Louisville police officer suspended over fatal shooting had mocked protesters online

Katie Crews and colleague Allen Austin have been placed on administrative leave

A Louisville police officer, who was involved in the fatal shooting of David McAtee, at a protest in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday night, previously mocked a protester who was shot with pepper balls.

Over the weekend, Katie Crews, posted a photo to her Facebook page of a female protester offering her a flower, and captioned it: “I hope the pepper balls that she got lit up with a little later on hurt.”

Her post was screenshotted by members of the public and circulated around social media sites in the wake of Mr McAtte’s death on Monday, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.

Earlier on in the caption, Ms Crews said: “She was saying and doing a lot more than ‘offering flowers’ to me. Just so for it to be known.”

The officer added: “Come back and get ya some more ole girl, I’ll be on the line again tonight.”

The protests in Louisville were being held in opposition to police brutality against Black Americans, following the death of George Floyd, who died last month after being detained by a then Minneapolis police officer.

On Monday, the protest turned violent, when Mr McAtee was fatally shot by law enforcement after someone shot at police, and officers and National Guard troops fired back.

At the time of writing, it is not known who fired at police, but an investigation is ongoing.

Ms Crews was placed on administrative leave on Monday after it was confirmed that she and her fellow officer at the scene, Allen Austin, did not record any bodycam footage of the shooting.

After being told that officers did not record any footage at the shooting, Louisville mayor Greg Fishcer fired police chief, Steve Conrad, who was due to retire later in the month.

The fatal shooting came a week after seven people were shot at a different protest in Louisville, focused on the death of Breonna Taylor.

Ms Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was shot at least eight times by police after they broke down her door in a drug raid on 13 May, but no narcotics were found in the residence.

The police said that Ms Taylor was inadvertently shot in the crossfire during the raid, but their use of force has been questioned, as has the practice of raiding a residence without giving a warning.

Last week, Mr Fischer confirmed that no-knock warrants would be suspended by the police force, as part of changes to policy following Ms Taylor’s death.

Mr Fischer added: “To the people who gathered downtown last night to protest, and to many more throughout our city and throughout our country who feel angry, hurt, afraid, frustrated, tired and sick of story after story of black lives ending at the hands of law enforcement, I hear you.”