Saturday night, about 200 people, described as ‘youths’, gathered in Louisville’s Riverside Park. At some point, they split up, some going east, some going west. One group ran into a family out for a walk on Big Four Bridge, a former railroad bridge that has been turned into a pedestrian walkway over the Ohio River. The grandmother and two grandchildren got to watch as a group of young people beat and kicked the grandfather. Another group descended upon a convenience store a few blocks away, assaulting an employee and taking merchandise. After leaving the store, they dragged a woman out of her car and beat her in front of her family. Additionally, a man is reporting that he was attacked nearby on Friday night as he walked along South Preston Street with his partner.
Here’s a map of the area, with the incidents highlighted:
The red area is Waterfront Park. The blue area is the Big Four Bridge. The black area is South Preston Street. The “A” is the location of the convenience store. There is a scale in the bottom right. The distances here are measured in hundreds of yards and city blocks, mere minutes for a mob traveling on foot.
That area is the eastern half of downtown Louisville, and while it’s not a utopia, it’s not considered that bad an area crime-wise. The kick-0ff event for the Kentucky Derby Festival, Thunder Over Louisville, is centered around Waterfront Park. The Louisville Bats play at the baseball stadium just to the east of Preston Street. The large white building just north of the “31W” sign on the right side of the map is the KFC Yum! Center, where University of Louisville basketball games are held, along with many concerts and other events. A lot of work and money has gone into making this part of town safer and more enjoyable for everyone.
This is not a blighted urban cesspool. That didn’t matter this weekend.
There was no big game to celebrate that night. That didn’t matter this weekend.
There has been no major civil rights drama of late in Louisville to justify anger. That didn’t matter this weekend.
A man and a woman were beaten in front of their families. A man was ambushed as he walked along a public street. A store was robbed, and its employee beaten. After all this, Mayor Fischer and the Louisville Metro Police Department pledge to do… something. Mothers who take their children to play at the park are ‘considering’ carrying weapons.
In other words, those whom we are paying to keep the peace and those who want the peace kept are trying to figure out who let the horses out and whether or not it’s a good idea to close the barn door.
People, take care of yourself. The difference between bruised ribs and a permanent injury or death is a few extra foot pounds of force or a few inches difference in placement of a blow. My gut tells me that this won’t be the last time we see stories about things like this, and it’s only a matter of time before these ‘youths’ graduate from random beatings and a snatch-and-grab to killing someone.
Know where you are and who is around you. If you go, go armed. If you have to fight, fight dirty and fight to escape and survive. No-one’s life is as precious as your life and those of your loved ones.
Oh, and by the way, if you’re considering coming to Louisville for the 2016 National Rifle Association Annual Meeting, it’s being held at the Kentucky Convention Center. That’s about three blocks west of the edge of that map. A couple of the hotels for the NRAAM are on the map. Keep that in mind.
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