LOUISVILLE, Ky - Faith leaders gathered in Louisville to address the protests and Mayor Greg Fischer’s responses to the demands made by Louisville’s Interdenominational Ministerial Coalition.

“I need to remind you, it has been two months and several days since Breonna’s life was taken during a search warrant procedure at her apartment,” said Dr. Frank M. Smith, Jr, the IMC president.

Smith said that Taylor’s death is just one of the driving forces behind the community taking to the streets night after night for protests.

“It’s not just because of Breonna’s death,” said Smith. “Blacks in this community, in particular, are tired with dealing with the neglect of our communities.”

Smith said that if elected officials want to remain in office, they will have to have a black empowerment agenda.

He says that many communities in Louisville are all too familiar with broken windows.

“We are in an emergency crisis,” said Smith. “We’ve had broken windows weeks and weeks, months and months, years and years, and we did not have the National Guard come into comfort and protect our communities.”

Smith said that Louisville’s faith leaders warned Mayor Fischer that public unrest was mounting.

“I told Mayor Fischer three times as of May 15th that if we didn’t get the decisive actions taken we would see what we haven't seen the last two to three days.”

Smith wants the people to have their voices heard. But, he did want to remind them to look after their health since we are still in the middle of a pandemic. He also wants to see peaceful protests continue to honor the memory of Taylor and Mr. Floyd.

“I want to urge for the peaceful protest in our community,” said Smith. “We will accomplish nothing by damaging resources in the city where we live.”