Mary Spicuzza, and Annysa Johnson

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

An advertisement for a bar in Walker's Point is mocking teen pregnancies — and abortions — among students at a nearby Milwaukee high school.

"Our back alley: Where 50% of Bradley Tech pregnancies start and end," the ad reads.

The bar, Sabbatic, is on S. 2nd St., not far from Bradley Tech High School at 700 S. 4th St.

The ad features the photograph of a heavily tattooed man standing in the bar's alley wearing underwear and flip-flops, a glass of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. It also says, "Sabbatic is for lovers," and encourages anyone from Milwaukee Public Schools who "has a problem with this ad" to call the bar's owner, Jay Stamates, and lists his cellphone number.

It's safe to say city leaders and school officials have a problem with the ad.

“Disgusting, offensive, degrading, vile and repugnant are words that come to mind," said Patrick Curley, chief of staff for Mayor Tom Barrett. "What kind of person does something like this? It’s absolutely sickening.”

Officials with MPS called the ad, which ran in a Wisconsin nightlife and drink culture magazine, false as well as "offensive and tasteless."

"The owner of this bar and the publishers of Alcoholmanac have the First Amendment right to publish what they wish, even material we feel is vulgar, offensive and tasteless. The bar owner admits the statements are not based on fact," the district said in a statement. "We have a responsibility to speak out and stand up when false statements are made about our students. The statements are not factual and we will not stand by and let our students be degraded."

Brian and Angela West, the founders and publishers of Alcoholmanac, issued a formal apology Wednesday, saying "it was a mistake to allow this ad to go to print."

"In the future, we will do a better job at ensuring that our advertising adheres to the same values we put toward our editorial," they said.

But Stamates defended the ad as an exercise of his free speech rights.

"The venue Sabbatic is a punk bar. We deal with alternate people who are by nature crude and crass. The advertisement was meant to be humorous. It was meant to be crude and crass. It's incredibly dark humor," Stamates said. "To have a conversation about the content of the humor is not one I'm willing to have. I'm not willing to talk about the value of the First Amendment, it's a given."

Stamates said the deeper problem is thefts, property damage and threats he has faced since opening the bar six years ago. And he accused district officials of being unresponsive to his concerns about harassment from young people he believes to be Bradley Tech students.

Milwaukee Police Department records show two property damage incident reports from 2010 and three burglaries reported in 2015. But a spokesman said there was no apparent connection to Bradley Tech.

"There are no reports that contained a direct connection to Bradley Tech students other than the victim speaking about student-age persons loitering near his business," police spokesman Timothy Gauerke said.

MPS officials said they would reach out to the NAACP and the League of Latin American Citizens to see what, if anything, can be done in response to the ad. LULAC said it has seen a surge in complaints about racially charged rhetoric after the recent election of billionaire Donald Trump, whose campaign was marked by incendiary rhetoric about minorities and immigrants. Bradley Tech's students are predominantly African-American and Latino.

Many of those students filled the expansive shop classroom Thursday at the school, meeting with men and women in the trades to talk about careers in industries ranging from plumbing to welding.

"It really just shows that whoever put that out there, how ignorant they are about all of the good things that are going on inside Bradley Tech — from the dedication of the teachers to the hard work of the students," said Dan Bukiewicz of the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council, whose members mentor Bradley Tech students to help them secure employment in the trades.

He said Stamates "should look at doing something positive in the neighborhood."

But Chris Ahmuty, executive director of the ACLU of Wisconsin, defended Stamates' free speech rights.

"He has a right to say stupid things, biased statements, or things that are mean-spirited," Ahmuty said.