City Attorney Takes the Police Side in NBA Player's Arrest
Milwaukee’s city attorney said officers did nothing wrong when they used a stun gun on Bucks’ player Sterling Brown during his arrest over a parking violation in January — a direct contradiction to the police chief and mayor, who condemned the officers’ actions.
The city attorney’s assertion comes in response to a lawsuit Brown filed in June alleging that officers targeted him because he is black and that their use of force was unwarranted.
Police Chief Alfonso Morales apologized to Brown and in May announced that 11 of the officers involved in the rookie guard’s arrest were disciplined or retrained.
But city attorney Grant Langley wrote in a court filing in federal court Friday night that Brown was at least partially to blame for what happened on Jan. 26 during his encounter with police outside a Walgreens at about 2 a.m.
“The injuries and damages sustained by the plaintiff, if any, were caused in whole or in part by their own acts or omissions,” the court filing reads.
The Journal Sentinel reported that Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was surprised by the city attorney’s response, saying Saturday that he wasn’t briefed on it before it was filed.
“I think it’s counterproductive for anybody to turn up the heat with rhetoric like this,” Barrett said.
Barrett continued by talking about the important of “respect” in Milwaukee.
“I’m trying to bring respect throughout the entire community, and I’m going to continue to do that.”
The Milwaukee Police Department did not respond to a request for an interview with the chief, the newspaper reported.
Brown’s attorney, Mark Thomsen, hasn’t commented as Monday morning.
Brown had been talking with officers while waiting for a citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside the Walgreens when officers took him down because he didn’t immediately remove his hands from his pockets as ordered.
In fairness, Brown never appeared to threaten police before or during his arrest, according to police body-camera videos.
That being said, considering the dangerous nature of a police officer’s job, Langley’s assertion about Brown’s “own acts” in refusing to take his hands out of his pockets is still noteworthy. It’s reasonable to think that had Brown simply complied with the order, nothing would’ve escalated.
Brown was never charged for the parking violation.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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