A Louisville police officer under investigation in the Breonna Taylor case penned an early-morning email to about 1,000 fellow officers Tuesday in which he claimed Louisville's mayor and police chief "failed" the department, and accused the FBI of enforcing civil rights violations.
The story was first reported by VICE News' Roberto Ferdman.
New: LMPD Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly (who is being investigated as part of Breonna Taylor’s case) sent an email to around 1,000 officers at 2am that calls protestors thugs, complains about the government enforcing civil rights violations, and claims this is "good versus evil” pic.twitter.com/VcuyPDP790
— Roberto Aram Ferdman (@robferdman) September 22, 2020
LMPD Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly said regardless of the outcome of the investigation, he believes he and fellow officers did the "legal, moral and ethical thing" on March 13 when LMPD served a "no-knock" narcotics search warrant at Taylor's home, which ended in the shooting death of the 26-year-old medical worker.
"It's sad how the good guys are demonized, and criminals are canonized," Mattingly said in the email. "Put that aside for a while keep your focus and do your jobs that you are trained and capable of doing."
He also expressed his support for his fellow LMPD officers and implored them to stay safe as the results of the investigation unfold.
"Stay safe and do the right thing," Mattingly said. "YOU ARE LOVED AND SUPPORTED by most of the community. Now go be the warriors you are, but please stay safe!"
An officer was shot during the raid by Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, who has said he thought he was defending against a home invasion. Walker was initially charged, but those charges were later dropped.
LMPD Officer Myles Cosgrove was also placed on administrative reassignment for his role in the incident. Brett Hankison was fired in June after the department said he violated procedures by showing "extreme indifference to the value of human life."
LMPD said Tuesday it will be restricting access to downtown in preparation for an announcement by Attorney General Daniel Cameron on what criminal charges, if any, the officers involved in Taylor's death will face.
On Monday, Chief of Police Robert J. Schroeder declared a state of emergency for the department as it awaits the announcement, and canceled all off days and vacation requests for officers until further notice.
This story was originally reported on LEX18.com.
