Rep. Attica Scott sues LMPD officers, former chief for arrest amid Breonna Taylor protests

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - In a lawsuit filed Monday, Louisville police officers are alleged to have violated the constitutional rights of Kentucky Rep. Attica Scott (D-Louisville), her daughter Ashanti Scott and Louisville activist Shameka Parrish-Wright, when they were arrested last year amid protests for Breonna Taylor.

The women claim they were arrested the night of Sept. 24, 2020, prior to Mayor Greg Fischer’s temporary 9 p.m. curfew, which included exceptions for residents going to church, work, or seeking medical treatment. That night, First Unitarian Church in Louisville had offered shelter to protesters; the women were arrested while walking to the church along with 20 other people who police claim broke a window and threw a flare into the Louisville Free Public Library nearby.

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She was recording a livestream in the minutes leading up to the arrest.

The women were initially charged criminally, including a felony count of “riot in the first degree.” The charges were later dropped.

The lawsuit was filed in Jefferson Circuit Court against Louisville Metro Police Department Officer Alex Eades, former LMPD Interim Chief Robert Schroeder, and another unnamed officer.

“I’m joining this lawsuit against LMPD because we deserve to live free from over-policing, racial profiling, and police violence,” Scott said in a statement. “My daughter and I were literally walking while Black when police targeted us for arrest prior to the unnecessary curfew that had been implemented — a curfew that was inequitably enforced and only used against those of us exercising our first amendment rights.”

“We must stop LMPD from using the judicial process to further bully us and our non-violent protest. I believe in law and justice and they must be applied equally. LMPD continues to fail our community. They have too many officers who do not follow standard operating procedures and who make our neighborhoods unsafe,” Parrish-Wright added.

LMPD offered no comment on the lawsuit.

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