Posted on April 16, 2021 at 10:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
One of the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor will still publish a book this fall, but it won’t be distributed by one of the biggest publishers after all.
The New York Times reports that late Thursday night, Simon & Schuster announced that it wouldn’t be involved in distributing The Fight for Truth: The Inside Story Behind the Breonna Taylor Tragedy by Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly.
Simon & Schuster provides third-party distribution for many smaller publishing houses, including Post Hill Press, which has reiterated that it believes in freedom of speech for all of its authors.
The Louisville (Kentucky) Courier-Journal broke news of Mattingly’s book after he contacted a staff photographer to ask for permission to use a photo from the protests over Taylor’s March 2020 death.
Mattingly was wounded in the botched drug raid that killed Taylor, and he — like the other six officers involved — faced no charges; he remains a member of the Louisville Police Department.
The book deal has, of course, raised considerable ire, including from Louisville's state representative.
Attica Scott tweeted "People love to profit off of Black pain and tragedy. It sells," on Thursday, according to the NY Times, though the tweet appears to have been taken down.
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Categories: Today in Books