City denies Bucks guard Brown’s rights were violated in tasing arrest
After video of officers tasing Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown was released earlier this year, Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales and Mayor Tom Barrett apologized for the officers’ inappropriate behavior and pledged their commitment to improving police-community relations.
But in a court document filed just before midnight Friday, City Attorney Grant Langley asserted that the officers who arrested Brown did nothing wrong.
The city attorney said the Bucks player deserved some of the blame for what happened.
“The injuries and damages sustained by the plaintiff, if any, were caused in whole or in part by their own acts or omissions,” according to the city’s written response to a civil rights lawsuit filed by Brown.
Reached Saturday, Barrett said he was not briefed on the response before it was filed and was surprised by its tone.
“It is my hope that this can be resolved in a constructive way for Mr. Brown and for the community. I think it’s counterproductive for anybody to turn up the heat with rhetoric like this,” Barrett said. “I’m trying to bring respect throughout the entire community, and I’m going to continue to do that.”
Barrett said he remains 100% committed to ensuring Milwaukee is a city where police and residents respect each other and work together.
Barrett said he made his wishes known during a meeting with Langley and Brown’s attorney, Mark Thomsen, this summer.
“It’s in everybody’s best interest to try to resolve this without this being a battle between lawyers,” Barrett said.
In Milwaukee, the city attorney is an elective office independent from that of the mayor. Langley, who was first elected in 1984, could not be reached Saturday.
Thomsen, of Gingras, Cates & Wachs, said he would have no comment until Monday.
Body camera video shows police force
The interaction between police and Brown began around 2 a.m. Jan. 26 when an officer doing a business check at the Walgreens near West National Avenue and South 26th Street stopped to question Brown about a parking violation.
Brown initially gave his name and showed an identification card. The officer, Joseph Grams, apparently did not recognize him as a player with the Bucks. Grams called for assistance and half a dozen squad cars showed up.
After the additional officers arrived, the situation became more tense, with police standing in a circle around Brown, yelling at him, throwing him to the ground and tasing him in the back.
As Brown lay on the ground, one officer held his shoulder and another stood with a foot on Brown’s right ankle.
“It is my hope that this can be resolved in a constructive way for Mr. Brown and for the community.” Tom Barrett Mayor of Milwaukee
Brown did not appear to act aggressively in any of the video released so far.
Eleven officers disciplined or retrained
As a result of the incident, Morales suspended sergeants Sean A. Mahnke and Jeffrey Krueger for failing to be examples of professional police service. He suspended Grams for failing to be respectful and courteous to a member of the public. Eight more officers were ordered to receive remedial training.
After the lawsuit was filed in June, Morales opened an internal investigation into inappropriate Facebook posts made by Officer Erik Andrade. Records on that investigation have not yet been released.
But in the legal document, the city said officers did not use excessive force, did not wrongly arrest Brown and did not violate his civil rights.
The city’s response to the lawsuit asserts that the officers’ actions had nothing to do with the fact that Brown is African-American.
The document also denies the allegation by Brown that “Wisconsin is a particularly hostile location for AfricanAmericans, specifically with regards to their interactions with police and police violence.”
The Police Department did not respond to an email requesting an interview with Morales.
Shortly after the video was released, Brown told the Journal Sentinel he hopes the suit will result in true accountability — rather than just suspensions and retraining — for the officers involved.
He also wants the department to share his commitment to positive change when it comes to interactions between police and African-American men.
“I want to have optimism,” he said at the time. “But it’s going to take a lot.”