US

DC Breonna Taylor Protests Remained Largely Peaceful

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WASHINGTON — Protesters walked from the Department of Justice to Black Lives Matter Plaza and through residential streets while banging on street signs, sounding police sirens through electronic megaphones and occasionally setting off small fireworks.

Protests started around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday evening in response to the Kentucky attorney general’s announcement that two of three Louisville police officers would not be charged in the Breonna Taylor case. The third officer, Brett Hankison, was indicted by a grand jury, but not on homicide charges.

Hankison was indicted on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree while the two other officers were not indicted.

Taylor was fatally shot by Louisville police in her apartment during a raid. Police and an independent witness said Taylor’s boyfriend shot first before officers opened fire.

Protesters honored Breonna Taylor as they walked from the Department of Justice to Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23. (Photo: Kaylee Greenlee / DCNF)

Protesters marched from the Department of Justice to Black Lives Matter Plaza for Breonna Taylor in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23. (Photo: Kaylee Greenlee / DCNF)

Protesters gathered at Black Lives Matter Plaza where speakers took turns addressing the crowd over an electric megaphone in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23. (Photo: Kaylee Greenlee / DCNF)

Protesters briefly stopped at Black Lives Matter Plaza where speakers took turns addressing the crowd over an electric megaphone. One speaker asked all of the black women in attendance to come forward. When they did the crowd yelled, “We love you!”

One protester stopped to confront diners sitting outside and having drinks near Johnny Pistolas, a Mexican restaurant in Adams Morgan. The protester asked them over electronic megaphone if they were aware that immigrant women are having their “uterus’s taken out,” one of the men at the table asked for their checks, while another nodded along.

The protesters encouraged bystanders and people watching from the windows of their homes to join the march as they walked through residential neighborhoods with officers from the Metropolitan Police Department following behind.

Protesters form their own bike line to block Metropolitan Police Department access to individuals on foot in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23. (Photo: Kaylee Greenlee / DCNF)

Metropolitan Police Department officers stood outside of a McDonald’s restaurant in what appeared to be riot gear in Adams Morgan, Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23. (Photo: Kaylee Greenlee / DCNF)

Protesters and Metropolitan Police Department officers briefly skirmished as officers tried to form a bike line between the protesters and shop windows in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23. (Photo: Kaylee Greenlee / DCNF)

Brief scuffles with police officers occurred starting around 10 p.m., though no one was seriously injured. Protesters ran away from officers saying that they were arresting people near the back of a march, however, an officer told the Daily Caller News Foundation that no arrests had been made at the time.

One protester said over an electronic megaphone that immigrant women were being forced to have hysterectomies. “No hate. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here.”

“Fuck 12. Fuck ICE. These racist pigs have got to go,” the crowd chanted.

Protesters formed their own bike line to keep Metropolitan Police Officers from getting too close to people on foot in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23. (Photo: Kaylee Greenlee / DCNF)

A protester smashed a glass panel of a bus stop in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 23. (Photo: Kaylee Greenlee / DCNF)

At least one shop window near the intersection of Florida Avenue NW and 18th Street NW was smashed, as were a bank window in Dupont Circle and a glass panel of a bus stop on Connecticut Avenue NW.

One protester carried an “Antifascist Action” flag.