Police and Black Lives Matter protesters were in a tense standoff at a Louisville church on Thursday night, after the demonstrators declared the church a 'sanctuary' and demonstrated outside after a 9pm curfew went into effect.<br /><br />Demonstrators massed at First Unitarian Church, where clergy allowed them to seek refuge on church grounds to avoid arrest during curfew, and a massive police cordon was established around the property.<br /><br />A church leader at the scene explained that churches were exempt from the emergency curfew order, and said that the demonstrators had been invited onto the church grounds to avoid arrest.<br /><br />About 200 people occupied the church grounds, where demonstrators taunted officers in riot gear who stood nearby, forming a massive cordon around the church.<br /><br />It came after BLM protesters smashed the windows of a public library in downtown Louisville and threw a flare inside as authorities extended a citywide curfew into the weekend and the National Guard prepared to deploy. <br /><br />About 100 demonstrators gathered in Louisville, defying a nighttime curfew and nearby police in riot gear, marking a second night of protests after Wednesday's decision not to pursue criminal charges against officers in the Breonna Taylor case.<br /><br />The curfew took hold at 9pm in the Kentucky city as the protesters met up at the First Unitarian Church. <br /><br />Police in riot gear could be seen blocking nearby streets. <br /><br />Broken glass and flare inside library on third pic.twitter.com/J8EeDvKBLQ<br />One of those arrested on Thursday night was Attica Scott, a Kentucky state lawmaker and author of 'Breonna's law.'<br /><br />The proposed legislation would ban the use of 'no-knock' warrants statewide<br />Louisville police used a 'no-knock' warrant to enter Taylor's home in the early morning hours of March 13. After Taylor's boyfriend fired a shot at the officers thinking he was being robbed, police shot back and killed Taylor. <br /><br />People in the crowd chanted 'Black Lives Matter' as tensions continued for a second night in the city.<br /><br />After curfew set in, the protesters took up refuge at Calvary Episcopal Church. Louisville police in riot gear blocked off all roadways leading to the church.<br /><br />Video released by Louisville Metro Police Department shows protesters chanting and taunting officers in riot gear. <br /><br />Police appeared to be keeping their distance from the protesters, who did not appear to be willing to disperse. <br /><br />At around 11pm Eastern time, police began pulling back after apparently reaching an agreement with the protesters, who pledged to leave church grounds and continue marching on the pedestrian sidewalk.<br /><br />The police asked the protesters to pledge not to vandalize property. <br />Before the march began, protester Shameka Parrish-Wright told the crowd to stay together and take care of each other if they were met with force.<br /><br />'We want to show the country and the world what we’re about,' Parrish-Wright said. <br /><br />Some protesters blocked roads as they marched. Police, meanwhile, were seen nearby and pa
