PROTEST OF FATAL POLICE SHOOTING TURNS VIOLENT

Demonstrators At Louisville Police Headquarters Refuse To Disperse, Break
Windows In The Office Of Chief Robert White

Police arrested a protester after a group of about 60 people refused
to leave the area around Louisville Metro Police headquarters
downtown. Police arrested three adults and a juvenile.

What started out as a peaceful demonstration of several hundred people
in front of Louisville Metro Police headquarters last night ended with
officers in riot gear and horse-mounted police trying to disperse
about 60 people who didn't want to leave.

The crowd finally melted away when Chief Robert White emerged from the
station and agreed to meet with the remaining protesters at the
Justice Resource Center on Cecil Avenue, more than 30 blocks west.
White spent nearly two hours answering questions in a session with
about 50 people. It was closed to news media.

The demonstration was in response to the death of Michael Newby, 19,
who was shot in the back three times by undercover Officer McKenzie G.
Mattingly during an alleged attempted drug buy Saturday.

Four people, three adults and a juvenile, were arrested during the
protest. The adults - Sean G. Liter, 22; Jake Gray, 18; and Timothy
Duncan, 46 - were charged with disorderly conduct and failure to
disperse. Duncan also was charged with assaulting a police horse, and
Liter was charged with carrying a concealed weapon after police said
several knives were found on him.

The juvenile was charged with disorderly conduct. During the unrest,
protesters broke windows in White's office.

Police said they counted about 400 demonstrators at the start of the
march about 5 p.m. Organizers had obtained a permit, which expired at
6.

The marchers, escorted by police who stopped traffic for them, walked
in a loop down Seventh Street in front of police headquarters, then
crossed Market Street, walked up Sixth Street and back down Jefferson
Street to Seventh as they chanted demands for justice and carried
signs proclaiming their fear of being shot by police.

Seven hearses led the procession, symbolic of seven people who have
been killed by police in recent years. The marchers circled the block
twice.

Then, during a rally held just outside the entrance to headquarters,
ministers and local activists called for justice in Newby's shooting.

"We are not here just because of Michael Newby," said the Rev. Alvin
Herring of New Covenant AME Church. "We are here because the whole
system is unjust."

White stood silhouetted in the window of his main floor office as he
watched through the blinds, listening to the speakers.

While the crowd was predominantly black, there were many white
participants and the marchers included a range of ages.

Joe Mirkin, 18, of St. Matthews, said he joined the protest not
because of the Newby death in particular, but because police shootings
"just seem to happen here more often than they should, more often than
they do elsewhere in the country."

Jaquale Thompson, 11, who lives in the Russell neighborhood, carried a
sign that said his dream had been to be a police officer, "but now I
have second thoughts."

He said he came out with his mother because "if I get old, I don't
want to get killed like that."

Much of the crowd began dispersing as planned about 6 p.m. But about
60 people, most in their teens and 20s, lingered in the intersection
of Jefferson and Seventh streets, continuing to block rush-hour
traffic. They then marched north on Seventh, passing police
headquarters, with many shouting insults - like "pigs" and "cowards" -
and curses at a handful of officers who were standing outside.

The protesters walked up a ramp leading to the police station's
automatic front door but were denied entry by officers standing in the
doorway.

Three windows were broken out of Chief White's office while protesters
were on the ramp entrance. White said he was in the office at the
time, but left after the incident. No charges were filed for that
vandalism because there were too many people to clearly identify the
culprit.

Returning to the street, protesters continued to chant and call for
White to come out and address them. Newby's mother, Angela Bouggess,
urged those gathered to "go home" saying "this is enough."

It appeared for a short time that she would be successful. But the
crowd formed again in the intersection, drawing 10 police cars with
lights flashing and sirens on.

The 5 p.m. protest had been staffed with 20 officers, said Maj. Troy
Riggs, White's chief of staff. But as the situation escalated, 50
additional officers were called in to help.

Maj. Lewis Sharber used a loudspeaker to tell the crowd it had two
minutes to disperse before mounted police would be sent in. A line of
activists stood between about 20 officers, some in riot gear, and the
protesters, telling the demonstrators, "They want to hurt you. Go home."

Then about six officers mounted on horses rode down Jefferson - both
in the street and on the sidewalk - forcing the crowd back. That's
when the first arrests were made.

White came out to assess the situation for himself. He spent several
minutes consulting with the Rev. Louis Coleman of the Justice Resource
Center before deciding that he would speak with members of the crowd.

White said he spoke to the protesters as "a condition to get them to
disperse."

White gave Coleman credit for helping to defuse the situation, and
said he was "absolutely" concerned the violence could escalate.

He also praised his officers for using "discretion and common sense"
in keeping the situation as calm as possible.

"That could have been an explosive situation," White said. Coleman
said he hadn't seen anything like last night in Louisville since the
race riots of the 1960s.

Sunday, Coleman plans to meet with young people to try to keep the
violence from being repeated.

"I admire their willingness to stand up," Coleman said, adding that he
encouraged the youth to express their anger in a different way.

"The young people got us to the table tonight," Coleman said,
referring to the meeting with White.

Sheila Wade, an Old Louisville resident who said she is a concerned
citizen, said she wasn't surprised by White's appearance at the
Justice Resource Center, saying that White basically had to go after
what had occurred and called it an attempt to "appease" people.

"It scared them (police) to death because they've never seen that
before," she said.

Wade said the young people in the commotion were not intimidated by
the police presence.

"This could have been Cincinnati tonight," she said. "This could have
been Los Angeles tonight and it would have started right there in
front of that police department."

Earlier downtown, several protesters walked into the nearby Metro
Council chambers, where council members were selecting a president.
The protesters were quiet but after the election chanted "No justice,
no peace."

One person shouted at the new president, Kelly Downard, "Councilman
Downard, one day it could be your kid."

After the protest, Mayor Jerry Abramson issued a statement:

"We believe in the right to peaceful demonstration, but when a protest
crosses the line to violence and destruction, this community will not
tolerate it.

"I appreciate the professionalism of the officers, the leadership of
Chief White and the help of Rev. Coleman in trying to calm the crowd."