A Kentucky state representative was among two dozen people arrested while protesting in Louisville on Thursday night.
Rep. Attica Scott is the author of legislation known as “Breonna’s Law,” which would ensure that officers executing search warrants in the state would have to physically knock and verbally announce themselves.
Scott is Kentucky’s only Black female legislator.
She and her daughter, Ashanti, were both charged with first-degree rioting, a Class D felony, as well as failure to disperse and unlawful assembly.
WDRB in Louisville is reporting that Louisville Metropolitan Police are accusing Scott of being part of a group that caused damage at multiple locations. According to LMPD Sgt. Lamont Washington, marchers broke windows at a local steakhouse and the Louisville Free Public Library.
A window was broken out at the library, and a small fire was started inside.
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The two dozen protesters were arrested near the Louisville Free Public Library.
Officials with the LFPL’s union, AFSCME Local 3425, posted a statement on Facebook defending Scott and others: “Representative Scott has consistently been a vocal supporter of libraries and library workers and has been an ally specifically to our union through many battles.”
“We have seen no proof that the fire thrown into the library has done any major damage, nor that Representative Scott had anything to do with it,” the statement continued, “and find these accusations inconsistent with her character and the constant support we have received from her.”
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The union wrote that it continues “to stand in support with protesters demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, and we send all our love to Representative Attica Scott and the protesters arrested with her.”
Activist Shameka Parrish-Wright was also arrested on the same charges. Parrish-Wright is the operations manager of The Bail Project Louisville, which works to combat mass incarceration by paying bail for people in need.
Ted Shouse, Parrish-Wright’s attorney, said neither she nor Scott had anything to do with damaging the city’s main library.
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