Charges dropped against Kentucky politician arrested in Breonna Taylor protests
Attica Scott was arrested trying to get curfew refuge at a church
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Your support makes all the difference.Charges have been dropped against a Kentucky politician who was arrested in protests over the decision not to charge police in Breonna Taylor’s killing.
Lawmaker Attica Scott and 17 other protesters had charges against them for their September arrests dismissed in a Louisville court.
Kentucky Representative Scott was among a score of people arrested by Louisville Metro Police just before the city’s 9pm curfew during unrest in the city.
They were among a group trying to enter a church that was providing refuge after the curfew came into effect.
Ms Taylor was a black medical worker who was shot and killed during a botched raid on her apartment by police in Louisville.
A grand jury indicted a former Louisville police officer in September for wanton endangerment, to which he pleaded not guilty, sparking demonstrations in the city.
Two other officers who also fired shots faced no charges and none of the three were charged for the actual killing of Ms Taylor.
Ms Scott, the only black woman in the state’s legislature, took to Twitter to announce the charges against her had been dropped.
“ALL CHARGES HAVE JUST BEEN DROPPED! Thank you to all of our justice seekers, people who called, emailed and tagged the County Attorney on social media. You got it done!” she tweeted.
“Our work continues as we seek justice for Breonna Taylor.”
Ms Scott’s daughter, Ashani Scott, and racial justice activist Shameka Parrish-Wright also had charges against them dropped.
"While I am grateful that the misdemeanour charges were dropped, I know that this is not justice for Breonna Taylor," said Ms Scott.
"So we still have work to do. We also have 500 of our comrades who are still facing bogus, unnecessary charges so we've got to make sure we get those charges dropped as well.”
Ms Scott’s lawyer, Ted Shouse, said the charges were dropped by the county attorney because the police had no cause to make the arrests
"I think there's no other way to interpret it as these arrests are not warranted," said Mr Shouse.
"There's no other way to see this other than a recognition by the county attorney's office that these arrests never should have been made.”
Ms Scott had been charged with felony first-degree rioting and misdemeanour failure to disperse and unlawful assembly.
The felony charge was dropped in October but the lesser charges had remained in place.
The Jefferson county attorney’s office and LMPD have not commented.
"It was political retaliation," added Ms Scott.
"They knew exactly who they were arresting, that they had several of the folks who have been providing leadership at Jefferson Square, that they had the primary sponsor of Breonna's Law for Kentucky."
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