LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Newley released video shows two Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) officers film themselves throwing slushies at West Louisville residents on multiple occasions.
The cell phone videos, obtained by WHAS11 through an open records request, shows two unknown officers throw drinks at residents in unmarked LMPD cruisers. The incidents, which took place between August 2018 and September 2019, have become known as “Slushygate.”
According to the Courier Journal, which first reported on the videos, phone data shows many of the incidents took place in West Louisville neighborhoods.
In October 2022, former LMPD officers Bryan Wilson and Curt Flynn pleaded guilty to federal charges for violating the rights of West Louisville residents through arbitrary use of force.
Their charges stemmed from their involvement in the incidents, although it’s unclear if they are the same officers in the video.
The two men were part of LMPD’s former 9th Mobile Division, which replaced the VIPER Unit in 2015.
Court documents said Wilson and Flynn drove around in unmarked LMPD vehicles with large drinks. Once they spotted a target, records showed Flynn would slow down near the sidewalk so Wilson could throw the drink at different people.
Federal prosecutors said the pair would often record or have others record their actions on video using their cell phones – sometimes from inside the car or from an LMPD vehicle following closely behind the car in which the drink was thrown and shared with other 9th Mobile Division officers.
In some incidents, the officers could be heard on police radio saying, “Someone was thirsty” or “Thirsty fam,” before speeding off. In at least one case, the victim was knocked to the ground from the impact.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg responded to the videos release by calling the incidents "unacceptable" while acknowledging that this happened long before he or the current LMPD chief were in office.
He said their goal is to create a very different LMPD from the one in 2018.
“We are focused on improving the culture of LMPD where we proactively work with community, build trust with the community, and we want to have an LMPD that everyone trusts and respects," Greenberg said. “We are focused on a very different way of training, we’ve improved focus on supervision. Incidents like that will not be tolerated by Chief Gwinn Villaroel or myself."
On Tuesday, LMPD sent out a statement addressing the videos saying:
"It is understandable that the videos of the drink throwing incidents from 2018-2019 are upsetting and disturbing to the public. The incidents are a painful part of LMPD’s history. For context, the individuals responsible for throwing the drinks faced federal prosecution and others that were involved are no longer employed by LMPD and/or have been disciplined. The department has implemented reforms that emphasize constitutional policing while rebuilding community trust.”
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