Protester's Arrest Caught On Livestream In Wauwatosa

WAUWATOSA, WI —Jill Ferguson said she has been fighting injustice since she came out of her mother's womb. On Sunday night, the West Allis woman was arrested while streaming the ongoing protests in Wauwatosa.

Protests and unrest followed the Oct. 7 news that suspended Wauwatosa Police Joseph Mensah will not face charges in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole at the Mayfair Mall in February. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm made the announcement after meeting with Cole's family and attorney.

A state of emergency and a curfew was imposed in the city of Wauwatosa that ended Monday.

Ferguson has been vocal in speaking against Mensah, who is currently suspended from the force. She said she records what is going on at protests to protect people.

"If something happens, then we have a record of what really happened," Ferguson told Patch.

Ferguson was driving around Wauwatosa and commenting on the protests on a livestream on Sunday night. At one point in the video, Ferguson said she wanted to turn down a street to avoid being pulled over and arrested since it was past the city's curfew.

Shortly after, she says on the video that she was pulled over and proceeds to record the traffic stop.

The police officer said due to the curfew she wasn't allowed to be driving around with no destination in mind.

She asked the officer if the other people driving around were going to get pulled over. The officer asked for identification and said, "I think I've seen your car a couple of times in the past couple of days."

Ferguson was asked to get out of her car and then placed under arrest. According to Ferguson, several officials came up to her car. After being booked at the police station and given a citation, she was released. Police arranged for a ride close to where she was parked.

Ferguson said she had to walk about a mile. Her car was gone when she got to where it had been parked last. She ended up asking her son for a ride after learning it had been towed. Ferguson later posted on social media she didn't have the money to have the car released. Sgt. Abby Pavlik, Public Information Officer, told Patch the reports weren't in yet and couldn't confirm if Ferguson's car had been towed.

In a news release, police addressed the arrest, stating, "a person who live-streamed from the 69th Street Plaza gathering after curfew, then continued to live stream as they drove to Mayfair Mall and back to the area of the plaza, was pulled over at N. 69th Street and W. North Avenue and arrested for curfew violation. This person was not a member of the press."

During a press conference on Friday, Wauwatosa Police Chief weber responded to a reporter's questions about dropping off people who were released.

Rumors had been circulating on social media accusing police of dropping off those who were arrested in different areas of Milwaukee.

"Often times when people are released they don't have transportation and will ask to be transported to a location," Weber said, addressing the rumors. He added police just don't drop people off anywhere.

Around 65 people were arrested over the past five days mostly for curfew violations and others with felony violations.

'A fire in her belly'

Ferguson says she became an activist at 12-years-old after watching the coverage of the Vietnam War on television.

Ferguson asked her parents why the United States was enemies with Vietnam and at war. Ferguson's parents said it was because "The President of the United States said so and they have to."

"Well, that set off a fire in my belly. I thought it wasn't a good enough reason," Ferguson told Patch.

The then little girl marched over to Ben Franklin's 10 cent store and purchased a poster and put it on a stick. She heard about an anti war protest in downtown Milwaukee and figured out on her own how to get there.

"Right then and there, I found my people," she said.

As she went to different rallies and marches she ducked reporters so her parents wouldn't find out. Eventually, as she made more posters her parents learned what she was up to.

"My dad called me a communist. I was 12," Ferguson laughed.

Over the years, her mother would become concerned about the dangerous situations her daughter would get involved in.

"I feel people have to or we will lose everything," she told Patch.

Ferguson learned about injustice on a personal level while going through a contentious divorce. In her opinion, there is no justice system in this country.

"It is who has the most money for the best lawyer and which lawyer has an in with the court system," she said.

She spoke of living in a van for seven years after the judge sided against her. Ferguson was told she could appeal but it would cost her a tremendous amount of money.

An attorney warned if she won, she wouldn't see much money in return due to lawyers' fees. The lawyer at the time also told her a low percentage of people's appeals are overturned.

"All I was left with was my freedom of speech and my story," she told Patch.

Ferguson created a website and told her story with court documents as proof.

"There was no 'that son of an (expletive)'. It was warning other women," she said.

Her message to women is they have no protection just because they have a marriage certificate. She argued online about Wisconsin's divorce laws.

Ferguson said she was served with papers from her ex-husband's lawyer demanding the website be taken down and a restraining order was issued.

"I've been a peace protester for 50 years. I wasn't threatening anyone. I won't even touch a weapon," she said.

The lifelong protester refused to take it down out of freedom of speech principles. She spent a month in jail due to her defiance of the order.

At 67-years-old, she continues to fight for injustice, freedom of speech and for freedom of the press. She aspires to be trained as an ACLU observer during protests because she jokes maybe she won't be arrested.

Ferguson told Patch she is doing it as an example for her grandchildren.

Her children often ask when she is going to stop protesting.

"No, not until you put me in the ground. I went into the world this way and will leave like this," Ferguson said.