By Maler Suresh
On March 13 of this year, Breonna Taylor, a Black emergency room technician, was fatally shot and killed by police officers in Louisville, Kentucky, during a botched drug raid. Seen as yet another example of excessive force and disregard for Black life among those who are meant to be upholding the law, Taylor’s death sparked protests throughout the country. Of the three officers directly involved in the incident- Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove- only Hankinson was fired. Chief Robert Schroeder accused the former officer of violating the department’s policy on the use of deadly force, showing “an extreme indifference to the value of human life.” A grand jury later indicted Hankison on three charges of wanton endangerment after he fired ten rounds into Taylor’s apartment. However, these charges were not given in direct regard to Taylor’s death, but rather for the danger Hankison put the people in the adjacent apartments in. Cosgrove and Mattingly, who are also confirmed to have fired multiple shots that night, were placed on administrative leave, but they were not charged. The officers were executing a “no-knock” search warrant (which were banned in the state of Kentucky soon after the incident) at Taylor’s apartment, just after midnight. The police obtained a search warrant after she was linked to suspects in their investigation. Specifically, with her ex-boyfriend Jamarcus Glover, who was arrested that same night on drug charges. It’s worth noting that there were no drugs found in Taylor’s apartment that night.
Only one of the seven officers at Taylor’s apartment that night had a body camera, but it was turned off. In a recent interview on Good Morning America, Jonathan Mattingly maintains that the officers knocked on the doors of the apartment multiple times and announced themselves. This directly contradicts Walker’s account in which he says that he and Taylor asked multiple times who was at the door, but got no response. According to Walker, it was only then that he, a registered gun owner, picked up his gun and walked into the hallway with Taylor. “I never thought it was the police,” Walker told Gayle King on CBS This Morning, “Because why would the police be coming here?” When the door was finally broken down, Walker fired a single shot which hit Jonathan Mattingly in the leg. More firing soon followed, and multiple shots fatally struck Taylor. In a later email to his colleagues, Mattingly wrote, “I know we did the legal, moral and ethical thing that night,” and going even further to claim, “good guys are demonized, and criminals are canonized.”
Walker was initially charged with attempted murder and assault following the incident, but the charges were soon dropped. “I was raised by a good family. I am a legal gun owner and I would never knowingly shoot at a police officer,” he said at a news conference. In early September, after the charges were dropped, Walker sought damages “for the trauma, humiliation, indignity, physical pain, mental suffering, or mental anguish he suffered.” Mattingly, who had to endure hours of surgery after being shot in the leg by Walker, has now filed a countersuit for “battery, assault and emotional distress,” The claims are that Mattingly experienced “severe trauma, mental anguish and emotional distress” that night. Mattingly’s attorney, Kent Wicker, said, “Sgt. Mattingly was shot and nearly killed by Kenneth Walker. He’s entitled to, and should, use the legal process to seek a remedy for the injury that Walker has caused him.” However, Walker’s attorney, Steve Romines, responded saying, “This is the latest in a cycle of police aggression, deflection of responsibility, and obstruction of the facts in what is an obvious coverup. The counterclaim just brings it full circle. If Kenny can be sued for defending himself, make no mistake, all lawful gun owners’ rights are at risk. And that should scare everyone. We intend to defend Kenny —once again— from baseless charges intended to harm, intimidate, and cover up the events of March 13, 2020.”
