LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A man who is a prominent protester and activist in Louisville is speaking out after he was punched four times in the face by an LMPD officer during protests at Jefferson Square Park last summer.
Recently, Officer Aaron Ambers, who is accused of punching Denorver "Dee" Garrett, was exonerated following an investigation into the incident.
"You know I went to my closet and these are my glasses from that day. I think a lot of people don't really take into consideration the trauma," Garrett said.
Those are the words from Garrett after Officer Aaron Ambers with LMPD was officially exonerated of any wrongdoing.
Officer Ambers is seen on camera punching Garrett in the face four times in an arrest where LMPD cites Garrett was causing a disturbance to the public and causing a safety issue to motorists.
"My civil rights were violated. I was locked up, handcuffs put on me with no charges on me, all the charges were dropped," Garrett said.
Garrett and a group of activists met outside of LMPD today to offer their insight on the news that Officer Ambers was exonerated.
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"Unfortunately it doesn't surprise me, it greatly disappoints me because what it says is nothing has changed," Nancy Cavalcante, an Organizer for the "490 Project," said.
Speakers at the event say that disappointment stems from LMPD Chief Erika Shields' stance that the officer was operating within protocol.
"We can not trust her to discipline her officers when they beat citizens up on the street in broad daylight," Cheyenne Osuala, a local activist & girlfriend of Garrett, said.
For Garrett, even with his disappointment in Chief Shields and Officer Ambers he says he still has forgiveness in his heart.
"To Erica Shields to Aaron Ambers, from the bottom of my heart, I forgive y'all," he said.
Dee Garrett says as disappointing as the situation is, he's actually quite hopeful for justice outside of the LMPD investigation.
"I thank god for the DOJ, I thank God for the DOJ being in town, I thank God that they are looking into the situation. I do believe I am going to get justice, it's a process," Garrett said.
What's next for Garrett, well, he says he wants unity and he plans to achieve that through events involving the police department moving forward.
"LMPD is putting a basketball team together to play against the team I'm putting together so the police are not the problem, it's the people that are operating through LMPD," he said.
Garrett and the group from the presser provided this flyer for those interested.
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