“I think the DOJ is giving people hope that we’ll see something positive happen,” said Parrish-Wright, who leads the local chapter of the Bail Project, which has helped protesters get released from jail.
Clarke, who has been president of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and previously managed the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s Office, criticized Cameron’s handling of the case last year as “a full-scale denial of justice.”
The conflict continues: Just days before the new federal investigation was announced, a protester was recorded being beaten by a Louisville officer during an arrest downtown. Denorver Garret was demonstrating when officers ordered him to move out of the street. Then they put him on the ground and an officer punched him in the head and face.
“I don’t fear them, and I’m not going to stop protesting,” said Garrett, who is suing the officer. “I have the right to protest and I’m going to keep doing it. I could’ve been a George Floyd yesterday.”
Many Black Louisville residents say the police department has a long history of heavy-handed tactics in its dealings with their community. In Taylor’s case, detectives secured a narcotics warrant and knocked her door down, but a search for drugs and cash alleged by the warrant turned up nothing. Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, tweeted that with federal investigators now involved, she “can’t wait for the world to see Louisville Police Department for what it really is.”