12 Seconds in the Dark

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By now most have read or heard about four Louisville police officers being charged by federal authorities in the shooting of Breonna Taylor. These are or were our excellent frontline cops— a word deriving from an old Anglo_Saxon verb for catch, grab or capture.

I grew up in a time when to call a policeman a ‘cop’ was considered to be disrespectful, no doubt based on a misunderstanding of the slang. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the Breonna Taylor case, too.

A fast read 

I was given a copy of Sgt. John Mattingly’s book, 12 Seconds in the Dark, A Police Officer’s Firsthand Account of the Breonna Taylor Raid. Copyrighted this year and published by DW Books, a division of Daily Wire, Nashville, Tenn., this autobiographical account is only 141 pages. Mattingly is the officer who was shot during the raid.

The book is dedicated to his young cousin, Jenna, an unsuspecting victim of fentanyl.

Jenna, we will miss your humor and quick wit. We will miss your smile and big heart. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to save you from this epidemic that takes so many lives too soon. We love you and will see you one day in Heaven.

A Louisville native, Mattingly served as a police officer for 21 years, 15 targeting violent criminals and drug dealers. His father was pastor of Shawnee Baptist Church in the Portland neighborhood for 37 years, which welcomed a diverse congregation with white, black and Hispanic members.

My father is the ultimate example of service and sacrifice and taught me at a young age that we do good things for others out of compassion and not for anything in return… it was the example that Christ taught us. These early experiences set me up for my destiny and calling as a public servant. (p. 4)

My family is made up of multiple races and ethnicities: white, black and Chilean… my grandkids are bi-racial, so when the narrative being spun was one of white supremacy and racism, I was appalled. (p. 50)

On the night of the raid, all officers were wearing black tactical vests that were issued for the situation, with “POLICE” clearly stated on the front and back. This has not been acknowledged in the media.

Here is Sgt. Mattingly’s description of the event:

I was standing to the left of the door as I began to knock, something police are taught from day one in the academy since there have been many cases of subjects firing through doors when officers knock. Det. Nobles was to the right of the door holding the ram, a tool used to breach a door if there is no answer and that has been referred to as the “key to the city” since it has the uncanny ability to open most doors it encounters. Standing directly behind me was Tony (Det. James). …

There’s a knock known on the street as the knock of the police. It’s not a typical knock that you would utilize when going to a family member or friend. This knock is a loud, continuous pounding on a door. This knock is aggressive, forceful, and used this way with the purpose of obtaining a response. THIS is the knock we utilized on the fatal night of March 13, 2020… (p. 30)

There is much more description of the entry procedure, and all that ensued that night and over the next days, months and years.

In light of this description, the book jacket features this paragraph from the account:

Many months later, in a strange turn of events, the City of Louisville passed a law banning no-knock warrants. The name of the law is Breonna’s Law. This name has spread like wildfire throughout the nation, attaching it to the banning or restrictions of no-knock warrants. The irony is that the warrant that led to Breonna’s death wasn’t executed as a no-knock. I still believe in my heart that, had we served the warrant as a no-knock, Breonna would be alive, and you would not be reading this book.

Mattingly credits one media source as helping him in the midst of all the smear campaigns, TatumReport.com.