Wauwatosa Police Clash With Protesters Caught On Video

WAUWATOSA, WI— A clash between Wauwatosa Police and protesters was caught on camera Tuesday night near North 65 Street and West Meinecke Avenue. A 28-year-old West Allis was arrested and two officers suffered minor injuries.

Warning this video contains inappropriate language.

The video which has been shared on social media shows an apparent arrest of a bicyclist and a struggle. In the video, some type of smoke agent was thrown at the group of protesters.

The Facebook livestream was being recorded by a man who said on video he was a member of the media. It appeared the second half of the video was taken by a second individual showing the other side of the roadway.

The video shows police with shields and squads blocking nearby streets and redirecting cars and other protesters. In the video, an officer can be heard declaring it was an "unlawful assembly."

A bicyclist was holding some type of an airhorn and went up to a group of police officers. The video shows an officer and several others tackling the bicyclist to the ground. It appears the man struggled as police attempted to arrest him.

The person taking the video was told to "back up" by police as they arrested the man on the bike. Screaming could be heard in the background such as "tell me your badge number" and "don't touch him."

It appeared police threw a round of pepper spray at the group in the street.

Wauwatosa Police released the following statement:

"This continues to be a challenging time in Wauwatosa. We welcome protests in our community that are lawful and peaceful. Last night, October 13, a protest entered Wauwatosa that was neither lawful nor peaceful. At approximately 7:40 p.m., a group of about 20 vehicles and 30-40 marchers paraded into Wauwatosa on W. Lloyd St.

They took up the entire width of the street, blocking all traffic. They were honking car horns, hanging out of car windows / sun roofs, sounding air horns, loudly revving a motorcycle engine, driving a motorcycle on sidewalks, shining flashing lights into neighborhood homes, and yelling chants, many of which included profanities. The behavior of this group was in violation of law, and disturbed the peace of the neighborhoods. The Wauwatosa Police Dispatch Center received several calls from neighbors complaining about the group.

At approximately 8 p.m., police at the scene made announcements to the group declaring an
unlawful assembly, and warned that if the group did not disperse, arrests would be made. The group did not comply, and continued moving down streets in a loud, boisterous, and unlawful manner. Numerous additional warnings were announced to the group. Some demonstrators taunted officers and yelled profanities at them.

Wauwatosa police approached an individual on a bicycle and told him he was under arrest. As
officers moved in to effectuate the arrest, the individual resisted the officers. Officers were able to direct the individual to the ground, where he continued to resist the officers’ attempts to handcuff him. An electronic control device was deployed to gain control and compliance. Eventually, the individual was secured.

While the officers were trying to secure the resistive individual, other officers tried to keep members of the crowd a safe distance away from the arrest scene for the safety of both the officers and the arrested individual. One particular person, who was yelling profanities at the officers while video recording, was told to move back. He did not move back, and actually moved in closer to the officers while yelling aggressively.

This compromised the safety of officers and others at the scene. This person only provided space for the officers when an officer pushed him back and displayed a canister of pepper spray. As the crowd began to turn on officers, police deployed smoke and pepper spray to disperse the crowd. The crowd then left the area.

Two officers sustained minor injuries. The arrested person is a 28-year-old male from West Allis. He was medically cleared and taken to the Milwaukee County Jail. A felony charge of resisting an officer –causing soft tissue injury will be presented to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office. Municipal citations for possession of marijuana and unlawful assembly were also issued to him.

The Wauwatosa Police Department is committed to maintain order, peace, and safety in our
community. Blocking streets without permits and participating in loud, boisterous behavior is against the law. We ask that anyone who wishes to participate in a protest or other demonstration to do so in a lawful, peaceful manner."

Wauwatosa Police released squad video footage of the incident on Wednesday.

Protests and unrest followed the 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. The curfew was between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. each night beginning at 7 p.m. on October 7 and ended at 6 a.m. on Monday. Tuesday was the second night without a curfew in Wauwatosa.