Aftermath Of Greenfield March Left Demonstrators 'Shaken'

GREENFIELD, WI — Leaders of a protest march in Greenfield Saturday say the events at the end of the demonstration left them shaken, and serve as an example for why protest marches are persisting across the U.S. after the death of George Floyd.

About 200 marchers led by The People's Revolution took to the streets of Greenfield Saturday to protest Milwaukee police officer Matthew Willmann, who was recorded on video and involved in an altercation with two photographers during a July 5 protest march in Downtown Milwaukee.

The off-duty officer's actions resulted in one photographer getting a concussion and a second photographer having their camera broken, according to a Journal-Sentinel report. Milwaukee police have launched in internal investigation into the claim, but so far haven't revealed much.

Organizers of Saturday's march demonstrated in front of Willmann's Greenfield home for about 20-30 minutes before continuing their protest march through residential neighborhoods in Greenfield.

Greenfield Police Captain Eric Lindstrom told Greenfield Patch that the police department originally took a "hands off" approach to Saturday's march, meaning they were not going to send officers out unless there was a need to do so.

Lindstrom said the department sent out an alert during the course of the march, after a heated exchange between a local resident and people involved in the march.

But it wasn't until the end of the march that the fateful events of Saturday came into being.
The incident unfolded just after 9 p.m. Saturday on the 3700 block of W. Howard Ave. near Zablocki Park.

According to Greenfield police call logs, a neighbor on W. Howard Ave. called authorities saying his next-door neighbor was standing on his front porch arguing with protesters while armed with a gun.

State Rep. David Bowen, who was at the scene, told Greenfield Patch the man not only came out of his house, but appeared to be drunk, and pointed his gun at several people who participated in the march.

"The man pointed his firearm at a number of our protesters and a member of our security. It was a very scary situation," Bowen said.

Both Bowen and fellow State Rep. Jonathan Brostoff said this is not the first time they've seen upset people take out their frustrations on social justice marchers.

"There are people who have a gripe with the protesters who want to keep the status quo, they're shooting protesters, hitting them with their cars. In this case it was clear this resident was going above and beyond with his frustrations. We don't know if that firearm had the safety on or was loaded," Bowen said.

Eyewitnesses said Greenfield police officers responded hurriedly to the scene, but what unfolded next left some in a state of shocked disbelief.

"The next thing we see are five or six squad cars rush up the street," Bowen told Patch. "One of the squads got ahead of everybody. The officer went into the parking lot and held one of our security people at gunpoint."

Eyewitnesses said the situation was chaotic: the neighbor on the porch had just pointed a gun at them, and now police were rushing to detain a legally-armed man who volunteered to protect them.

"It just didn't add up. The aggressor was treated as the victim and our person as the aggressor," Bowen said.

Brostoff told Patch he has marched for 58 days with protesters all through the Milwaukee area. He recorded 45 minutes of video and broadcast it live on Facebook.

Brostoff walked into the parking lot and continued his video recording: a Greenfield police officer had his gun un-holstered and was standing over the security volunteer, who was forced to lay stomach-down on the concrete parking lot.

During the course of the Brostoff's video, you can hear demonstrators imploring the Greenfield officer to disarm and turn his attention to the man the porch who threatened marchers.

"This all happened because a neighbor across the street brandished his firearm and pointed it directly at some of the protesters," Brostoff is heard saying. "So what is the purpose of you having your hand on the gun right now?"

In Brostoff's video, you can hear Greenfield police officers explain that they watched a live broadcast of the incident and that the security volunteer in the parking lot matched the description of the neighbor accused of pointing the firearm.

Brostoff's video showed police letting the security volunteer stand up for several minutes. Marchers implored the security volunteer to not speak with officers as he responded calmly to conversational questioning.

"Do not answer any questions without an attorney present," marchers implored in the video. "You are answering questions without a lawyer present. Stop doing that."

"You do not have to answer any of this, and it's probably a good idea to wait until your lawyer is here," Brostoff is heard saying to the security volunteer in the video.

After several more minutes, officers returned the security volunteer's rifle to him. After being forced to lay on the ground beneath an armed officer, the security volunteer initiated a round of handshakes with the officers before he walked away, the video showed.

In an interview, Lindstrom said Greenfield officers responded urgently to a situation and took the time needed to sort out the scene.

In Brostoff's video, Greenfield officers can be heard and seen answering marchers' questions, and providing badge information when asked.

Police say the Greenfield neighbor who was seen pointing the gun at marchers was arrested that night, and booked on suspicion of disorderly conduct while armed and being armed while intoxicated. Police call logs show he was booked and cited for obstructing an officer and later released.

The man who was arrested was not formally charged as of Friday. The security volunteer was not cited.

"I would definitely hope that we can get to a conclusion where real legitimate apologies can be made," Bowen said.

Greenfield Patch has requested the incident report related to the neighbor accused of pointing his gun at marchers.