The entire country was rocked in March 2020 when Breonna Taylor’s death was announced to the public. Louisville police fired 32 rounds through the apartment she shared with her boyfriend after attempting to serve a “no-knock warrant.” Taylor’s resulting death created demands for justice as protestors and activists started a movement to arrest her killers. Over a year after the raid, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, an officer who fired at Taylor, is receiving a book deal to detail his experience that day, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports.
Following last year’s unrest and rallying for justice, Mattingly, along with his fellow officers, received zero charges for Taylor’s death. One officer, Brett Hankison, did receive a charge for March 13’s events, but only for “wanton endangerment” due to striking a nearby neighbor’s apartment. Mattingly is the only officer who fired his gun at Taylor’s home and remained a member of the Louisville Metro Police department.
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Now, Mattingly has struck a book deal with Post Hill Press, a publishing company based in Tennessee that often releases books surrounding conservative politics and Christianity. The book title will be named “The Fight for Truth: The Inside Story Behind the Breonna Taylor Tragedy.” According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, it will be published this fall.
— Simon & Schuster (@simonschuster) April 16, 2021
Simon & Schuster, a popular company that distributes books created by Post Hill Press, received backlash and fan concerns about working with Mattingly and swiftly issued a statement on the matter, distancing themselves from the police officer.
They revealed on Thursday that they wouldn’t be involved in the book, tweeting, “Like most of the American public, earlier today Simon & Schuster learned of plans by distribution client Post Hill Press to publish a book by Jonathan Mattingly. We have subsequently decided not to be involved in the distribution of this book.”
It looks like Mattingly will have to shop his book around elsewhere.
