Louisville officials plead for calm

Two officers shot during protests on Wednesday night should make a full recovery, interim Louisville, Ky., Police Chief Robert Schroeder said. Authorities arrested 26-year-old Larynzo Johnson in connection with the shootings and charged him with firing at police as they attempted to disperse a crowd. Protesters gathered in downtown Louisville on Wednesday in reaction to a grand jury’s decision in the case of Breonna Taylor, a black woman who died in a drug raid at her apartment in March. The demonstration began peacefully but turned violent when protesters set fires in garbage cans and damaged businesses and vehicles. Other protests broke out across the country.

What happens now? Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced one of three involved officers would face charges, but for firing shots that went into neighboring apartments, not for killing Taylor. He said evidence showed the officers acted in self-defense. Kenneth Walker, Taylor’s boyfriend who was in the apartment and shot at one officer as he tried to enter, sued the police department for false arrest and other misconduct. The FBI is investigating whether Louisville police violated Taylor’s civil rights, and the city has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with her family for $12 million. Mayor Greg Fischer pleaded for calm: “Violence will only be a source of pain, not a cure for pain.”

Dig deeper: Read Janie B. Cheaney’s critique of broad-brush solutions to social problems like those in Louisville.