Molson Coors shooting
MPD says early investigation has not shown racism retaliation.
The shooter who killed five people before killing himself last week at a Milwaukee brewery does not appear to have been influenced or motivated by retaliation for racist acts in the workplace, Milwaukee police said Wednesday.
“Milwaukee police detectives have interviewed several witnesses regarding the suspect’s actions and statements leading up to the incident,” the department said in a statement, breaking days of silence on the investigation. “As a result of the preliminary investigation, neither race nor racism has been identified as a factor in this incident.”
The department also added that, based on the initial investigation, police officials are not aware “of any of the victims targeted in the mass shooting being involved in any inappropriate or racist behavior toward the suspect.”
“Therefore, the narrative of retaliation being the suspect’s motive has not been substantiated,” the department said, adding the investigation remains ongoing.
The release late Wednesday was the first substantial update provided by Milwaukee officials since last Thursday, a day after the shooting. Police officials emphasized the information issued Wednesday was preliminary.
In Milwaukee, a city known for its racial disparities, discussion on social media and elsewhere had increasingly turned to the shooter’s possible motive, with several former workers describing a hostile, and at times racist, work environment.
On Tuesday, Molson Coors officials confirmed that five years ago, a noose was put on or in the shooter’s work locker.
“The employee was not working that day, our HR team notified him of the incident, it was investigated fully,” Adam Collins, chief communications and corporate affairs officer for Molson Coors, said in a statement.
Two former employees, Robert Powell and Lonnie Carl Jones, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that a few months after the noose incident, several racist notes were put in the shooter’s locker. Powell worked in sanitation at the complex from September 2014 to May 2018. Jones worked at the company from 2013 to 2019.
In a statement, the company said, in general, every complaint of harassment or intolerance is investigated, managers have all-plant meetings and create other spaces for diversity and inclusion conversations, and the company has fired people for
“unacceptable” behavior.
“None of our employees should ever be the target of any kind of harassment. Period, end of story,” said Collins, the company’s chief communications and corporate affairs officer, in a statement.
Mayor calls for more information to be released
The department’s statement came a day after Mayor Tom Barrett said he was urging Police Chief Alfonso Morales to release more information about the investigation.
“When I spoke to the chief this morning, I emphasized to him and to others how important it is for us to get whatever information we can out as quickly as we can, at the same time being very respectful of the families,” Barrett said Tuesday.
State Sen. Lena Taylor, a Milwaukee Democrat who is running against Barrett in April’s mayoral election, has said some of the shooter’s co-workers have told her he was racially harassed at work, and said there were broad problems with racism at the company.
In the statement Wednesday, Milwaukee police said additional information would be available once the investigation concludes.
“Until then, it is imperative to wait for the facts of the investigation to be released rather than speculating and generating a false narrative that could negatively impact the lives of the family members of the victims and of the suspect, as well as the employees of Molson Coors,” the department said.
The victims
All but one of the men the shooter confronted had been with the company six years or more. They all knew each other.
Dale Hudson — “Huddy” to his coworkers — was an electrician, an avid hunter and fisherman with a wife and children who planned to retire at the end of the year.
Gene Levshetz, a Ukrainian immigrant, was married with two grown daughters. He’d come to Mequon in the early 1990s and had been working at the brewery as a powerhouse operator since 2008.
Dana Walk was a machinist with a wife and three children, an armchair coach for his beloved Green Bay Packers. He was a member of the nonprofit Walleyes For Tomorrow, which is dedicated to improving the fisheries on Pewaukee Lake.
Trevor Wetselaar was an engine room operator, married and happily settled in what he called his “dream job.”
Jesus Valle was a powerhouse operator whose family had lost a relative to gun violence previously.
On Wednesday, a GoFundMe account for the victims of the shooting reached its goal of $1 million. The Miller Valley Survivors fund was spearheaded by a $500,000 donation from Molson Coors Beverage Co.
The shooter has been identified as Anthony Ferrill, an electrician who was a current employee at the plant. His family has declined interview requests and has issued a statement offering condolences and expressing sympathy for the victims and their families.
The Journal Sentinel has been working since last week to prepare full news obituaries on each victim and has obtained permission to use photos of some of the victims but not others. Anyone who would like to share memories or photos, please contact jsmetro@jrn.com or call our newsroom at (414) 224-2318.
Mary Spicuzza of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Contact Ashley Luthern atashley.luthern@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @aluthern.