Who is Cortez Edwards? Armed felon threatens to shoot LMPD cops for $30K in FB Live after Breonna Taylor verdict
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY: An armed felon allegedly threatened to shoot Louisville police officers for around $30,000 in a Facebook Live video last week, as per reports.
Cortez Lamont Edwards, 29, was allegedly seen holding an AR variant pistol which had also included a non-extendible support brace and an extended magazine after the Breonna Taylor verdict was announced, The Sun reports.
Edwards went live on the social media platform on Wednesday, September 23 as per the criminal complaint. In the video, he could be heard saying that he wanted to be paid around $30,000 in order to shoot police officers outside his home in Louisville, Kentucky "for a disturbance in the street."
He was convicted for complicity to trafficking in a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, as per a press release by the US Attorney's Office in the Western District of Kentucky. The authorities were able to arrest Edwards on Sunday, September 27, after they found him sleeping on a couch in his residence with a Glock model 19, 9mm semi-automatic pistol nearby. When he was arrested, he was alone at home with a toddler.
The US Attorney Russell Coleman shared, "Louisville needs healing and safety for its citizens, not armed felons seeking bids to shoot police." He added, "Federal law enforcement here will continue to respond as one to swiftly mitigate threats to our city." According to a special agent in charge, R Shawn Marrow of the Louisville Field Division of ATF, "threats against law enforcement are unacceptable." Marrow said, "When you threaten police and brandish firearms, you can expect the attention of ATF."
Edwards faces federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and could get up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release, as per reports.
Louisville has exploded in protests and outrage after a grand jury decided not to bring any charges against the Louisville police for the killing of Breonna Taylor by the Louisville police in a botched up police raid. At the time of the incident, Breonna and her boyfriend Kenneth Walker had reportedly been sleeping and were awakened when the officers burst into the home. Breonna was shot at least six times and died at the scene of the shooting.
We had earlier reported that body camera footage from Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers and SWAT team members revealed the immediate aftermath of the police raid in which 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was killed. The video had not been made public in the past and was captured by 45 different body cameras and was included as part of the investigative file compiled by the LMPD’s Public Integrity Unit and shared with the Kentucky attorney general’s office, reports Vice.
According to this new report, the police officers apparently violated department policies and cast doubt on the integrity of the crime scene and the investigation, including officers, discussing the amount of shell casings on the floor on the ground - with Officer Brett Hankison asking if the bullets are "theirs" (SWAT team).