Oct 12, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Ex-Louisville officer pleads guilty to using excessive force during protests

Rebecca Falconer

A crowd of protesters gather near the Breonna Taylor memorial in Jefferson Square Park on October 2, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. — Protesters gather near a Breonna Taylor memorial in Jefferson Square Park in Louisville, Ky., in 2020. Photo: Jon Cherry/Getty Images

A former Louisville police officer has pleaded guilty to using excessive force while responding to an incident during the Breonna Taylor protests in June 2020, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The big picture: The case involving Katie R. Crews, 29, who is white, occurred as police were trying to impose a curfew over weeks-long protests at the killing of Taylor by police during a no-knock search of her apartment — and the incident spurred further protests in Kentucky's largest city over officers' treatment of Black people, the Washington Post notes.

Driving the news: Crews, of Jeffersonville, Indiana, admitted during a plea hearing in federal court that she shot someone with a pepper ball who wasn't a threat to anyone at a private property, per a Justice Department statement.

Machelle McAtee, the person she shot outside a popular barbecue restaurant, survived. But her restaurant owner's uncle David McAtee was fatally shot by a state national guard member after the confrontation escalated, per the Washington Post.

What's next: A sentencing date has been set for Jan. 30 next year.

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Ex-Louisville officer pleads guilty to using excessive force during protests

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