Breonna Taylor became a symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement when she was shot and killed by Louisville police — but the narrative surrounding her death has done a 180.
Years later, those who jumped to demonize the police have been proven wrong after a judge ruled that Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, was the individual whose actions led to her death, not the Louisville police.
But that didn’t stop the cops present on the scene from being smeared by celebrities, politicians, the media, and activists.
This is why Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly is telling Jason Whitlock of “Fearless” — who calls the outrage following Taylor’s death a “racial hoax” — what really happened on Friday, March 13, 2020.
That night, Mattingly was serving a warrant in a drug investigation — and was initially lauded as a hero for his actions.
“Something happened, and I’m not sure when it took place, but it was fairly quickly,” Mattingly tells Whitlock. After the shooting, Mattingly was in surgery to repair his femoral artery, which was severed when he was shot by Walker.
“That night we went, and they said knock and announce, because Jamarcus Glover, he’s not at this location,” Mattingly explains. “So I said, ‘That’s fine.’ They said, matter of fact, she’s a heavy-set black female, give her extra time to come to the door.”
“After about a minute, no answer, my lieutenant says, ‘Go ahead, and hit the door.’ The breacher hits the door, when it comes open, I’m standing on the left of it. He’s on the right of it,” Mattingly continues, noting that the situation inside was strange.
“Normally people are giving up, they’re hiding, or they’re running. There’s never two people down a hall just in wait, and by the time my mind’s registering this, and I get my gun around to them, I see the tip of Kenneth Walker’s silver gun, and it’s too late.”
“Boom, shots fired, I feel the impact on my leg, I return four rounds and get behind the door. He dives into a room as soon as he shoots and leaves Breonna in the hallway. She attempts to follow him in the room ‘cause her feet crossed the threshold of the door, where she then fell back,” he explains.
“So she ran into the line of fire, chasing this guy who had abandoned her in the hallway,” he adds.
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