Bodycam video puts LMPD officer who fired pepper balls in 2020 under investigation again

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A Louisville Metro police officer investigated for his actions during protests in 2020 is under investigation again.

Officer Dusten Dean fired pepper balls at Kaitlin Rust and James Dobson, who worked for a local TV news station, during the protests on May 29 of that year.

Dean said he perceived the light on their camera as a threat and didn't realize they were journalists.

Last Thursday, LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey released its findings and said internal and FBI investigations found Dean's action did not rise to the level of punishment. He was cleared of a majority of his alleged violations.

Now, body camera footage has come to light that reportedly shows Dean firing pepper balls at protesters and a pedestrian on that same night. WLKY is working to obtain the video.

LMPD then released a statement on Tuesday saying:

"LMPD and its officers remain committed to transparency and moving forward with providing essential public safety. The FBI initiated an investigation into Officer Dean, which lasted over three years. At the conclusion of that investigation, the FBI closed its case against Officer Dean without charging him with any criminal or civil rights violations. Subsequently, a Professional Standards Unit investigation was initiated. The scope of that investigation directed investigators to examine the specific incident in question, involving Officer Dean’s use of a pepper ball system against a journalist. Chief Humphrey determined his findings based on the information presented in that investigation. Incidents that were not part of the initial investigation, and unrelated to the interaction with the journalist, were just recently brought to the attention of Chief Humphrey. He takes this matter seriously and is initiating an investigation into those incidents. The police department will provide an expedient review of the new allegations."

Dean was placed on administrative reassignment for about 2 1/2 years while the U.S. Department of Justice investigated the original accusations.

LMPD's findings released on Thursday show that Dean was exonerated for three of the four violations in the case: administrative incident report, use of force: de-escalation, and use of chemical agents (first deployment).

The sustained violation was Dean's second round of pepper balls he fired that night, which hit Dobson. He received a letter of reprimand for this.