Lawsuit Filed Against Former Wauwatosa Officer Mensah

WAUWATOSA, WI—A civil rights lawsuit was filed Wednesday against former Wauwatosa police Officer Joseph Mensah, former Chief Barry Weber and the city of Wauwatosa.

The lawsuit, filed by the estate of Jay Anderson Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, alleged the police department trained Mensah to view Black people as dangerous, according to an Associated Press report.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

The lawsuit alleged that the police department has a history of promoting racism going back as far as 40 years, the AP reported.

The lawsuit said there were parties decades ago where police officers dressed in blackface and Ku Klux Klan literature was present but no one was ever disciplined, the AP reported.

The lawsuit accused Mensah of violating Anderson's constitutional rights when he fatally shot Anderson. Mensah considered him a threat because Anderson was Black, the suit alleged.

Anderson was fatally shot at Madison Park in June 2016 after an officer, later identified by officials as Mensah, who is Black, responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle parked outside Madison Park around 3 a.m. Reports indicated the officer encountered Anderson in possession of a gun inside the vehicle.

Authorities said the officer feared for his safety and fired his gun into the car, killing Anderson. Chisholm cleared Mensah of the shooting in December 2016, saying the officer would not face any charges.

Mensah was involved in the deaths of three people of color within five years, including Anderson. Mensah was cleared of wrongdoing in all three cases. He resigned from the Wauwatosa Police Department and joined the Waukesha County Sheriff's Office as a deputy.

Weber retired in 2020.

A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge in July ruled Mensah can face charges in the fatal 2016 shooting of Anderson. Milwaukee County Judge Glenn Yamahiro found there was probable cause to charge Mensah with homicide with a dangerous weapon.

Yamahiro said a special prosecutor will be appointed to review the case.

Writing and Reporting from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Ethan Duran, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.