Louisville pub owner squashes rumors that triple homicide suspect had Breonna Taylor T-shirt
'We don’t know if it was a political motivation or not,' Bungalow Joe's owner Joe Bishop says
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Black man walked by a Louisville, Ky., restaurant late Friday night and allegedly opened fire -- killing three patrons sitting outside in the patio area. Local TV broadcasts captured officers with their guns drawn handcuffing the suspect, who was found crawling in a ditch some 30 minutes later across the street.
Michael E. Rhynes Jr., 33, has been charged with three counts of murder and was being held on a $2 million bond.
The shooting happened just before 11:30 p.m. Friday at Bungalow Joe’s, a family grill and pub on Beulah Church Road. Its owner, Joe Bishop, is now vehemently denying media reports and online rumors claiming the alleged gunman was wearing a “Justice For Breonna Taylor” T-shirt during his arrest.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LOUISVILLE FEDERAL BUILDINGS BOARDED UP AHEAD OF ANTICIPATED BREONNA TAYLOR GRAND JURY DECISION
In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Bishop stressed that police have not identified a motive for the shooting and that after reviewing security camera footage of the incident, he’s confident Rhynes was actually wearing a T-shirt depicting late American boxer Muhammad Ali, who was from Louisville, and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Bishop shared with Fox News a screenshot showing the T-shirt he was referencing for sale online. The shirt also says #Freedom.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bishop argued the suspect was wearing a t-shirt with half of the face of the late American boxer Muhammad Ali, who was from Louisville, and half of the face of Colin Kaepernick, at the time of his arrest. (Screenshot/Joe Bishop)
“We don’t know what was in the heart of this man if he even has a heart, but we don’t know if it was a political motivation or not,” Bishop said. “The guy was erratic. He was either mentally unstable or he was on drugs or both. And, I believe he was on drugs the way he was acting.”
“I know that’s not what everyone wants to hear because everyone wants this big narrative that there’s this big race war going on, and I understand that Louisville is a s---hole right now,” he continued. “At one point in time, we have to get back to normal, and when we get back to normal, I have a business to run which is my livelihood and I don’t need it destroyed by wrong information, misinformation, and people being afraid to come out to my place. This was a random act of violence that if you had to put odds on it, maybe a billion to one, it happened to be my spot.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michael E. Rhynes Jr., 33, was charged with three counts of murder and was held on a $2 million bond. (Louisville Metro Corrections)
Bishop, who was not at his business at the time shots rang out, said rumors online claiming that he himself was a former police officer were also inaccurate. Bishop said his ex-business partner and best friend used to work for the Louisville Metro Police Department, but he bought him out about several years ago.
“You have these news agencies put something out there that I’m a retired police officer, they’re putting a target on my back in Louisville, Ky., because people, some people, hate the police in this city," he said.
The Gateway Pundit, a far-right news and opinion website, published a story Sunday about the shooting with the headline: “Black Lives Matter Activist Wearing ‘Justice for Breonna Taylor’ Shirt Walked into a Louisville Bar and Murdered Three People.” It featured a blurry screengrab from local TV broadcast footage shared by Michael Fulkerson on Facebook. The image showed a handcuffed Rhynes being escorted by two officers, though it was unclear what design was on his t-shirt.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“Naturally, the national media has completely ignored this story — which certainly would not have been the case if a mass shooter had been wearing a ‘Trump’ shirt,'” a portion of the story claimed. “Taylor became a Black Lives Matter martyr after being killed by Louisville Police during a ‘knock and announce’ drug raid, during which her boyfriend shot at police.”
The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified the three victims killed Friday as 24-year-old Steven Head, 26-year-old Toreon Hudson, and 48-year-old Scott Smallwood. Bishop said Smallwood was his restaurant manager’s fiancée. Bishop also stressed that Hudson, the first victim fatally shot at point-blank range, was Black, and the two others were White.
Louisville Metro Police Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.
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Louisville has been gripped by largescale and sometimes violent demonstrations this summer over the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman killed during an authorized police raid executed as part of a narcotics investigation. Federal properties in Louisville were boarded up Sunday and will remain closed this week in anticipation of an announcement on whether a grand jury plans to bring criminal charges against the three Louisville Metro Police officers involved in Taylor’s death.
A GoFundMe page set up by Bishop to benefit the families of the victims raised more than $42,700 by Monday. Jefferson County Fire Service, which also responded to the shooting and Bishop said helped clean up the bloody scene, wrote in a Facebook post asking for thoughts and prayers after “this senseless violent act.”