An Open Letter to Louisville About Public Safety After the Public Assault of Tenaya Stanford
October 8, 2026
On September 30, 2026 an as-of-yet-unnamed older white man grabbed 20-year-old Tenaya Stanford by her hair, threw her around, and beat on her repeatedly with an object later identified as a steering wheel lock. This violence, per Police Chief Humphrey’s press conference on 10/05/2026, took place for two minutes in the middle of rush hour traffic, on the off-ramp of I-65 to Preston Highway.
[Link to Police Chief Humphrey Press Conference, 10/05/2026]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6C3HCuiG78
Many drivers witnessed the assault and went around it on the shoulders of the exit ramp. Multiple videos were captured, including one that went viral.
It looked from that viral video that nobody cared about Stanford’s safety and well-being.
One person did call 911, but did not stay in the area to assist with information. Stanford’s own comments mention that people driving by began to blow their car horns, perhaps causing the attacker to stop beating her and change his tactic to shoving her into her own car.
Public reactions to the video and press conference have ranged from deep distress to explicitly racist and misogynistic hostility and celebration of Stanford’s ordeal.
Police Chief Humphrey said that the conflict involved “two adults making a series of bad decisions.” This two-adults framing does not acknowledge the history of death and trauma in Louisville, renewed in the violence leading up to and during the 2020 Uprising, and aggravated in the long, sordid aftermath of injustice for Breonna Taylor and David McAtee. It does not address the intent or impact of a white man beating a young Black woman in the middle of a crowded public road.
Police Chief Humphrey characterized the incident as road rage, and offered helpful, practical advice for coping with a road rage incident. He then characterized road rage as impersonal. “So, this isn't something new. We all feel some kind of personal attachment to getting cut off or getting… the finger at us or anything like that, but I guarantee you the person who cut you off has no clue who you are. It is not personal.”
While road rage safety advice is timely and vital, calling this incident "impersonal" does not take into account the way that racist and bigoted violence works. Violence can erupt between people of any demographic. The likelihood of violence is amplified when a perpetrator perceives a fellow human being to be part of a detested group—a group that the perpetrator imagines as morally deserving of control, harm, punishment or death.
Such perceptions shape the responses of any person who is disrespected or attacked. There are usually competing, conflicted and confusing ideas about the right thing to do in this situation.
Violent encounters between strangers may be impersonal in the sense that they are not linked to an individual’s name or social security number, but they are motivated by powerfully personal factors that shape thinking and limit choices.
This is why we educate and organize. In a violent situation, there is usually little time to find better choices. People just react. That is why we prepare before and after situations of violence erupt. During the situation, we try to stop the harm. Afterward, we learn and work for a better future.
The rush to critique Stanford’s choices and character is harmful and counter-productive. Our criminal justice system focuses on individual acts, adjudicates them and organizes punishment for an individual.
But after a white man grabbed and beat a Black woman on a public thoroughfare, the questions for 99% of us should not be “who started it” or worse yet “what did she do to make him so angry.” Such discussions are distraction, trauma and infotainment.
We need to think “how do we stop this harm” in the moment it is happening, and for the future. Bringing an individual to justice is important but does not change the world that produced the injustice.
Disrupt harm whenever possible, whenever it happens.
Here are two requests, with links to resources:
1. Learn bystander intervention skills. Bystander intervention training gives people practical tools to stand up for others in moments of crisis and harm. Take time to learn how to respond helpfully and effectively when you witness violence.
One model is the "5 Ds"—Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct—and it was built for a witness who wants to help someone experiencing violence.
Any group, church, business, or community organization can arrange bystander training in the 5Ds for its members. Organize this training for the people you know.
Included in the link is a resource for how to counter road rage if you are a passenger in the car, or if you know a friend or family member or anyone is driving aggressively.
These bystander intervention skills have to be trained and practiced–and regularly updated. Being part of a community of accountability for acting when you have the capacity is crucial to better outcomes. This can be a faith community or a soccer league. Just as those trained in crucial first aid and lifesaving skills have both a moral and often a legal responsibility to use those skills when someone is in crisis, we need to learn how to be part of a community that refuses to look the other way. Training helps place the emphasis on what you might personally be able to do, not what you can’t or won’t.
2. Fund safety and self-defense training for targeted demographics. Support or organize fundraisers for safety training in vulnerable communities, including Black, Brown, Immigrant, Trans, and women's groups. Through this mid-term election season and the following presidential election, we expect conflict fueled by bigotry to increase. Support those most impacted to create safety for themselves, their families, and their communities.
https://www.buddhistjusticecollective.org/bystander-and-defense-training-resources
Signed,
Buddhist Justice Collective
Angie Reed Garner
Open Mind Zen Louisville
Email buddhistjusticecollective@gmail.com to be added as signatories.
