Milwaukee Bucks' Sterling Brown Police Taser incident video....
Milwaukee police released video on Wednesday of a January arrest and use of a Taser on Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown.
Brown plans to take legal action.
The incident escalates around the 8:00 mark of the video embedded above.
Footage shows an officer approaching Brown’s Mercedes and initiating a verbal confrontation with Brown.
“Back up. Back up,” the officer tells Brown, who is standing calmly in front of him. “Are you obstructing me? I just told you to back up. That’s right, I told you to back up. Cause you’re going to try and get into the car. I’ll do what I want, all right? I own this right here.”
Brown and the officer continue to go back and forth while the officer waits for backup over the parking violation. He tells a fellow officer that Brown “got right in my face” when backup does arrive.
The body camera footage shows that at least five other police vehicles arrive on the scene as the initial officer tells his colleagues that he “just wanted one” backup team.
Brown is seen surrounded by at least five officers around the 8:00 mark of the video where an officer is heard telling him to “take your hands out of your pockets now.” The officers then gather to take Brown to the ground.
Around the 8:40 mark of the video, an officer yells “Taser, Taser, Taser” before a groan is heard from the pile.
Around the 24:50 mark, the initial officer on the scene tells Brown, now standing in handcuffs, that he didn’t recognize him as a Bucks player.
Milwaukee police apologize for arrest of Sterling Brown
Police chief Alfonso Morales held a news conference before the video was released where he read from a statement, but refused to take questions from the media.
“During the encounter, Mr. Brown was decentralized, tased and arrested,” Morales said. “The department conducted an investigation into the incident which revealed members acted inappropriately, and those members were recently disciplined.”
Morales did not explain what the discipline entailed, nor did he identify the officers involved. Captain Steven Caballero told reporters that police will be releasing the officers’ information “once all statutory requirements have been met.”
Both officers then walked away from the podium as reporters asked questions.
Brown released a statement shortly after the release of the video and said he intends to file a lawsuit against the Milwaukee Police Department.
From the statement, which can be read in whole here:
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. … 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.
The Bucks responded as well with a statement of support for Brown.Situations like mine and worse happen every day in the black community. … 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.
The abuse and intimidation that Sterling experienced at the hands of Milwaukee Police was shameful and inexcusable. Sterling has our full support as he shares his story and takes action to provide accountability.
Brown’s teammate Khris Middleton told Sports Illustrated that Brown was visibly battered when he came to practice later that day.“We saw him the day after the incident at practice. We saw the bruises and marks on his face and cuts on him. He explained briefly what happened, but at that time he just wanted to keep it private so we respected that.”
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett responded to the video in his own news conference later Wednesday.
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