An attempt at humor by a black Louisville cop in which he starred in a parody recruitment video where he said that people could “kill for free” if they join up and mocked the death of Breonna Taylor resulted in shock and outrage that cost him his job.
The 26-year-old Taylor was caught in the crossfire in a 2020 incident when police, who were executing a drug raid, were fired on by her boyfriend. They returned fire and Taylor lost her life, becoming a social justice martyr figure for Black Lives Matter activists, celebrities and professional sports athletes including LeBron James.
Turhan Knight who had worked for the Louisville Metro Corrections since 2018 was sent packing for the ill-advised video which was recorded at the Kentucky State Fair featuring him in uniform and walking past a line of police vehicles as he gave his faux sales pitch.
“Hello, my name is officer Turhan Knight, I’m an officer with Louisville Metro” he began, “and I’d like to talk to you today about coming in, join our team to answer the call.”
“Brother, we need you,’ Knight continued, “We’re going through many ups and downs in the city, trying to repair broken relationships and brother we need you, and that’s what we put on our trucks – we need backup,” as he gestured toward the vehicles.
“Answer the call, be a part of a great, great police department,” he said. “Never mind what happened to Breonna Taylor, we killed that b*tch.”
(Video: The Daily Mail)
“You want to drive vehicles like this?” Knight asked, ” and fly in planes as he gestured toward an airplane.
“Do you want to be able to have unlimited off-duty? Do you want to be able to support your family? Do you want to kill people and get off for it?” Knight added. “Join Louisville Metro Police Department, and answer the call.”
The video which was posted online drew a furious response from Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer – who was sucker punched in broad daylight on a city street early this summer and decried Knight’s sense of humor as “hideous.”
“There is zero excuse for his insensitivity,” Fischer said in a statement. “He has brought great shame upon Metro Corrections and all of Louisville metro government”
“I deeply apologize to the family of Breonna Taylor and all of the hard working and ethical employees of Louisville metro government,’ he added. “One person will not tarnish the good work we attempt to do on behalf of our residents.”
Louisville Metro Department of Corrections union president Daniel Johnson also slammed Knight. “The organization will not appeal his termination,” he said adding that members are “glad to see the department take quick action to end his employment.”
“The video was absolutely horrible, and there is no place in uniform for anyone that would do something so insensitive,” Johnson said on Friday. “We believe the termination was absolutely justified and was the right decision. Knight’s views and opinions of LMPD does not reflect those of FOP Lodge 77.”
Knight said that he was “deeply remorseful” for the video and in a social media interaction with a reporter from the Louisville Courier-Journal “said he was in the process of retaining a lawyer and had recently put in his two-weeks notice with Metro Corrections, with Friday scheduled to be his last day on the job. The video was a joke based on his feelings toward LMPD, he said, and how ‘some officers handled past situations.'”
“I should have received punishment I don’t deny that, but blatant lies told against me to look good for media purposes is just wrong,” he wrote in a statement to the outlet. “… In closing I hope that I can be forgiven, I pray I will. I made a terrible decision, there aren’t enough apologies that I can give right now but I am deeply remorseful.”
“I think the video is in very poor taste and am disgusted that he thought a joke about my daughter’s death was a laughable moment,” said Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother. “It continues to show me that LMPD and those who work with them have no regard for their criminal actions against my daughter and continue to disrespect me and my family.”
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Chris Donaldson is an ordinary American who is concerned about rampant corruption as well as the ongoing attacks on our way of life by those who have contempt for our hard-earned freedoms. A Navy veteran, he has been a frequent contributor to conservative websites and resides in Florida.
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