Sterling Brown was arrested in the early morning on January 26 for a parking violation that did not result in any charges being filed against the rookie guard for the Milwaukee Bucks. However, the Milwaukee Police Department officers that arrested Brown for what was a fairly routine violation chose to use unnecessary physical force and a taser on Brown.
After his lawyer told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel earlier in the week Brown planned on filing suit against the Milwaukee Police Department, Brown released a statement on Twitter explaining that part of the reason he’s suing is because it’s an all too common occurrence in America and wants to tell his story in order to hopefully prevent similar experiences in the future.
— SB (@thatnegus_sb) May 23, 2018
On Wednesday, the Milwaukee Police Department released body-cam footage of the incident showing Brown’s arrest and the officers taking him to the ground and using a taser on him, all while Brown appeared fully cooperative.
The Bucks also released a statement on Wednesday, voicing full support for their rookie and pledging to be part of the conversation moving forward in the Milwaukee community to speak out against “racial biases and abuses of power” from police.
The abuse and intimidation that Sterling experienced at the hands of the Milwaukee Police was shameful and inexcusable. Sterling has our full support as he shares his story and takes action to provide accountability.
Unfortunately this isn’t an isolated case. It shouldn’t require an incident involving a professional athlete to draw attention to the fact that vulnerable people in our communities have experienced similar, and even worse, treatment.
We are grateful for the service of many good police officers that courageously protect us, our fans and our city, but racial biases and abuses of power must not be ignored.
There needs to be more accountability.
The Milwaukee Police Department and local officials have acknowledged the challenges they are working to address, and we urge them to enact higher standards and more direct accountability. We all want to be able to trust each and every officer serving to protect us.
Incidents like this remind us of the injustices that persist. As an organization, we will support Sterling and build on our work with local leaders and organizations to foster safe neighborhoods and better our community.
