A Louisville, Kentucky, restaurant patron reportedly pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Black Lives Matter protesters who rushed an outdoor dining patio during demonstrations over the death of Breonna Taylor on the day of the Kentucky Derby.
“Louisville Metro Police on Saturday evening responded to La Chasse, an upscale European restaurant located in the 1300 block of Bardstown Road, as protesters were marching northbound on the street. A restaurant employee told dispatchers ‘that multiple armed protesters entered the restaurant property, which included outdoor dining space,'” police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley told Fox News.
Hayes Gardner, a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal, tweeted several photos and videos of the incident. “For those who have asked, yes this man appeared to be armed, as were a few protesters. It was a tense few minutes,” he wrote, adding that several protesters also appeared to be carrying firearms.
For those who have asked, yes this man appeared to be armed, as were a few protesters. It was a tense few minutes. #Louisville pic.twitter.com/BAw7r99KMf
— Hayes Gardner (@HayesGardner) May 2, 2021
“During the encounter both patrons and protesters brandished firearms,” Smiley said in an email to Fox News. “This incident occurred after the arrests of southbound protesters in the area on the 1500 block of Bardstown Road. The arrests of that group were made after protesters repeatedly blocked the roadway despite officers giving multiple verbal requests for them to utilize the sidewalk.”
Some protesters stepped in and urged the demonstrators to move away from the man with the gun, and police arrived a short time later. A restaurant worker told police “that multiple armed protesters entered the restaurant property, which included outdoor dining space,” according to Fox.
Taylor was fatally shot by police during a botched drug raid last year.
The scene was reminiscent of another last year. Mark and Patricia McCloskey wielded weapons at Black Lives Matter protesters after a group of some 300 protesters came into their neighborhood in St. Louis on June 28.
In July, law enforcement authorities in St. Louis executed a search warrant at the home of the couple. Two local news stations, KMOV and KSDK, reported that the warrant was carried out in St. Louis’s affluent Central West End neighborhood. KSDK reported that the search resulted in police seizing the rifle that Mark McCloskey was seen holding during the incident.
According to police reports, the McCloskeys told police that they heard a disturbance and saw “a large group of subjects forcefully break an iron gate marked with ‘No Trespassing’ and ‘Private Street’ signs.”
“The group began yelling obscenities and threats of harm to both victims,” St. Louis police told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “When the victims observed multiple subjects who were armed, they then armed themselves and contacted police.”
In September, St. Louis officials have announced that they will not prosecute nine people who were charged with trespassing in a private neighborhood, which drew the two gun-wielding residents out of their home and into their front yard to guard their property.
The nine protesters had been issued police summonses this month, but City Counselor Michael Garvin said in a statement that “prosecution is not warranted” and charges would be refused, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
