San Diego Union-Tribune

SLAIN TEEN’S FAMILY PLEDGES LEGAL FIGHT

Wis. protests resume after prosecutor declines to file charges in death of Black 17-year-old

- BY TODD RICHMOND Richmond writes for The Associated Press.

An attorney for the family of a Black teen killed by a suburban Milwaukee police officer vowed Thursday to keep fighting and working to prove racism pervades the officer’s department, after a prosecutor declined to file charges in the case.

Attorney Kimberley Motley said she plans to file a federal lawsuit against Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah in 17-year-old Alvin Cole’s death. Motley sued in state court on Tuesday seeking department documents that she believes will show Mensah’s supervisor­s are racist and that officers have racially profiled Black drivers for years. She also wants Mensah and Chief Barry Weber fired.

Meanwhile, Cole’s sister has demanded the resignatio­n of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm after he declined to file charges against Mensah. Cole is the third person Mensah has killed since he joined the Wauwatosa department in early 2015. He has been cleared of wrongdoing each time.

“From the family’s perspectiv­e, we just want justice,” Motley said. “We want Officer Mensah to be held accountabl­e.”

Mensah’s attorney, Jonathan Cermele, hasn’t returned messages seeking comment.

Mensah, who is Black, shot Cole during a chase outside a Wauwatosa mall in February. According to investigat­ors’ reports, Cole had a gun and fired it; Chisholm said it appeared he shot himself in the arm. Officers said Cole refused commands to drop the weapon, prompting Mensah to fire.

Mensah shot and killed Antonio Gonzales in 2015 after police said Gonzales refused to drop a sword. A year later Mensah shot Jay Anderson Jr. In that case, Mensah found Anderson in a car parked in a park after hours. Mensah said he saw a gun on the passenger seat and thought Anderson was reaching for it, so he shot him. Mensah wasn’t charged in either shooting. Anderson was Black. Gonzales was Hispanic.

The Cole shooting sparked protests all summer in Wauwatosa, a city of 48,000 just west of Milwaukee. The demonstrat­ions played out against a backdrop of protests nationwide over the death in May of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a White Minneapoli­s police officer pressed a knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes.

The Wauwatosa Police and Fire Commission suspended Mensah in July and asked former U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic to determine whether Mensah should be discipline­d. Biskupic recommende­d that the commission terminate Mensah, calling the risk of a fourth shooting too great. Biskupic also faulted Mensah for speaking publicly about the shooting.

Hours after Biskupic released his report Wednesday, Chisholm announced he wouldn’t charge Mensah. The prosecutor said Mensah would be able to successful­ly argue he acted in self-defense.

The decision triggered another round of protests Wednesday night. Some demonstrat­ors broke windows and looted stores. Police used tear gas to disperse them.

Motley said she plans to file a federal lawsuit alleging Mensah violated Cole’s civil rights. She’s also representi­ng

Gonzales and Anderson’s families but said she hasn’t decided whether the lawsuit will touch on those cases as well.

She has been trying to obtain documents from the Wauwatosa Police Department that she believes will show a history of racial bias. She filed record requests in June seeking Mensah’s personnel file — Biskupic noted in his report the only blemish on Mensah’s record is a 2019 reprimand for causing an accident with his squad car — as well as all department emails transmitte­d between the deaths of Gonzales and Cole that mention Mensah.

The requests also seek traffic-stop data from 2018 and 2019 that she believes will show officers stop Black drivers more than White drivers. They also seek emails related to 13 officers who were suspended in 1990 for attending parties derisive to Blacks in 1988 and 1989 and those officers’ personnel records. Motley said she wants to determine if any have become supervisor­s and trained Mensah.

 ?? RICK WOOD AP ?? Protesters march in Wauwatosa, Wis., around a line of National Guardsmen protecting City Hall late Wednesday after District Attorney John Chisolm refused to issue charges in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole.
RICK WOOD AP Protesters march in Wauwatosa, Wis., around a line of National Guardsmen protecting City Hall late Wednesday after District Attorney John Chisolm refused to issue charges in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole.

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