By Ellen R. Stapleton, The Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- A protest following the shooting of a black teenager by a white police officer turned contentious, with demonstrators breaking windows of the police chief’s office and horse-mounted officers confronting the crowd.
About 400 protesters gathered late Thursday afternoon outside Louisville Metro Police headquarters to oppose the shooting death of Michael Newby, 19, on Saturday night.
Newby was shot in the back by undercover police officer McKenzie G. Mattingly. It was the second killing of a black man by a white police officer in the city in just over a year.
The protesters had a one-hour permit to march and the event continued peacefully until just after 6 p.m. EST, when about 50 protesters confronted police officers who were ordering the crowd to disperse.
A small group of youths ran up a ramp outside police headquarters and threw objects through three windows of Police Chief Robert White’s office, said Louisville police spokeswoman Helene Kramer.
White was not injured. He came outside to address the crowd after the incident as officers on horseback pushed the crowd away from the building.
Protesters turned over garbage cans as they left the scene, some of them running.
“Clearly, we understand the feelings of frustration and concern over what occurred this weekend,” Mayor Jerry Abramson said in a news conference Friday. “We too have questions.”
But he said further vandalism or violence by protesters would not be tolerated.
“This community has zero tolerance for situations that arise where individuals damage property or show violence with other individuals,” Abramson said. “We will not allow that action in our hometown.”
But Abramson also said he was hopeful that as the case is investigated the community’s concerns will be resolved.
“The good thing about this community is that we’ve always worked through it,” he said. “I think we can give confidence to the community that the police department is moving in the right direction.”
The Rev. Louis Coleman, the local civil-rights activist who organized the protest, said the black community is “fed up” with white police officers shooting black civilians.
“They are sick of seeing white officers in their neighborhood,” he said. “They feel like they’re the targets of police officers who come in with a negative, biased attitude.”
Louisville police said four arrests were made -- three adults and one juvenile. They were charged with failure to disperse and disorderly conduct. One was charged with assault for striking a police horse.
White, who is black, had an impromptu meeting with Coleman and about 50 other activists about an hour after the disturbance.
The meeting lasted nearly two hours and Coleman described the tone as “somewhat fiery.”
“We will stand with the chief if he stands for the right things,” Coleman said afterward.
White said he considered the meeting fruitful.
“I spent most of the time listening,” White said. “I assured them of a thorough and independent investigation and that when all is said and done, justice will be served in this particular case.”
Coleman is planning another protest march for Sunday.
White said he would not alter plans for police coverage of the protest.
“We will show discretion and restraint, but we will not tolerate breaking of laws,” he said.
Newby was the seventh black man to be fatally shot by Louisville police in the past five years.
“All of us have a lot of questions and those questions are going to get answered,” White said. “There are some issues and some challenges. I play a significant role in trying to correct those and I’m committed to trying to do that.”
White has said Newby was shot after the two struggled for Mattingly’s service handgun. Mattingly was trying to buy drugs from Newby outside a strip mall when the deal went wrong, White said. Newby was carrying a .45-caliber handgun.
Louisville police have sent a preliminary report on the fatal shooting to prosecutors. But Mattingly has declined to talk to police investigators by invoking the Fifth Amendment, White said. He has been placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation.
The FBI is conducting an independent investigation to determine whether Newby’s civil rights were violated, a spokesman said.
The fatal shooting of a black, handcuffed man in December 2002 by a white police officer sparked days of protests in Louisville.
Both officers were cleared by police investigators of wrongdoing in the shooting, and a grand jury declined to indict them.