In recent days, many have gathered in cities throughout the Eastern District of Kentucky to express anger, frustration, and grief, and to seek understanding, equity, and justice. Those attending are exercising important rights bestowed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, including the freedom of speech, the right to peaceably assemble, and right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. I support their exercise of these fundamental rights.  

UPDATE: The Laurel County Sheriff's Office is reporting that 3 year old Ayrabella Strunk was found safe at 2:00 PM on June 10, 2020.

LONDON, KY (June 10, 2020) - Laurel County Sheriff John Root is reporting that: The Laurel County Sheriff's Office is attempting to locate Ayrabella Strunk age 3.

'The rights of free speech, free assembly, and the free exercise of religion are all First Amendment rights. They have the same constitutional pedigree. But apparently while protests are now permissible, prayer is still too dangerous. Politicians are now picking and choosing within the First Amendment itself.'

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding religious liberty:

LONDON, KY - A Booneville, Kentucky, man, James Everett Smith, 52, was sentenced in federal court on Monday, to 240 months in prison, by U.S. District Judge Robert Wier, for his convictions for to possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking.

FRANKFORT, KY – Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 that an investigation by the Department of Criminal Investigations Cyber Crimes Unit in partnership with the United States Secret Service, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s Office, and United States Attorney Peter McCoy, Jr., has led to the arrest of a South Carolina man.  Nathan Branham, 39, of Cheraw, South Carolina, is charged with online enticement of a minor and transferring obscene material to a minor.