George Floyd protests in Kentucky

People protested outside the Bowling Green Police Department the evening of May 29.[6] During the protest, a 24-year-old man hit a protester with his pickup truck and was arrested;[6] police stated that he "had plenty of room... to avoid hitting protesters," and that when they asked if his vehicle had hit the protester, the man replied, "Probably so, there were protesters blocking the fucking road, they deserved to be hit, anyone would."[6] He was arrested, charged with wanton endangerment in the first degree (a felony in Kentucky), and taken to Warren County Regional Jail.[6][7]

About 140 people attended a peaceful protest on June 4, with some hecklers calling the group "race traitors" and displaying the Confederate flag.[8]

Dozens attended an "uneventful" protest happened on May 31. City officials enacted a curfew.[9]

On June 6, hundreds of protesters walked for two miles along Dixie Highway to the Elsmere Police Department to support George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.[10]

On June 6, over 200 people gathered for a peaceful rally in Virginia Park, where a group of speakers addressed inequalities and called for change.[11]

On May 31, several hundred protesters gathered downtown for the third night in a row. At one point late Sunday, dozens of officers "took a knee" with protesters who were chanting "Kneel with us! Kneel with us!"[12] On June 5, the sixth day of protests in downtown Lexington, members of the Kentucky football team, wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts and led by their head coach, Mark Stoops marched to demand racial justice and equality.[13] On June 7, a fight occurred at the intersection of East Maxwell and South Limestone when a white male passenger got out of an Uber vehicle and confronted protesters.[14] On June 12, Students, faculty, and staff from the University of Kentucky Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Health Sciences, Public Health and Social Work all got on one knee in remembrance of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmad Arbery and to show support to end systemic racism.[15]

On July 11, at a protest rally calling for police accountability and an end to systemic racism, five anti-racism protesters were arrested by the Lexington Police Department (LPD).[16] The event was co-organized by the United Campus Workers of Kentucky, Movement for Black Lives UK, and Cooperation Lexington. The rally was thus composed of UK campus workers, including UK faculty and staff, UK students, and Lexington community organizers and activists. The event proceeded according to plan until officers of the LPD confronted participants upon their entering the street to march in protest and threatened them with arrest. This was the first time the LPD had criminalized this form of non-violent protest.[17] After being threatened with arrest, rally participants proceeded to march and protest on the sidewalk and in designated crosswalks as the LPD instructed them to do. Yet LPD officers waited and watched until a Black woman participant crossed the street at a crosswalk when the signal said not to cross, though there was no oncoming traffic.[18] The officers arrested the participant in the crosswalk, along with three of the main organizers of the event. They forcefully arrested a fifth participant after he came in between an officer and one of the Black woman organizers being arrested. The arrest allegedly involved the use of a chokehold on the participant, something the LPD denies despite cell phone camera footage of the arrest showing an officer bringing the participant to the ground with the officer's arm wrapped around the participant's neck.[18] On July 21, the Lexington branch of the NAACP released a press release condemning the actions of the LPD officers, accusing them of "unprofessionally and illegally retaliating" against the leaders of the protest.[19]

On May 28, protesters demanded justice for the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. Some 500 to 600 demonstrators marched through the city that evening.[20] Later during the protest, seven people were shot by an unknown shooter or shooters, with one victim critically injured.[21]

During the night of May 29, more protests took place, attended by hundreds of people. A woman suffered a heart attack as a result of tear gas inhalation, and two journalists were injured by rubber bullets fired by police officers.[22]

On May 30, the governor called in the National Guard.[23] African-American David McAtee was shot and killed by law enforcement just after midnight June 1. Officials said that the Louisville Metro Police Department and Kentucky National Guard were returning fire after being fired at from the crowd.[24][25] Mayor Greg Fischer stated that Louisville police officers were wearing body cameras, but none of them were on.[26] Fischer called this an "institutional failure,"[lower-alpha 1] stating that "[t]his is the entire reason we have those cameras," and fired Steve Conrad, chief of police, effective immediately.[26]

On the 12th day of protests, current and former Public Defenders marched through downtown chanting "no justice, no peace" to protest racial injustice in criminal justice system.[27]

On June 27, a shooting occurred at a protest at Jefferson Square Park in downtown Louisville.[28] A 27-year-old photographer who supported the protests against racism and police brutality was killed.[28] Another person was injured.[28] Overnight camping at the park was banned after the shooting, and police removed tents from the park.[28] One suspect was arrested, interviewed by homicide detectives, and charged with murder and wanton endangerment.[29] The suspect was hospitalized as he was wounded by gunfire from civilians defending themselves.[29]

During a protest, the hand of a statue of King Louis XVI, who Louisville was named after, was broke off by a protester.

On June 6, a crowd of about 250 people marched down Main Street and gathered at Fountain Park in Morehead in a peaceful protest. The speakers told their stories and allies spoke of the need for allies to support blacks in the community.[8]

On June 5, a crowd of protesters gathered for a "Peace and Reconciliation Rally" at Smothers Park. Over 20 speakers spoke out against the killing of George Floyd.[30]

On May 31, peaceful protesters gathered at Noble Park in a 'Stand for Solidarity',[31][32] and a die in for over 8 minutes at the local court house over the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd.[33]

On June 1, peaceful protesters gathered at the Pikeville City Park for a peaceful rally. The event was organized by the Black Student Union at University of Pikeville along with other community leaders.[34]