said there were “no charges at this time” and no outstanding suspects.
The victims, all of whom were members of the NFAC, were transferred to the University of Louisville Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.
The NFAC’s founder, Atlanta-based rapper and DJ John “Jay” Johnson, said in a YouTube video that the march was a response to the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers serving a no-knock warrant on her apartment in March. Her death and those of other Black Americans sparked widespread protests this summer over racism and police violence.
Members of the Kentucky ‘Three Percenters’ militia line up as the all-Black militia group called NFAC hold an armed rally. Bryan Woolston/Reuters
The “Three Percenter” far-right militia group also called on members to be present on Saturday to act as an ad-hoc security force during the rally, sparking fear among residents of clashes between the two militias.
The group is known for its support of gun rights and opposition to government “tyranny,” and for its presence at white supremacist rallies like Unite the Right in Charlottesville. A Kentucky-based Three Percenter group held a rally in May, over gun rights, where they hung an effigy of Gov. Andy Beshear from a tree with a noose.
The NFAC was formed this summer by Johnson, who refers to himself as the “Official Grand Master Jay.” He previously assembled about 1,000 militia members to march through Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park in protest of a confederate monument there. For Saturday’s rally, he asked members to arrive armed and dressed in black.
About 500 NFAC members—some from as far away as Oregon—answered the call, according to reporters on the ground, gathering in Baxter Park Saturday morning before marching to Jefferson Square Park.
Dozens of Three Percenters also showed up in camouflage and carrying guns. They had a noticeably smaller turnout, with some participants referring to them as the One Percenters because of their small show of force.
Black Lives Matter protesters, unaffiliated with either group, also showed up to protest. By 11:30 a.m., before NFAC had even started their march, police in riot gear had erected a barricade to separate the Three Percenters from Black Lives Matter protesters, which did not stop the opposing sides from chanting and yelling at each other.
One Black Lives Matter protester who tried to walk through the police barricade was arrested, according to videos posted on Twitter by Courier-Journal reporter Hayes Gardner.
Shots rang out as the NFAC gathered in Baxter Park shortly before 1 p.m., and medics arrived on the scene minutes later. The NFAC ordered members to take a knee as the situation developed. Lt. Col. Bruce Himes of the Louisville Fire Department later thanked the protesters in a press conference for letting medics access the victims swiftly.
The Louisville Metropolitan Police Department said an investigation into the incident was ongoing.
“This is a tragic situation that could have been much worse,” Chief Robert Schroeder said in a statement. “I encourage anyone exercising their Second Amendment Rights to do so responsibly.”
The rest of the event continued peacefully. The NFAC continued with its planned march to Jefferson Square Park around 2:30 p.m. and dispersed about two hours later. Deputy Chief of Police LaVita Chavous said in press conference that there were “no instances of violence and damage today” besides the shooting, but also said that five people had been arrested for disorderly conduct, obstruction of highway, and menacing.
Hannah Drake, a local activist, poet, and author, said the day was peaceful and there was a minimal turnout by Three Percenters.
“It's very easy to say things behind a screen but when the rubber meets the road they didn't show up," she told The Daily Beast.
Tensions in Louisville were already high after a 27-year-old photographer was shot and killed last month during another protest against Taylor’s death. (Officials say another demonstrator unintentionally shot the photographer, Tyler Gerth, during a disturbance at the protest. The man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and first degree wanton endangerment.) Experts said the dueling militias would likely exacerbate the situation.
“I am deathly afraid of a street war,” extremism expert J.J. MacNab previously told WFPL News. “We’ve got too many opposing factions who are all too heavily armed.”
Paramedics push a stretcher after shot rang out during the demonstration by NFAC.
Bryan Woolston/Reuters
Taylor, an EMT who worked for two local hospitals, and her boyfriend were asleep in their apartment on March 13 when three officers executed a “no-knock” search warrant looking for a suspected drug dealer who lived in a different part of town. Her boyfriend fired a warning shot as he thought they were being burglarized. It prompted officers to return fire at least a dozen times.
Authorities obtained the warrant to raid Taylor’s home because they claimed she used to date the suspected drug dealer and was receiving mail on his behalf. However, her family have argued in a lawsuit that there was no evidence to show Taylor or her boyfriend had any link to drug dealing or any criminal history of drugs of violence.
One officer has been fired for his role in obtaining the warrant and the Louisville Metro Police Department said it would no longer use “no-knock” warrants. However, protesters have demanded all three officers be charged.
In a tweet Saturday, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said he understood the desire for truth and asked for that—not violence—to be the focus of the protests.
“We continue to work diligently in pursuit of the truth by conducting an independent investigation into the death of Ms. Taylor,” he wrote.
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