Bice: MPD reviewing forcible arrest of lawmaker
Milwaukee police are conducting a review to determine if officers acted properly when forcibly arresting and detaining a state lawmaker and an American Civil Liberties Union staffer during protests at Sherman Park late on Tuesday.
State Rep. Jonathan Brostoff, a Milwaukee Democrat, said he was forced to the ground, handcuffed and led to a police van by a handful of cops patrolling the protests in the Sherman Park neighborhood. Also arrested was Jarrett English, a youth organizer for the ACLU of Wisconsin.
Police eventually released the two after they were informed that Brostoff was an elected official.
MPD Sgt. Timothy Gauerke said in a statement Wednesday that officers made the arrests around 10 p.m. Tuesday after a confrontation between a "frustrated resident" and a group of protesters at N. 44th St. and W. Auer Ave. Police did not know Brostoff or English, Gauerke said.
"These men were not among the elected officials and community leaders who had previously made themselves known to the officers, causing confusion," Gauerke said in the statement. "After being detained for several minutes, the two were ultimately released at the scene. Milwaukee police are investigating the circumstances surrounding these arrests to ensure proper procedures were followed."
Police say arrests made near 44th and Auer
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Milwaukee Sherman Park turmoil
Reached Wednesday, Brostoff said the statement from the MPD spokesman was "unbelievable." The ACLU issued a statement condemning the arrests.
The first-term lawmaker said he has visited the Sherman Park neighborhood on several occasions since a Milwaukee police officer shot and killed an armed man, Sylville Smith, 23, on Aug. 13. That incident triggered two nights of violent unrest in the neighborhood.
Brostoff said he was handing out gum, discussing public policy issues with residents and trying to "de-escalate" the tensions in that neighborhood. Police, he said, forced him to lie facedown in the grass, handcuffed him with zip ties and put him in a police van. Someone at the scene then told the cops that Brostoff was an elected official. After confirming this, the police let Brostoff go.
Video of the incident shows that the pair were held by police for at least 20 minutes.
On Wednesday, Brostoff said it wasn't right that he and English were arrested in the first place because they had done nothing wrong. It also was not proper, he added, for police to give him a break because he is a state rep.
"It doesn't matter what my job is," Brostoff said. "That's ludicrous."
English said in a statement that it was never clear to him why he was being arrested.
"It was embarrassing and dehumanizing, and I did not feel that I was being treated with the dignity and respect that should be afforded any individual," English said
Brostoff said he is trying to set up a meeting with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to discuss his arrest. He said he has a great respect for Milwaukee cops but believes they are too focused on taking punitive not preventive action.
Asked why he was in Sherman Park, which is outside his district, Brostoff said the problems in Sherman Park affect everyone in the city. "Why wouldn't I be there?" he asked. "That's the question."
He said he wasn't sure why the police focused on him Tuesday night. He acknowledged that he is not exactly an imposing figure.
"I'm a tiny little dude," Brostoff said. "People don't see me as a threat. So my tiny stature helps me in some ways."
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.