Police confront protesters in Louisville

John Minchillo/AP

Police confronted protesters in downtown Louisville hours after a Jefferson County grand jury charged former Louisville officer Brett Hankison with three counts of wanton endangerment of the first degree.

Aerial video from CNN affiliate WLKY showed heavy police presence along with large groups of protesters gathering at intersections. Video showed some of these groups involved in shoving matches and confrontations with police.

A citywide curfew for Louisville will go into effect at 9 p.m. local time.

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WSOC

In an interview with Charlotte CNN affiliate WSOC, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden urged any one protesting after the announcement of charges in the Breonna Taylor case to remain peaceful and not engage in violence.

Biden did not comment further on the decision; he said he was waiting for more details.

Former Philadelphia police chief Charles Ramsey CNN

Former Philadelphia police chief Charles Ramsey said Wednesday that he agrees with Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s decision to not indict the police officers involved in Breonna Taylor’s death.

“Based on what he presented at the press conference, I agree totally,” Ramsey said.

The former police chief and CNN contributor cited the actions of Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, the night of her death as a significant factor for charges not being filed in her death. 

Ramsey went on to add his insight from his many years in law enforcement.

"It's a high risk every time you execute a warrant," Ramsey said. "When they hit that door and went inside, they saw an individual fire a gun, one officer went down, they returned fire. That's the information they had at the time. It's certainly tragic, there's no question about that. But you have to look at the moment and what took place. And that seems to be somehow being lost in this conversation."

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Mayor Greg Fischer Louisville Mayor's office

Acknowledging that there are people who feel the announcement by the Kentucky attorney general’s office “fall short of achieving justice," Mayor Greg Fischer outlined other ongoing investigations into Breonna Taylor's death.

The FBI is still conducting its investigation that the Department of Justice will review to determine if any federal laws, including civil rights violations, were violated. 

The Louisville Metro Police Department is also conducting a professional standards investigation to determine if "policies and procedures were violated by officers involved in the case," Fischer said.

It’s clear that policies and procedures in Louisville need to change "because Breonna Taylor still should be alive," the mayor added.

Justice for Taylor means "a commitment to eliminating systemic and structural racism in our city, in our country,” Fischer said.

He appealed to the people of Louisville to "turn to each other, not on each other" during what he called "this moment of opportunity." 

The attorney for Breonna Taylor's boyfriend slammed prosecutors' decision not to charge police officers involved in the death of Taylor with murder, saying the case should go before a jury. 

"If they've got a defense, which they do, let them present to a jury and see if a jury agrees with them," Steven Romines, the attorney for Kenneth Walker III, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer this afternoon. 

"Our system of justice depends on jurors and letting jurors decide," he continued. "It is not prosecutors acting as kings and saying, 'no, we're not going to charge whoever we don't want charged'... that's what's occurred here... and it is a tragedy."

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Pool

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson encouraged people upset by the lack of criminal charges in the death of Breonna Taylor not to respond with violence, noting the coming presidential election.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said they are not implementing preemptive measures against possible unrest that they have used in the past, such as closing bridges to the city.

“We have evolved in the way in which we're handling these circumstances,” Lightfoot said.

Jackson also called for protesters to respond to the decision of the grand jury by boycotting “every non-essential service in Kentucky,” adding that he believes athletes recruited to the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky should not go to those schools.

“We should put Kentucky on the South African list,” Jackson said, referring to international boycotts of that country during its policy of apartheid.

Luna J. confronts a National Guard vehicle after the Supreme Courts' decision in the Breonna Taylor case was announced Wednesday. September 23. Alton Strupp/Courier Journal/USA Today Network

Members of the Kentucky National Guard and Kentucky State Police have been activated to work in Louisville, Gov. Andy Beshear said this afternoon.

The National Guard’s deployment is “limited” in scope, they have specific operations, and are under their own command, he said.

There is also a limited group of Kentucky State Police operating in Louisville to assist the Louisville Metro Police Department, the governor said. They too are under their own command and are there to provide assistance if needed.

WLKY

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called on Attorney General Daniel Cameron to publicly release information relating to his office’s investigation into Breonna Taylor’s death.

In his news conference earlier this afternoon, Cameron spoke about information, facts and evidence that neither the governor nor the public had seen, he said.

Beshear has asked for information that won’t impact the counts outlined in the indictment to be publicly released. 

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called for a citywide moment of silence Wednesday night to honor Breonna Taylor, after a Kentucky grand jury declined to press any charges directly related to Taylor’s shooting death by Louisville Police. 

The moment of silence is scheduled for 7 p.m. local time, and Lightfoot says she hopes the city will respect the family’s request for protests to be peaceful.

“I want you to know that I support you and will do everything in my power to protect you as you voice your righteous anger,” Lightfoot said.