A second Louisville Metro Council member has apologized for her response to a viral road-rage video after police released surveillance footage showing far more of the confrontation.
Councilwoman Betsy Ruhe said Oct. 7 that she had “overreacted” at an earlier news conference before all of the facts were known and thanked Louisville Metro Police for providing what she called “crucial context.”
Her statement came one day after Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins issued a separate apology for publicly sharing the name and photograph of a man she believed was the motorcyclist seen fighting with 20-year-old Tenaya Stanford. Hawkins had urged the man to turn himself in, but LMPD later determined he was not involved.
The apologies followed a sharp change in how the Sept. 30 confrontation was understood publicly. The original viral clip showed a motorcyclist pulling Stanford by the hair and striking her in the roadway. Longer surveillance footage later released by police showed actions by both Stanford and the motorcyclist before and after those moments.
Police Put More of the Encounter on Screen
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The road-rage footage appears during the LMPD briefing at approximately 15:19 and again around 18:20.
“I sincerely apologize for overreacting at the press conference about the road rage incident before all the facts were known,” Ruhe wrote.
Ruhe, who represents District 21, said she would continue to oppose violence but acknowledged that her initial response preceded the release of the additional evidence.
“This situation is deeply saddening. Had both people kept their cool, they could have walked away before things escalated,” she wrote.
She thanked LMPD “for their work and for providing crucial context” and said that, going forward, she would “take a breath, gather the facts, and then respond with clarity and fairness.”
The First Apology Involved an Uninvolved Man
Hawkins’ apology concerned a different problem created while the case was spreading online.
After the cellphone video circulated, Hawkins posted a man’s name and photograph and urged him to surrender. LMPD later said the man had nothing to do with the confrontation.
Hawkins acknowledged Oct. 6 that her post caused unnecessary attention and stress for the man and potentially his family.
“I also have the responsibility to make sure that information I share publicly is accurate and verified,” Hawkins said, according to WDRB+WAVE.
LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey connected that problem to the larger rush to interpret the short video.
“The words we use have consequences, particularly when people reach conclusions before all of the facts are known,” Humphrey said, adding that misinformation was especially frustrating when it came from “people in positions of power.”
The Short Clip Captured Only Part of the Sequence
Stanford said the dispute began on Interstate 65 when the motorcyclist spit on her vehicle and continued for miles before ending near Preston Highway and Grade Lane.
The cellphone video that spread online captured the physical confrontation near the end of the encounter, including the motorcyclist pulling Stanford’s hair and striking her while her 1-year-old child was inside the car.
Stanford later appeared at a news conference with her mother, Hawkins and Ruhe. The councilwomen criticized the police response and questioned why the motorcyclist had not been arrested.
What LMPD released afterward showed a longer sequence.
Humphrey said several versions circulating publicly were “not entirely accurate.” The surveillance footage did not show the earlier interstate encounter where Stanford said the motorcyclist spit on her car, but it captured roughly two minutes of the interaction at the exit ramp.
The motorcyclist was stopped at a red light when Stanford drove alongside him. As she approached, her car swerved toward the motorcycle. Humphrey noted that traffic was not blocking her from continuing onto Preston Highway.
The motorcyclist then got off his bike and approached Stanford’s car, appearing to make contact with it. Stanford opened her door, closed it when he turned toward her, then exited after he began walking away while carrying a metal steering-wheel lock.
The physical confrontation seen in the viral clip followed.
Afterward, the motorcyclist pushed Stanford back into the driver’s seat and held the door closed before returning to his motorcycle. Stanford exited again, and police said she attempted to use a Taser on him, but it did not work.
As the motorcyclist moved forward to make a left turn, Stanford drove up behind him and bumped the rear wheel of his motorcycle before turning right onto Preston Highway.
Humphrey described the episode as “two adults making a series of bad decisions.”
The Longer Video Did Not Settle Everything
The additional footage did not erase what the original cellphone video showed, nor did it capture how the dispute began on Interstate 65. It supplied missing actions before and after the viral portion and complicated the version of events that had already prompted demands for an arrest.
It also helps explain the two separate apologies. Ruhe acknowledged reacting before the fuller sequence was available, while Hawkins acknowledged a more concrete error that pulled an uninvolved man into the case.
LMPD has been in contact with an attorney for the motorcyclist, and the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office is reviewing the evidence to determine whether charges are warranted.
As of the latest public update, neither Stanford nor the motorcyclist had been charged.
All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.