The Milwaukee Police Department released body cam footage of a parking arrest of Bucks guard Sterling Brown, stemming from an incident in January.
Brown was tased and confronted by at least five officers outside a Walgreens after he double-parked across two accessible parking lanes. The body cam footage can be found here.
Milwaukee PD did not take questions after releasing the video, but police chief Alonso Morales announced the officers involved were disciplined following an internal investigation, according to Ashley Luthern and Marry Spicuzza of USA Today.
"The department conducted an investigation into the incident which revealed members acted inappropriately, and those members were recently disciplined," Morales said in a prepared statement.
Brown was initially arrested on a misdemeanor for resisting or obstructing an officer, but those charges were not pursued. He was instead cited for a parking violation.
Brown announced that he will take legal action against Milwaukee PD. The Bucks showed their support for Brown in a subsequent statement, calling for more police accountability.
My experience in January with the Milwaukee Police Department was wrong and shouldn’t happen to anybody. What should have been a simple parking ticket turned into an attempt at police intimidation, followed by the unlawful use of physical force, including being handcuffed and tased, and then unlawfully booked. This experience with the Milwaukee Police Department has forced me to stand up and tell my story so that I can help prevent these injustices from happening in the future.
Situations like mine and worse happen every day in the black community. Being a voice and a face for people who won’t be heard and don’t have the same platform as I have is a responsibility I take seriously. I am speaking for Dontre Hamilton of Milwaukee, Laquan McDonald of Chicago, Stephon Clark of Sacramento, Eric Garner of New York, and the list goes on. These people aren’t able to speak anymore because of unjust actions by those who are supposed to “serve and protect” the people.
The common denominator in all of these situations has been racism towards the minority community, the abuse of power, and the lack of accountability for officers involved. The lack of repercussions for the police officers involved in so many of these cases is offensive. This is a slap in the face to the victims’ families and communities.
Black men shouldn’t have to have their guard up and instantly be on the defensive when seeing a police officer, but it’s our reality and a real problem. There must be mutual respect and both sides have to figure out how to accomplish this.
There are no easy solutions to this problem, but there are strides that can be made to create change. I will do my part in helping to prevent similar incidents from happening to the minority community in the future.
This is bigger than me. My family, friends, legal team, Priority Sports, Milwaukee Bucks, the black community and the communities of all who stand against injustice plan to continue the fight. Peaceful support to ensure no further damage to our community is the only way to respond. I know many of you will share my anger and frustration, but for our community to progress and grow, we need to build on what we already have and not destroy it. I will take legal action against the Milwaukee Police Department to continue forcing change in our community.
