Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, one of the three officers who fired his weapon during the March 13 raid that resulted in Breonna Taylor’s death, sent out an early-morning e-mail rant just ahead of the looming grand jury decision in the case, slamming officials for failing officers and justifying his actions.
“I’m sorry the Mayor [Greg Fischer], [Public Safety Chief] Amy Hess and [former Louisville Metro Police] Chief Steve Conrad failed all of us in epic proportions for their own gain and to cover their asses,” Mattingly wrote in the e-mail that was sent out to the department Tuesday at 2:09 a.m.
“You DO NOT DESERVE to be in this position,” he continued. “The position that allows thugs to get in your face and yell, curse and degrade you. Throw bricks bottles and urine on you and expect you to do nothing.”
In the scathing e-mail, Mattingly also went after the FBI, noting that they aren’t “cops” and “would piss their pants if they had to hold the line.”
Mattingly’s e-mail first came to light after its contents were tweeted out by VICE journalist Roberto Ferdman.
In the time it has been circulating, news broke that the Jefferson County grand jury that was reviewing the case will present its report and its decision about whether it will indict the officers, including Mattingly, at 1:15 p.m. today.
Mattingly, for his part, defended the officers’ actions, noting in his e-mail, “I know we did the legal, moral and ethical thing that night. It’s sad how the good guys are demonized and the criminals are canonized.”
“Your civil rights mean nothing,” he warned his fellow officers. “But the criminal has total autonomy.”
In the end Mattingly, who was injured after being shot in the thigh, noted that his case was proof that officials care little about officers or their families.
“I wish I were there with you leading the charge” he wrote. “I’ll be praying for your safety. Remember you are just a pawn in the Mayors [sic] political game. I’m proof they do not care about you or your family, and you are replaceable.”
“Sergeant Mattingly sent an e-mail to his colleagues last evening expressing his support for them and their work in these difficult times,” Kent Wicker, an attorney representing Mattingly, told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “As you know, he was shot and severely wounded during the serving of this search warrant. Like our entire community, he is hopeful this process moves forward quickly and that his fellow officers and the people of Louisville remain safe.”
On the other hand, one of the attorneys representing Taylor’s family pointed out that the e-mail highlights the issues in the police department.
“An unarmed Black woman whose home never should’ve been raided was shot five times and died at the hands of Mattingly and his colleagues,” attorney Sam Aguiar said. “Mattingly gets to go home to his family every day. Then they covered it up. So, respectfully, Mattingly’s definition of ‘moral’ and ‘ethical’ actions are insulting to anyone with common decency. His characterization of protesters as ‘thugs’ is reprehensible. This department has instilled a culture which needs to be changed.”