A Louisville police officer involved in the search warrant that led to the death of Breonna Taylor says the shooting “had nothing to do with race.”
Jonathan Mattingly, the Louisville Metro Police sergeant who was involved in the search warrant at Breonna Taylor’s apartment, exclusively told The Courier Journal and ABC News on Tuesday, “This had nothing to do with race. Nothing at all,” USA Today reports.
Mattingly, who was shot during the same March attempted drug raid, shared that he felt “mostly frustration” when watching the protests following the death of Taylor “because there was so much misinformation out.”
“This is not relatable to George Floyd. This is nothing like that,” he added. “It’s not Ahmaud Arbery. It’s nothing like it. These are two totally different types of incidences.”
He declared, “It’s not a race thing like people wanna try to make it to be. It’s not.”
Mattingly continued:
“This is a point where we were doing our job. We returned fire. This is not us going hunting somebody down. This is not kneeling on a neck. This is nothing like that.”
See his comments below:
EXCLUSIVE: Jonathan Mattingly, officer who carried out search warrant at Breonna Taylor’s apartment, speaks out exclusively to @ABC and @courierjournal, telling @michaelstrahan: “It’s not a race thing like people want to try to make it to be.” https://t.co/BFDU2V6yMI pic.twitter.com/SKvypZkICo
— ABC News (@ABC) October 20, 2020
Mattingly was shot in the leg by Taylor’s boyfriend after the police entered the apartment on a “no-knock” search warrant. The boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, previously said he shot because he did not know who was in the apartment — though police said they announced themselves when entering, according to ABC News.
The death of Taylor, as well as the death of George Floyd — at the hands of the Minneapolis police department — sparked outrage and protests across the U.S.