Former Metro Louisville Police officer Katie R. Crews, dressed in riot gear, pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges of excessive use of force during David McAtee night curfew enforcement. died.
Louisville Metro Police Department via AP
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Louisville Metro Police Department via AP
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A former Louisville cop was blamed for instigating the conflict that led to The shooting death of the owner of a black barbecue restaurant during the protests Breonna Taylor pleaded guilty to using excessive force.
Katie R. Crews, 29, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to a misdemeanor. She was indicted in March on charges of excessive rape with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Crews, who is white, was fired by Louisville police earlier this year for escalating the conflict the night restaurant owner David McAtee died and for a private incident in which she mocked protesters on social media .
McAtee’s death further fueled the anger of protesters who began massing on the streets of downtown Louisville in 2020 over the death of Taylor, a black EMT who was knocked down by police. her door while executing a drug search warrant.
Under the terms of the settlement, Crews, of Jeffersonville, Indiana, could no longer work in law enforcement. She will be sentenced in federal court in January. Misdemeanors carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison.
Steve Romines, the McAtee family’s attorney, said they were “delighted that there was an admission of misconduct by (Louisville police) on the night David died.”
The crew was not “a lone wolf deciding to swindle,” Romines said in an email Wednesday, arguing that authorities were sent to the west end of Louisville by officers to “violating policy and harassing people.”
A civil lawsuit brought by the McAtee family blame Seafarers and other law enforcement agencies for using aggressive tactics against bystanders in private the night of McAtee’s death.
A few days earlier, Crews had to take a photo by the media in downtown Louisville with a protester giving her a flower. Crews posted the photo on social media and wrote that she hoped “pepper balls that (protesters) will light up after a little hurt.”
“Go back and call some more ole girls, I’ll be on call tonight,” Crews wrote.
She later told police investigators that she was upset with the publication of the photo, because she viewed it as “revolving media stuff.”
On the night McAtee died, Crews was part of a group of Louisville officers and National Guard members sent to an area near his diner, YaYa BBQ, to break up the crowd.
Officers were sent to a predominantly black neighborhood “to demonstrate force (and) intimidation,” away from the downtown protests, according to a lawsuit filed by the McAtee family. waiting for progressing. It says the Crew and other officers are “ruining a fight.”
The crews approach YaYa and begin firing non-lethal pepper balls, which release a chemical. Shots from Crews sent bystanders into McAtee’s kitchen, and Crews continued to fire in that direction. McAtee’s niece, standing in the kitchen doorway, was hit by a non-lethal Crews bullet.
After his niece was hit by a bullet, McAtee pulled a pistol from his hip and fired one shot out the door. The crew and other officers then moved into the live ring and McAtee, crouching out of the kitchen door, was fatally shot in the chest by a National Guard member. The lawsuit alleges that National Guard officers and members fired at least 18 rounds directly into McAtee’s door.
“Tragically, Crews’ aggression and desire to cause harm were carried out against David McAtee and his niece,” the lawsuit said. Romines said people were running into McAtee’s kitchen screaming that they were being shot and that McAtee didn’t know who carried out the shooting.
Prosecutors later removed Louisville officers and two National Guard members from a criminal investigation into McAtee’s death, saying they were justified in using deadly force because McAtee shot at him. surname.
Crews later told investigators that no one in the crowd that night had caused disorder. She also said that she had limited practice with the shotgun.
“I didn’t check it myself and I own it,” she told police investigating. “I own that I messed up.”
