'Wake up Mitch': Youth protesters march to Mitch McConnell's house on Juneteenth

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was before sunrise when more than 30 youth activists began their march to the home of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a politician who's been in office longer than they've been alive.

Wearing black shirts and masks, they walked down Bardstown Road shortly after 6 a.m., carrying signs that said "Look us in the eyes" and "Wake up Mitch."

"Breonna couldn't sleep. Neither should Mitch," a banner read, referencing the fatal police shooting of Breonna Taylor, an unarmed Black woman, at her apartment in southern Louisville.

The activists, most in their 20s, knew the senator would likely be in Washington, D.C., not Kentucky.

But in the initial hours of Juneteenth, a holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in America, they wanted to make their voices heard — even if only symbolically.

"I don't think, especially with our generation, that we've ever had this chance to take over our future," said Derik Overstreet, 23, with Bowling Green for Peace. "And it's really important that this doesn't turn into a summer trend. It's really important that this doesn't fade away."

The latest:Officer being fired from Louisville police after Breonna Taylor shooting

The early morning demonstration came amid ongoing protests against police violence and systemic racism, with people in Louisville demanding justice for Taylor, who died at the hands of police on March 13.

And with McConnell up for reelection in November, group members said they wanted to make it known that their generation is looking for new leadership.

"Not only are we wide awake to the problems that we face," said Maxwell Farrar, 29, of the Sunrise Movement, "but we're also wide awake to the solutions that we need. We're not here to just complain on the internet. We're here to get the solutions we need. We know, from the hood to the holler, Kentuckians know we need change right now."

McConnell, for his part, has said, "There is no question that there is residual racism in America." And earlier this month, he filed a resolution that referred to Taylor's death as one of the "apparent instances of unjust police violence" in this country.

The resolution was blocked by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, in favor of his own that sought to take President Donald Trump to task.

But McConnell has since helped introduce a proposal to reform law enforcement nationwide, called the Justice Act, which includes a section named the "Breonna Taylor Notification Act" that requires states and local governments to report their uses of no-knock warrants to the attorney general annually.

Read this:No-knock warrants left out of Senate GOP's police reform bill

"We will require new transparency and new reporting from state and local authorities so that surrounding communities and the federal government can all better understand how, when and why this practice is used," McConnell said Wednesday during a press conference.

Outside his home in the Belknap neighborhood, several people stopped to support the protesters, with one woman yelling, "Hey, Mitch. Your future's coming."

However, as the group paused for a moment of silence, one neighbor confronted two of the protesters, demanding to know what they were writing on pads of paper. "We don't come to your house and wake you up," he said before walking off.

One speaker, who declined to be named, told the group she understands the coded language people use when discussing the protests and the deaths that led to them on social media and network news.

"All along we are talking about who is worthy and is not worthy of life and death. Who is and is not a person," she said.

"I am tired of trying to convince everyone of what should go without saying — that Black lives matter."

Taylor investigation:FBI interviewing witnesses, taking a 'fresh' look at evidence

Reach reporter Bailey Loosemore at [email protected], 502-582-4646 or on Twitter @bloosemore. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/baileyl.