On Sept. 22, Mayor Greg Fischer announced a state of emergency in the city because of an announcement from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in regards to Breonna Taylor.

If you’re unfamiliar with Breonna Taylor, she was shot by police inside her home in March, during a raid. Allegedly, the raid was for drugs but none was found.

More information about the case can be found here.

Compared to most, this case in particular caused a lot of unrest. This is due to the police and Taylors boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, having different accounts as to what happened that night.

Taylor’s family filed a wrongful death suit and more information has slowly crept out.

This, along with George Floyd, created mutiny in the streets for weeks. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement popped off and this is why we see the mayor taking this action. 

The downtown area of the city was being shut down to protect demonstrators and those who live and work in the area.

I think differently, as I’m sure other people do. The protests are mostly peaceful, and only become violent when the police start throwing around tear gas and rubber bullets.

Mayor Fischer said the officials’ goal was to ensure space and opportunity for potential protesters to gather and express their First Amendment rights, when the announcement was released. 

My bone to pick with this entire situation, the mayor created, is that I thought we all learned that these protests are going to end how they will. 

Blocking off an entire area isn’t going to do much. If you have police on the borders of the area, then conflict and violence have a higher chance of breaking out. 

As I thought, protests continued with the barricades. 

Fischer also issued curfews from 9 p.m to 6:30 a.m., lasting more than three nights. 

Now listen, I find curfews redundant because they were never taken seriously. When I was a kid, people I went to school with would say they had a curfew at 11 p.m., but would still be out until 1 a.m.

So trying to give city people a curfew? At 9 p.m.? This has to be a joke. Citizens didn’t listen to curfew in Detroit — a city not directly affected, unlike Louisville. 

The FBI and court indicted former Detective Brett Hankison on wanton endangerment charges, but not Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly or Detective Myles Cosgrove. 

This is both a disappointing and somewhat promising start. At least one person was charged, which is a start. On the other hand, I don’t think that satisfied many people. 

This caused more protesting in the streets — resulting in 46 protesters in custody and two police officers wounded.

I think that there’s no good way to handle these situations, but blocking off places from protestors makes it worse. 

Protesters can get more publicity and awareness in a major area like downtown, but when it gets blocked off, they will only try to get there more. 

Obviously, I’m not in a place of power, so I can’t tell people how to do their jobs or how to run a city. Nor, would I know how to handle this situation, but I don’t think this was the answer.