Kenneth Walker III: Louisville Slug

The city of Louisville, Kentucky is home to great things and traditions like Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby, Mint Julep cocktails, where Louisville Slugger baseball bats are made and it’s the home of boxing legend Muhammad Ali. I have been to Louisville a number of times. It’s a great city. At least it used to be.

Lately, Louisville has been in the national spotlight for some not-so-flattering reasons. The most prominent has been the deadly use of force by Louisville police that led to the death of Breonna Taylor. Although she was collateral damage, it was through no fault of the Louisville police. To refresh your memory, Louisville police were conducting a narcotics-related search warrant on the residence where a known drug dealer was known to live at or stay. The officers had permission from the court to execute it as a no-knock search if necessary. I find it necessary to remind you of these facts because to this day the media continues to put out fake news about this event. The media continues to peddle the lie that this was a botched raid. It was not. They continue to write that police did not knock and that they were at the wrong address. The police say that they did knock and even of they didn’t knock, they had prior consent from a judge to conduct a no-knock if necessary. The media likes to omit that a miscreant inside the residence with Breonna Taylor fired a shot through the door as police were about to enter.

There are some other things that the media continues to promote. They say that the suspect had a permit to be armed. So what? Every concealed carry class in America emphasizes that you have to use extreme caution when shooting at somebody. In other words, know what you are shooting at. Suspect Kenneth Walker III fired shots through a door after hearing the door being breached. He claims he “thought” they were intruders. Police officers were on the other side. Let’s give Walker the benefit that he did not know it was the police. What difference does that make? What if it had been the FedEx delivery person or the landlord? It could have been somebody there for a legitimate reason. Would these shots fired by him have been excused if he killed somebody? I think not. Walker was initially charged with a crime, but those charges have been dropped. A police officer who had outer perimeter containment fired shots into the building after hearing other shots emanating from inside. True, he did not know what he was shooting at other than hearing the sound of shots. He thought officers were under assault. It was a spontaneous reaction. Not smart but hardly a felony. He didn’t get the benefit of the doubt at shooting blindly like Walker III did. The officer was charged with wanton endangerment for “blindly firing 10 shots” into the flat where Taylor lived. His shots did not strike Taylor, but one shot went through a wall and into another occupied building next door. If that is wanton endangerment for blindly firing as the prosecutor pointed out, then why was the charge against Walker III dismissed? The officer was subsequently acquitted by a jury, which he should have been. This was a malicious prosecution by a cowardly district attorney trying to appease the angry mob of cop haters who rioted, looted and set fire to the city for several days. When cops are shot at, returning fire in self-defense is a reasonable response.

But it gets better … or should I say worse.

Recently, Louisville officials settled a lawsuit filed against the city by Kenneth Walker III for a violation of his civil rights. Walker was awarded $2 million as a settlement. That’s right. I did not misspeak. Walker’s reckless actions of firing blindly through a door triggered this whole series of events that led to Breonna Taylor’s death, the charging of a police officer, riots that ultimately ensued and the firing of numerous police officers. And he walks away with $2 million and the dismissal of his criminal charges. This is insanity, pure and simple. What the hell kind of country are we living in? Apparently one where the cops are the bad guys and the criminals are the good guys. This is nauseating. The media continued its false narrative reporting here, too. The Wall Street Journal, usually a reputable source, in its headline wrote that, The City of Louisville has settled lawsuits by Kenneth Walker III, who was there when police fatally shot Ms. Taylor during a raid in 2020. That’s it? Walker was just there? He wasn’t just there. The headline should have been written to say that Louisville settles lawsuit against the suspect who first blindly shot through a door at police, triggering a series of events that led to the death of Breonna Taylor. Why is that so hard for the media to do? Tell the truth. It won’t hurt. The story also points out the case was one of several in 2020 that contributed to protests across the country. Protests? How about riots, looting and burning of businesses owned by people who had nothing to do with the Taylor incident or any other police-related use of force?

After the settlement was announced the city did not respond for comment. Probably out of embarrassment for capitulating to Walker. Walker’s attorney commented that, “While this tragedy will haunt Kenny for the rest of his life, he is pleased that this chapter of his life is completed.” Yeah, I bet he is. He shot at police, got Breonna Taylor killed, got his criminal charge dropped and walks away with $2 million. I bet a lot of criminals today are asking, where does one sign up for that?

Louisville police made some unforgivable mistakes in this incident. Policing isn’t perfect. That is not an excuse. It’s reality. Better supervision would have helped. Walker not firing first would have helped, too. But that officers had their careers ended, the city burned and that slug Kenneth Walker III walks away $2 million richer is the real tragedy here.

Sheriff David Clarke Jr. is former Sheriff of Milwaukee Co, Wisconsin, President of AmericasSheriff LLC, Board member of the Crime Research Center, author of the book Cop Under Fire: Beyond Hashtags of Race Crime and Politics for a Better America. To learn more visit www.americassheriff.com