Protests continue in Lexington for ninth straight night

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Protesters gathered to protest against police brutality for the ninth straight night on Saturday in Lexington. The protests are in the wake of the recent deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

The first stop was at Cheapside Park. Now home to bars and restaurants, Cheapside was once the site for Lexington's slave trade. It's a painful place, and name, for the black community.

At one point, protesters were chanting "Peace to our ancestors who were sold here."

Once again, barricades were set up outside of Lexington Police Headquarters. However, no police officers were standing outside in between the building and the barricades. Still, protesters stood around the barricades and chanted in an effort to make sure their message was still heard.

While protesters were gathered in front of Lexington Police Headquarters, people told their individual stories with their interactions with law enforcement.

After the sun set, the march moved to Short Street and around downtown.

April Taylor pointed out they do not block an intersection for more than eight minutes. She explained that's one minute for every time Breonna Taylor was shot.

"We feel like eight minutes is a small amount of time to be inconvenienced for the amount of inconvenience that black and brown people face at the hands of police," said Taylor.

Around 10:30, when police say an Uber was stopped by the group, a man inside the Uber got out and began arguing with one of the protesters.

One protester shared a video of the fight with LEX 18. Several witnesses we talked to say the man who was inside the Uber threw the first punch, and the protester involved fought back in self-defense.

"We are not here to initiate violence but as I have said several times throughout these peaceful protests, we will defend ourselves. We have every right to defend ourselves," said Sarah Williams.

After the brief fight, protesters returned to the county courthouse, promising to continue marching for justice, peace, and meaningful changes to police department procedures.

"We've had conversations with Chief Weathers. We've had conversations with City Council. We've had conversations with the mayor and there's been no movement. And so this is why we're out here on the street, doing direct action to shut things down, because we feel like we haven't been listened to when we've had these conversations," said Taylor.

"We're tired of meeting. You've had the demands for a year. Meet our demands. We want LPD accountability. You want us off these streets? Meet our demands. We aren't leaving these streets until our demands are met," said Williams.