Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown filed a lawsuit against the city of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Police Department Tuesday, alleging unlawful arrest and excessive force when he was subdued with a stun gun and arrested after a parking violation back in January. The suit alleges several details about Brown’s incident and the aftermath — including the claim one of the arresting officers joked about detaining and using a stun gun on the prone Brown on Facebook immediately afterward.
The officer who stunned, arrested Bucks guard Sterling Brown joked about it online, lawsuit claims
He also allegedly hoped he’d get the chance to arrest J.R. Smith.
Months later, long after the story of Brown’s stunning and body-camera footage from the arrest had gone public, the same officer allegedly made a similar joke — this time about Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith after Smith cost his team an opportunity to win Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Brown’s suit also alleges he was mocked by the arresting officers while detained, that one officer fell asleep while collecting overtime pay for holding the 23-year-old, and that both officers at the scene coordinated their stories to avoid potential backlash to the arrest.
From the suit, which you can read in full below.
111. Shortly thereafter, Defendant Mahnke, recognizing that the Defendants’ conduct would be exposed for being a racist unlawful attack, and sitting next to Defendant Krueger, commented to Defendant Collins, “because he plays for the Bucks, if he makes a fucking complaint, it’s going to be a fucking media firestorm. And then any little fucking thing that goes wrong is going to be ‘ooh Milwaukee Police Department is all racist’ blah blah blah.”
112. Defendant Collins then entered the vehicle with Defendant Krueger and Defendant Mahnke.
113. As he entered, Defendant Krueger and Mahnke were on a telephone call with Defendant Grams. Defendants Mahnke and Krueger instructed Defendant Grams that the incident should be described as: “state resisting/obstruct.”
Police had originally questioned Brown early in the morning on Jan. 26 after his car was found parked in a handicapped spot outside a Milwaukee Walgreens. The situation escalated from there, and what an on-site officer himself deemed “no big deal” and only worthy of a parking ticket became an incident where six police officers tackled, stunned, and handcuffed an unarmed man.
WARNING: The below footage is graphic and contains content some readers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised:
Brown and his legal team announced it would be filing suit against the MPD back on May 22. Police Chief Alfonso Morales issued an official statement apologizing for the actions of his officers May 23.
Tuesday’s lawsuit shows that act of contrition failed to resonate through the Milwaukee police force.
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