The Fire and Police Commission will likely decide Wednesday whether to uphold the firing of a Milwaukee police officer fired in the aftermath of the tasing of Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown.
Chief Alfonso Morales fired Officer Erik Andrade in September for making inappropriate posts on social media about Brown's arrest.
Brown has filed a civil rights suit against the Police Department claiming wrongful arrest and excessive force during his arrest and tasing about 2 a.m. Jan. 26 in the parking lot of a Walgreens drug store.
Body camera video of the incident shows officers taking Brown to the ground and tasing him. Additional video showed Brown on the ground after he was tased in the back, with one officer holding his shoulder and another standing with a foot on Brown's right ankle.
Brown does not appear to be acting aggressively in the video.
Andrade's postings came to light after they were submitted to the court by Brown's attorney, Mark Thomsen of Gingras, Cates and Wachs.
The officer appeared to mock Brown and share racist memes on Facebook, the lawsuit says.
Hours after the arrest, Andrade wrote: "Nice meeting Sterling Brown of the Milwaukee Bucks at work this morning! Lol#FearTheDeer," according to the lawsuit.
Three months later, Andrade shared a meme of NBA star Kevin Durant mocking his hair.
More than a week after the department released video of Brown's arrest, leading to public outcry, Andrade wrote a post about J.R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers after the team lost Game 1 of the NBA Finals: "I hope JR Smith double parks in Walgreens handicap Parkin spots when he's in Milwaukee!"
Smith had rebounded a missed free throw while the game was tied and let the clock run out, later telling reporters he thought the team was going to take a timeout.
Andrade's post about Smith "is an admission that he and other Defendant officers are allowed to engage in unlawful attacks and arrests of African Americans without justification and then relish such events without any fear of real discipline," the suits says.
Officer Erik Andrade wrote a post about J.R. Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers after the team lost Game 1 of the NBA Finals. (Photo: Federal court filing)
Andrade was fired for violating social media policy — not for his conduct the night Brown was tased and arrested, according to Morales.
Andrade appealed his dismissal to the civilian Fire and Police Commission, which convened a hearing Tuesday. The hearing is scheduled to conclude Wednesday with their vote on whether Andrade can keep his job.
Posts
Comments
Post a Comment