BREONNA TAYLOR

Louisville police major on antifa and BLM: 'They will be the ones washing our cars'

Louisville Courier Journal

A message purportedly sent by a Louisville police major last month claims police officers and their families are being “doxed” and says people who are part of the antifa and Black Lives Matter movements are the same people washing officers’ cars, working at Walmart or living in their parents’ basements.

The message was purportedly written by Maj. Bridget Hallahan, who oversees the police department’s Fifth Division, headquartered inside Douglass Park.

Attempts to reach Hallahan were unsuccessful Wednesday. LMPD spokesman Sgt. Lamont Washington said the department is looking into the message and has no other comment.

“I know it is hard to keep our thoughts and opinions to ourselves sometimes, especially when we, as a whole or as an individual, become the target of people in the public who criticize what we do without even knowing the facts,” the message begins.

"These ANTIFA and BLM people, especially the ones who just jumped on the bandwagon ‘yesterday’ because they became ‘woke’ (insert eye roll here), do not deserve a second glance or thought from us. Our little pinky toenails have more character, morals, and ethics, than these punks have in their entire body.

“Do not stop to their level. Do not respond to them. If we do, we only validate what they did. Don’t make them important, because they are not. They will be the ones washing our cars, cashing us out at the Walmart, or living in their parents’ basement playing COD for their entire life.”

The message encourages officers to come to her office to “vent together,” if needed. It also makes claims, without specifics, that officers and their families have been “doxed merely because people just don’t like being told what to do or what not to do by police.”

“There is currently no recourse we have for incidents involving the doxing of officers or their families,” the message reads. “What we can do is speak up against them and put the truth out there. Through the PIO office and the LMPD FB page, we will come back at them on their own page to let them and everyone else know they are lying. We will print the facts. I will see to it.

“We have already taken care of one incident. I hope we never have to do it again. Just know I got your back.”

Top headlines:Louisville grand jury indicts 1 of 3 officers in Breonna Taylor case

Hallahan was appointed commander of the Fifth Division last July. Before that she oversaw the department’s training division.

Metro Councilman Brandon Coan, whose district is covered by the Fifth Division, said the message seems "out of character" for Hallahan, "and that's why it's so shocking."

"I'm disappointed," he told The Courier Journal. "I think it's a totally unacceptable attitude of any police officer and extremely poor leadership from a major. I think she owes the community an apology and she'll have to deal with the consequences of her conduct."

His colleague, Councilman Bill Hollander, whose district also is covered by the Fifth Division, said he recommended to Mayor Greg Fischer that Hallahan be relieved of her command.

"I think it hurts the entire department," he said of the message. "It's making constituents wonder what kind of people we're really employing and promoting to leadership positions. And that's very unfortunate. Our police officers have a very difficult job and they don't need this kind of inappropriate communication."

The Courier Journal obtained the message Tuesday, hours after an email surfaced from Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, one of the officers at the center of the Breonna Taylor case.

In that email, Mattingly, who was wounded during the shooting that claimed Taylor’s life, defended his and his colleagues’ actions that night and blamed Fischer and others for failing officers “in epic proportions for their own gain and to cover their asses.”

USA TODAY reporter Phillip Bailey contributed to this story. Jonathan Bullington is an investigative reporter. Reach him at: 502-582-4241; JBullington@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @jrbullington.