Bucks rookie Sterling Brown's lawsuit shows police officer's racially charged Facebook posts

Ashley Luthern and Gina Barton | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Show Caption Hide Caption Sterling Brown tased and arrested by Milwaukee Police Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown, was confronted by a Milwaukee Police officer January 26 for a parking violation. He was tased and arrested.

Milwaukee Bucks rookie Sterling Brown filed a federal civil rights suit Tuesday against the Milwaukee Police Department and the city, claiming wrongful arrest and excessive force during an altercation outside a Walgreens store.

Milwaukee police violated his Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights during his arrest and tasing about 2 a.m. Jan. 26, the suit says.

And although two sergeants and an officer received suspensions, their discipline was not for the "unlawful and race-based arrest and detention" of Brown or the excessive force used against him, according to the suit.

"This federal lawsuit reflects the fact that for too long in this city African-American men have been arrested, abused and, as in the case of Dontre Hamilton, killed as a result of bad police work," Brown's attorney, Mark Thomsen, said at a news conference outside City Hall.

"That work is a stain on the city and it's an insult to every good, decent police officer in this city and in this county," Thomsen said.

Brown was confronted by an officer after parking across two handicap spots outside a Walgreens drugstore at West National Avenue and South 26th Street.

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The first body camera video made public, which the Police Department released last month, shows officers taking Brown to the ground and tasing him. On that video, he does not appear to act aggressively.

Additional video showed Brown on the ground after he was tased in the back, with one officer holding his shoulder and another standing with a foot on Brown's right ankle.

Officer's Facebook posts

The lawsuit quotes extensively from the body camera footage of the arrest and includes images of Facebook posts from one officer involved in Brown's arrest. The officer appears to mock Brown and share racist memes on Facebook, the suit says.

Hours after the arrest, Officer Erik Andrade wrote: "Nice meeting Sterling Brown of the Milwaukee Bucks at work this morning! Lol#FearTheDeer," according to the lawsuit.

Three months later, Andrade shared a meme of NBA star Kevin Durant mocking his hair.

More than a week after the department released video of Brown's arrest, leading to public outcry, Andrade wrote a post about J.R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers after the team lost Game 1 of the NBA Finals: "I hope JR Smith double parks in Walgreens handicap Parkin spots when he's in Milwaukee!"

Smith had rebounded a missed free throw while the game was tied and let the clock run out, later telling reporters he thought the team was going to take a timeout.

Andrade's post about Smith "is an admission that he and other Defendant officers are allowed to engage in unlawful attacks and arrests of African Americans without justification and then relish such events without any fear of real discipline," the suits says.

Body camera video sparks discipline

Named defendants in the suit include the City of Milwaukee, Police Chief Alfonso Morales, Sgt. Sean Mahnke, Sgt. Jeffrey S. Krueger and Officers Joseph J. Grams, Bojan Samardzic, James P. Collins, Cristobal Martinez Avila, Jason P. Jensen and Andrade.

Police body camera video of the incident went viral after Morales released it last month. The video shows the situation getting progressively worse after Grams stopped to question Brown about the parking violation.

Grams, Krueger and Mahnke were disciplined; another eight officers will receive remedial training on professional communications and will be required to review the Police Department's policy on cooperating with citizens to ensure public safety.

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According to the video, Brown initially gave Grams his name and showed an identification card. Grams apparently did not recognize him as a player with the Bucks and called for assistance. Half a dozen squad cars showed up.

After that, the situation became more tense, with police standing in a circle around Brown before Mahnke yelled at him to take his hands out of his pockets — now.

At this point, Samardzic, one of the officers encircling Brown, drew his gun.

Brown, who had taken his hands in and out of his pockets several times before that on the cold January night, replied: "Hold on. I've got stuff in my hands."

Police swarmed him as Mahnke shouted "Taser! Taser! Taser!" Brown was forced to the ground and shocked in the back.

“The fact that someone would pull their gun for a traffic ticket should trouble all of us," Thomsen told reporters Tuesday.

Audit underway

The Fire and Police Commission has requested an audit from the department about the entire police interaction with Brown.

In a letter, the commission asked the police to provide the board with all body camera footage and that all findings of the audit be turned over to the commission and the Common Council.

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The letter came after aldermen called for an investigation into the Brown incident, a rare move that came after the police seemingly withheld some body camera footage of the arrest.

The Police Department declined to speak about the lawsuit Tuesday, but said Morales will discuss Brown's arrest at a Common Council committee meeting Thursday.

Mayor Tom Barrett released a statement Tuesday, saying: “I’m hopeful this incident will be a turning point and allow us to take those actions necessary to improve police community relations.”

The cost of police misconduct

The city has shelled out roughly $22 million in police misconduct lawsuits since 2015. Because the city is self-insured, taxpayers bear those costs.

The city has authorized about $26.1 million in borrowing to pay for police misconduct settlements and judgments since 2008, according to a new report released Tuesday. The report came from the Action Center on Race and the Economy, a nonprofit focused on minority rights.

Brown, who in July 2017 signed a three-year deal with the Bucks worth approximately $3.8 million, wasn’t motivated by money to file the lawsuit, he told the Journal Sentinel last month. Rather, he wants to change the way police officers treat young black men.

“That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing, so officers can be held accountable,” Brown said. “And, you know, take different procedures in having interactions with African American men.”