Police arrest mother, sisters of slain Black teen at protest
MILWAUKEE >> The mother and sisters of a Black teen who was killed by a suburban Milwaukee police officer were arrested by officers who were cracking down on protesters out after a curfew following a decision not to charge the officer.
Alvin Cole’s mother, Tracy Cole, and his sisters Taleavia and Tristiana Cole were arrested Thursday night, their attorney Kimberley Motley said Friday. They were arrested about 8:30 p.m. along with several others in a church parking lot in Wauwatosa, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Motley tweeted that Tracy Cole was arrested “for peacefully protesting” and “ended up in the hospital.” Motley said Tracy Cole, 48, was taken to Froedtert Hospital with an injury to her arm and forehead. Daughter Tristiana Cole was taken there as well.
Motley later tweeted that both were released from the hospital. Details on why Tristiana Cole was taken to the hospital weren’t immediately known. Wauwatosa police spokeswoman Abby Pavlik didn’t return messages left by The Associated Press on Friday. Police tweeted Thursday night that “several” people were arrested, and said one
woman requested medical attention and was taken to a hospital.
Pro testers gathered in Wauwatosa for two straight nights to demonstrate against prosecutors’ decision not to charge Officer Joseph Mensah in Alvin Cole’s death. Pressure mounted Friday on the city’s police commission to decide whether to discipline Mensah. An independent investigator has recommended he be fired.
The commission’s next scheduled meeting is Oct. 21, but Milwaukee County
Supervisor Shawn Rolland, who represents parts of Wauwatosa, called for the panel to meet next week.
“Helicopters are circling above us, the National Guard is deployed on our streets, a curfew is preventing us from walking outside in our own yards, businesses are boarded up, there’s broken glass on our streets, families are marching and mourning the loss of their loved ones, police officers are at risk and none of us know what tomorrow will bring,” Rolland said in a statement. “If this com
mission can accelerate its deliberative work, our people, businesses and neighborhoods can begin to heal faster.”
The commission’s attorney, Christopher Smith, said the panel will abide by a schedule it adopted in August to handle the Mensah case. The next date on the schedule is Oct. 28, the deadline for parties to submit witness lists in preparation for a hearing, he said. That means the earliest the commission could issue a decision would likely be in November.