A Louisville cop hit a protester on a night of 'pure chaos.' Now he's going to prison

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A former Louisville Metro Police officer who bludgeoned an unarmed, kneeling protester on the head with a wooden riot stick and then repeatedly lied to his superiors about it will be going to federal prison.

Cory Evans, who had been an officer for about seven years before resigning from the department in July 2021 after LMPD initiated his termination, was sentenced Tuesday to two years in the May 31, 2020, assault of Marty Chester.

Appearing in court, Evans said he was "embarrassed" by what he'd done during a night of protests that another officer described as "pure chaos," then apologized for his actions and for having "drug (LMPD's) name through the mud."

But in an interview with WAVE3 News published Tuesday night, the ex-cop struck a different tone, describing the moment when "the feds say that I struck him."

"I don't deny that he was hit," Evans said. "I deny that I hit him with the intent or malice."

Evans pleaded guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law last August, admitting he'd struck Chester. He told WAVE3 he did so to avoid a potentially longer prison sentence.

At the sentencing, Chester and his parents spoke publicly, rebuking Evans for abusing his power and beating Chester "like an animal."

Chester suffered a gash on his head, needed three staples and lost his hearing for several months. He also said he has experienced anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder since the assault.

"You have stolen my security, Mr. Evans," Chester said. He urged U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings to give him the maximum sentence and show him "the same lack of mercy he showed me as I bled out."

Because of the felony, Evans said he "lost everything," including both his potential police and military pensions and benefits.

"I was tired. I was broken. I was restless," he said of the night of his crime. It was his anniversary, he said, and he just wanted to be home with his family.

"The only thing I have left is my family," he said.

Prosecutors argued for a sentence of four years in prison, while Evans' attorney asked for probation in lieu of prison.

Jennings told both sides their requests were not appropriate: four years is too much, but no prison is not enough for the "very serious offense." In addition to two years in prison, Evans will also have to pay $1,962.85 in restitution.

Attorney argues treatment is 'draconian'

Defense attorney Brian Butler was indignant at the prosecutors' suggestion Evans go to prison for four years, saying his client has already been treated "vastly worse" because he is a police officer.

"What's happening to Cory Evans is absolutely draconian," Butler said.

Butler cited Evans' past acts of heroism, both on LMPD and while deployed to Afghanistan in the military, which he said includes saving a woman from a burning car.

"He is the poster child for everything we want young men and young women to be in this country," Butler said.

The protests that began May 28, 2020, in downtown in the wake of the police killings of Breonna Taylor in Louisville and George Floyd in Minneapolis were not just "unrest," Butler said, but "a riot erupted in this town."

Butler repeatedly mentioned the objects thrown at officers by some protesters, that seven people were shot during the first night of protests and there were attempts to set buildings on fire.

"How much stress would that have put on any of us?" he asked.

Chester was in a group of people reportedly committing arson and throwing bricks, Butler said, arguing it was important context.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gregory reminded the court that Chester was not on trial. While Chester was arrested that night, his charge was ultimately dismissed and expunged, Gregory said, and no officer claimed to have seen him throw bricks or start fires.

While Gregory agreed with Butler that officers were under intense stress under the early days of the 2020 racial justice protests, she said "that doesn't mean it's open season" on residents of the city.

Additionally, Gregory drove home the fact that Evans repeatedly lied about how Chester was injured, telling his supervisor he pulled the victim off a fence he was climbing and he hit his head in the process.

"This was an intentional lie," she said.

In their evaluation of an appropriate punishment, Gregory, who is with the Western District of Kentucky, and Timothy Visser, with the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., said Evans violated the public trust and public safety.

Previously: Former Louisville cop pleads guilty to hitting kneeling Breonna Taylor protester in head

A strong message should be sent to would-be violators who abuse their authority to physically assault those under their control and lie to cover it up, they wrote.

Gregory and Visser asked for an enhancement because of Evans’ false statements to law enforcement made in an effort to obstruct the investigation.

Though the maximum penalty for the charge is 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release, the prosecution agreed to seek no more than four years in prison.

Butler in court records asked the judge for three years of probation in lieu of prison and the special condition of one year of home detention, so Evans can be with his wife and two young boys.

Prosecutors in the sentencing memorandum said official misconduct and obstruction may easily go undetected and unpunished. A four-year sentence will let other police officers know they won’t get away with a “slap on the wrist,” and would address the abuse of power at the core of Evans’ conduct.

