Source: Jon Cherry / Getty
Simon & Schuster announced late yesterday night that they will no longer be involved with the distribution of a book written by one of the Louisville police officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor.
Written by Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, the plans for the controversial book titled The Fight for Truth: The Inside Story Behind the Breonna Taylor Tragedy were announced yesterday (April 15) by the Louisville Courier-Journal. Set to be edited and published by Post Hill Press — a client of Simon & Schuster — the book is said to be released this upcoming fall.
After receiving widespread backlash following reports of their ties to the smaller publishing company, Simon & Schuster released a statement last night via their Twitter in an effort to alert the public that they would no longer be moving forward as the distributors of the book.
“Like much of the American public,” the company’s tweet began, “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.”
The Associated Press’ coverage of the news mentioned that while speaking to them, a publicist from Post Hill Press defended their decision to work with Mattingly and said that the officer, “deserves to have his account of the tragic events heard publicly.”
Relatedly, in a statement sent to NPR early this morning (Friday, April 16), Post Hill Press said that regardless of Simon & Schuster backing away from the project they would still be moving forward with their plans to publish Mattingly’s book. A representative from their team said to NPR on the officer, “His story is important and it deserves to be heard by the public at large. We feel strongly that an open dialogue is essential to shining a light on the challenging issues our country is facing.”
Talyor was killed on March 13, 2020 during a fatal raid when three police officers, including Mattingly — under a no-knock warrant — went to find a suspect that wasn’t in Taylor’s apartment during the early morning hours of that day. After her boyfriend fired a gunshot as a warning to scare off who he thought were intruders, Mattingly end up firing six shots into the apartment while then-detective Myles Cosgrove fired 16 — including the shot that killed Talyor as per the FBI’s report.
Last september, the City of Louisville reached a historic $12M settlement with Taylor’s family over her wrongful death. Later the month, people around the world were stunned and heartbroken when it was announced that no charges would filed against Mattingly and Cosgrove. The third officer, Brett Hanksion, was charged with 3 counts of wanton endangerment in the 1st degree.
Read more about Breona Taylor and her legacy here.
