A city attorney in Milwaukee stated that the police officers acted appropriately when they used a stun gun on Bucks’ player Sterling Brown during his arrest for a parking violation in January. This statement contradicts the disapproval expressed by the mayor and police chief regarding the officers’ actions.
The attorney’s response, Grant Langley, comes in light of a lawsuit filed by Brown in June, alleging that the officers targeted him because of his race and that their use of force was unjustified. Police Chief Alfonso Morales apologized to Brown and in May announced that the eleven officers involved in the incident had undergone retraining and disciplinary actions.
In a court filing on Friday, Langley suggested that Brown bore some responsibility for the events that transpired on January 26 when he encountered the police outside a Walgreens around 2 am.
“The injuries and damages sustained by the plaintiff, if any, were caused in whole or in part by their acts or omissions,” stated the court documents.
According to a report by the Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett expressed surprise at Langley’s response, mentioning that he was not informed before the filing. The Milwaukee Police Department did not respond to requests for an interview with the chief, as reported by the outlet. Mark Thomsen, Brown’s attorney, refrained from commenting until Monday.
During the incident, Brown was waiting for a parking citation for illegally parking in a disabled spot outside Walgreens. The officers asked him to put his hands out of his pockets, which he did not do immediately, leading to the escalation of the situation.
