MPD reviewing video of teen’s traffic stop

The Milwaukee Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division is reviewing cellphone video of a traffic stop that shows officers pulling a young man out of a car by his sweatshirt and detaining him, police officials said.

The department declined to answer specific questions about the incident or the video, which had been viewed more than 300,000 times on Facebook as of Monday afternoon.

The driver, Adea Dunn, is a member of the Milwaukee Youth Council. The council advocates for young people in the city and has tackled youth issues, such as reckless driving. Youth Council members are confirmed by the Common Council to serve one-year terms.

In the wake of the traffic stop, the teens have called for a hub specifically for youths to discuss the recommendations from a federal review of the Milwaukee Police Department, as well as a sit-down meeting with the officers involved in the stop and the police chief.

Quelle Robinson, who filmed the encounter, described herself as a teen educator and youth activist but said that changed during the traffic stop.

“In those mere moments, I did not feel like that’s who I was, I felt as though I was a criminal, like my life didn’t matter, and I was no longer a human being but a threat,” Robinson said at a news conference Friday.

The event at Urban Underground in Milwaukee was streamed online by community activist Vaun Mayes.

“I feel dehumanized, violated, scared and humiliated,” Dunn said.

“We are all humans with rights and should be treated as such,” she added. “I am very concerned with the safety of my peers that look like me.”

Officers apparently pulled over Dunn April 8 in Police District 3 on the city’s north side because of an issue with the car’s headlights. The officers approached the front passenger side door and asked Dunn’s male passenger, an 18-year-old, to step out of the car.

He asked if he could leave his hands on the dashboard instead. Then the officer reached for his hooded sweatshirt and pulled him out of the car, which is when Dunn’s other passenger, Quelle Robinson, began recording from the backseat.

Robinson’s 8-year-old sister was sitting next to her. The rest of traffic stop was streamed live on a 42minute video.

Three officers can be seen surrounding the 18-yearold passenger who was on the ground, as the teens in the car yelled: “No! No!”

Robinson stepped out of the car but was ordered back inside.

The teens called their parents and other family members for guidance. At different points during the encounter, they asked officers for their names and badge numbers, or noted that information.

Dunn asked an officer why he was searching her car — saying she had not given him consent to do so — and Robinson asked why the passenger was taken out of the car.

“Because of how he conducted himself,” the officer said. “You want to be next? Sit down.”

“If you put that thing any closer, I’m going to take it,” he said, referring to the cellphone.

The officer said the 18-year-old was removed from the vehicle because he was “reaching.”

“This is what happens to our youth,” Dunn said on the video, later adding: “My friend is arrested for nothing.”

The teens provided information to the officers when asked their names and other questions. Dunn identified herself as a Youth Council member and said she would be emailing Milwaukee police officials about the stop.

The teens were ordered to step out of the car so officers could continue to search, and then returned back to the car.

A sergeant arrived on the scene and spoke with Dunn and Robinson. He said the 18-year-old passenger who was taken out of the car would receive a ticket and could be picked up at Police District 3.

The sergeant, who spoke calmly, noticed the cellphone filming him.

“Really? Like at some point, I get it, that’s your right, but at some point, it’s just rude,” he said.

Then he continued, saying he wanted to know what they saw because he was filling out a use-of-force report.

“I already looked at the body cam, as far as I’m concerned officers didn’t do anything wrong,” the sergeant said. “But I do want to know what other people saw and what they heard from their vantage point.”

Dunn said when the 18-year-old was asked to get out of the car, he told the officer he could not do that and offered to put his hands on the dashboard instead.

The officer then told him to get out of the car, opened the door and “dragged” the young man out before putting him in handcuffs, she said.

Robinson posted the video on Facebook, writing: “Tonight we could’ve been another statistic, another hashtag, victims of police brutality, but i serve an awesome god!”

She also wrote that her 8-year-old sister “just turned to me and said she thought we were going to die!”

When Dunn shared the video on Facebook, she wrote: “Everybody share!! the biggest gang in Milwaukee targeting our youth. Listen to everything. Watch everything this why you have to know your rights.”

The Milwaukee Police Association, the union representing rank-and-file officers, responded over the weekend to news coverage of the video, saying police actions are dictated by the actions of the people involved.

“False narratives, misconceptions coached by illintended activism does not serve the greater community,” union officials wrote in a Facebook post. “We stand by our officers and encourage the community to do the same.”