Senior citizens cited, arrested for protesting in Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron’s yard
Just over a month after 87 people were arrested for protesting in Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s yard, another group stationed themselves on his Louisville property Thursday morning. They called for Cameron to take action against the Louisville police officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor.
This time it wasn’t celebrities and pro athletes – it was senior citizens with wheelchairs, walkers and knitting needles. Several senior citizens brought lawn chairs and sat in Cameron’s front yard. They held signs that said “Seniors for Breonna” and “Listen to your elders, Black lives matter,” among other things. Mary Holden, 68, patched up holes in her clothes as cops asked them to move. She was later arrested.
Seven of the senior citizens now face criminal trespassing charges for the protest, according to Detective Steve Presley of the Graymoor-Devondale Police Department. He said six of the protesters were cited and Holden was arrested. She was given the option to just take a citation and leave, but she refused to leave Cameron’s yard.
Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville police officers who came into her apartment while executing a no-knock search warrant in March, according to court records. The incident is under investigation by the FBI, but no charges have been brought against the officers involved yet. Brett Hankison, one of the officers involved in the shooting, was fired in June.
Taylor, 26, was an emergency medical technician.
Holden said she and the other protesters had been planning the idea since Friday. They wanted to call attention to Taylor’s case, and as white senior citizens, they knew it’d draw attention if they were charged for their actions.
“We knew we would put them between a rock and a hard place with that because it looks bad on them,” Holden said. “They really didn’t know what to do.”
Holden said it was the first time she’s ever been to jail. She and others had to decide how far they wanted to push their protest, because getting arrested could risk exposure to COVID-19. Holden said she thought it was worth it to bring attention to Taylor’s case. She also said she used a lot of hand sanitizer in the three hours she spent in jail.
Other protesters also emphasized that they wanted to push Cameron to take action.
“It’s obscene that it’s gone on for this long with no decision,” one senior citizen said to Tara Bassett on a Facebook video.
Officers on scene issued multiple warnings to the group, which caused some of the demonstrators to move off Cameron’s property while others stayed in his yard.
Karla Wallace said in a Facebook video from the scene that officers issued citations to those in the yard. They threatened to arrest protesters if they didn’t leave the yard after being cited, she said. Several on-scene were concerned about the senior citizens being taken to jail in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Until Freedom, a group which has advocated for justice in the Breonna Taylor case, organized a protest at Cameron’s house in July. It led to the arrest of 87 people, including Houston Texans wide receiver Kenny Stills, Real Housewives of Atlanta reality star Porsha Williams, entertainer Yandy Smith and rappers Trae Thompson, Cordae and Mysonne.
“We want Mr. Cameron to … be transparent with the information that he has,” one 67-year-old protester who had moved into the street told media members. “It seems like he’s delaying and delaying, and Breonna’s family has been waiting, the community has been waiting.”
The protester said he was probably the youngest of those at Cameron’s house. Multiple protesters said on livestreams that they were in their 70s.
Cameron has faced increasing pressure to take action over the shooting. He met with Taylor’s family last week, according to his office.
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 1:29 PM.