LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Pastor and former Louisville mayoral candidate, Timothy Findley Jr. was in the audience at Metro Hall, when U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the findings of the Department of Justice’s probe into Louisville Metro Police. 

Findley, who is the CEO of ElderServe said it was a somber moment, stating, “What I take away is acknowledgement that Black people, specifically Black people, have been terrorized in this city for a long time. In 2020, people rose up and talked about it, got out in the streets and our city officials and city leaders were more concerned with broken windows than with a broken system.”

Shameka Parrish-Wright, the executive director of Vocal Kentucky and also a former Louisville mayoral candidate, played an active role in the Breonna Taylor movement.

She said after hearing the announcement, “When I watched it, tears came to my eyes, because it validated the gaslighting that those of us who are activists and protesters have stood up against for so long. People want their policing to be done right and we have not been treated correctly here in Louisville.”

Findley says he wants to see changes. He said specifically, “Better policing, better practices, better patterns. We need strong leadership in LMPD from top-to-bottom. The Mayor has to be out front when things happen.”

Parrish-Wright hopes Wednesday’s announcement makes a difference.

She told Spectrum News 1, “I’m really concerned about if the real community engagement happens, then we can start to shift this negative image of LMPD from where it is now.”