If the victim hadn’t filed a complaint with LMPD’s Professional Standards Unit, Evans might not have been identified as the perpetrator, prosecutors said.

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They also wrote that Evans' record suggests he was prone to using force in a “variety of settings,” including 10 incidents in a 16-month period. In one such incident, Evans threw a handcuffed person to the ground who had mouthed off.

A Courier Journal analysis of Evans' use of force history shows he was involved in at least 27 incidents in his roughly seven years as a sworn officer — including two that took place after he was accused of striking the protester.

Of those incidents, 21 took place between 2018 and June 2020. LMPD did not limit Evans' policing powers until July 23, 2020, when he was placed on administrative reassignment.

What happened that night

Evans was assigned to LMPD’s Special Response Team — a group of officers trained to work large events or respond to incidents that require crowd control — during the spring 2020 protests following Taylor's death.

The night of the incident, Evans was with a team following a crowd around South Brook Street and East Broadway to execute arrests for violating the city’s 9 p.m. curfew that had been in place. Chester followed instructions when the officer Evans was with shouted “get down on the ground.”

Though Chester was on his knees with his hands in the air, Evans struck him on the back of the head with a baton, according to court records.

Further, Evans lied twice to his superiors about how he sustained the injury.

Evans did not have his body camera turned on, so the story Evans told about pulling Chester off a fence was used in the official use of force report filed by his supervisor, Sgt. William Keeling.

Both sergeants at the scene reviewed body camera footage from other officers that night, but didn't find his story to be false. They recommended a violation for not having his body camera turned on.

A week later, Chester filed an official complaint with the Professional Standards Unit, though he didn’t know which officer hit him because he was struck from behind.

Officer Joseph Berg testified he recalled seeing Keeling watch additional body camera footage and eventually seeing the incident.

"'Damn it, Cory,'" Berg recalled Keeling saying. "'Cory lied to me.'"

Mental health factors mentioned

Evans’ mental health history stemming from his military service and tours in Afghanistan was used by the defense to argue for a lesser sentence.

Evans, in court records, said he avoided a PTSD diagnosis precisely so he wouldn’t be prevented from doing a job that the diagnoses might make him “ill-suited for,” but he said he suffers from anxiety and depression.

Gregory and Vissor in the sentencing memorandum said Evans had an incentive to exaggerate the health claims to diminish his culpability for his conduct. But they also said it’s conceivable that the events leading up to the event, including Evans' response to the mass shooting in Jefferson Square Park, exacerbated his mental health issues.

Excerpts of a 196-page report on his mental health from the Robley Rex VA Medical Center in March 2010, following his two-year stint in the U.S. Army, indicate Evans had major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder and a “plethora” of PTSD-related symptoms.

He was also experiencing social withdrawal, loss of energy, problems at work, loss of appetite and generalized anxiety and paranoia, records show.

Court records also indicate he disagreed with the recommended treatment plan from his doctors.

Both his defense and letters of support to the judge for a lesser sentence pointed to the conditions of the protests leading up to the May 31, 2020, bludgeoning.

LMPD Detective Charles Heller wrote in a letter to the judge that the “riots” can only be described as “pure chaos,” and was like “a scene out of a war movie.” He said thousands of rioters filled the streets, bottles of urine were thrown at them and one member of the Special Response Team caught on fire when a Molotov cocktail hit him.

They had been “beat up for three days straight.”

“It pains me to see what the (Department of Justice) is doing to such a great police officer, veteran and family man. I have personally advised Cory to fight these charges and stand behind him 100%,” Heller wrote.

His mother, Shirly Evans, wrote in a letter that he doesn’t deserve to have his entire family life and two careers ruined because he has “fallen victim to the politics of his time.”

His father-in-law wrote that his time in the Army, as well as his 13 years in the West Virginia National Guard, which has largely been concurrent with his service as an LMPD officer, has left him with two bad knees, a bad back, hearing loss and PTSD.

In court, Butler argued Evans had "already suffered tremendously" even without a prison sentence.

Jennings said Evans' service and his mental health challenges were intertwined, which warranted some leniency.

But, she noted, Evans striking Chester was a "purposeful and deliberate act."

Kala Kachmar is an investigative reporter. Reach her at 502-582-4469; kkachmar@courierjournal.com or @NewsQuip on Twitter. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Ex-officer who hit kneeling protester with riot stick gets prison time