Protesters say former Lexington cop’s lawsuit is ‘vindictive’ and ‘without merit’
The protest organizers who were sued by former Lexington police chaplain Donovan Stewart have asked the court to dismiss the case and award them damages from the ex-officer, according to court records.
Sarah Williams and April Taylor, twin sisters and organizers of police accountability protests that were frequent in downtown Lexington in May and June, were sued by Stewart in early July. Stewart said the two had fabricated “blatantly false, outrageous lies” about him and his family, accusing him of being racist, associating with white supremacy, engaging in criminal conduct and beating his wife and children, according to the lawsuit.
Stewart retired after the chaplain position was eliminated by the Lexington Police Department and before the police department concluded an internal investigation of a confrontation at the Fayette Mall in February 2019 during the arrest of a Black autistic teen. Several people, including Williams and Taylor, have accused Stewart of hitting the restrained boy.
The boy’s mother filed a federal lawsuit against Stewart and the city earlier this year and made the same allegations, according to court records.
His lawsuit said Stewart was the one who was assaulted by the minor teen. Stewart was working on an off-duty assignment at the mall when he received a complaint of teenagers allegedly being disorderly.
A juvenile assaulted him as he “attempted to gather information and investigate the circumstances,” according to the court records. There is no officer body camera footage of the encounter, but witness video has been posted.
The minor teen in the incident was charged, and the case was in juvenile court.
“At no time did defendants Williams or Taylor present or attempt to present false information about either plaintiff Donovan Stewart or his wife Becky Stewart,” the sisters’ court-filed response to Stewart’s lawsuit said.
Stewart’s lawsuit said his family members, including his wife and children, had suffered from the comments made about him. Williams and Taylor said in their response that they don’t deny that, but that it’s Stewart’s fault.
“Any perceived damages or injuries being claimed by the plaintiffs are the result of plaintiff Donovan Stewart’s deplorable actions that were caught on video,” Williams and Taylor said in their response.
Williams and Taylor denied the allegations against them in the original lawsuit, and asked for the court to award them legal fees, as well as other relief.
“This lawsuit is completely without merit and filed for malicious and vindictive reasons,” Williams and Taylor’s response said. “As such, plaintiffs should be held liable for their conduct and be ordered to pay damages to defendants Williams and Taylor in an amount to be determined at trial.”
This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 4:02 PM.