Despite
his occupation, Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown isn't that
different from you and I. It was late. He was tired. He just wanted
to pop into a Walgreen's for a couple of things and go home.
Given
the hour and the empty parking lot, Brown yielded to temptation and
slid his car into a 'Handicapped Only' parking space. He would just
be a minute. It being 2 AM on a cold winter night, who was he
realistically preventing from using the space?
Fortunately,
the Milwaukee Police Department knew better.
The
first officer to respond, after asking Brown how he was doing, requests
to see his driver's license. The officer continues to advance towards
Brown, yet curiously asks Brown to back-up as he places a hand on
Brown and appears to lightly push him.
As
Brown digs in his pockets, he asks the officer not to touch him.
There is cross talk. The officer (later identified as Sgt. Jeffrey S.
Krueger), voice rising, asks Brown again “You don't see the
issue here?”
Brown
doesn't deny that he's illegally parked. He acknowledges the
accusations, saying “That's cool, that's cool”. As he hands
Krueger his license, the officer radios for assistance and again asks
Brown to back-up.
It
is impossible to know what distance separates the two men. Judging
from a video, it appears to be two or three feet. Nevertheless,
Krueger again asks Brown to back-up.
Brown,
clearly feeling sufficient space separates the two men, asks “For
what?”
Krueger
asks incredulously “Are you obstructing me?” The tension is
mounting. Krueger again asks Brown to back-up. Brown extends his arms
in frustration. “I ain't doing nothing.”
Krueger
again asks Brown to back-up. Brown says “I just did.”
After
a back-and-forth over who touched who first, Krueger aggressively
asserts his alpha-male status as a police officer, saying “I'll do
what I want, alright? I own this right here.”
Brown
replies “You don't own me, though.”
The encounter is degenerating into a territorial struggle.
At
the one-minute mark, there is at last a reference to the driver's
license. Krueger asks for Brown's name twice.
“It's
on there” replies Brown. “Sterling Brown.”
Krueger,
again irritated, says ”I'm asking you.”
Equally irritated, Brown
responds “I'm telling you. Sterling Brown.”
Krueger barks at Brown. “These are simple questions, man.” He
accuses Brown of coping an attitude. Of using a fake name. Of
possessing a fake ID. Of being threatening. Of trying to hide
something.
Brown
is frustrated that Krueger doesn't believe him.
They
again return to the topic of who touched who first and who did or
didn't back up. It is a child-like exchange befitting two boys in
middle-school.
At
the one-minute and fifty-second mark, Krueger again makes the point
that Brown is illegally parked, asking “Can you explain this to
me?”
For
the second time Brown admits his guilt, adding he was “in and out”
after Kruger oddly questions how long Brown's car was illegally
parked.
I
freely admit to being ignorant in the finer points of Milwaukee's
handicapped parking statutes, but is being illegally parked for
ten-minutes really a lesser crime than being illegally parked for
fifty-minutes?
Because
my experience (yes, again I have some) it's like being pregnant. You
are or you aren't. Has a meter maid or police officer ever inquired
of someone how long they were illegally parked before issuing a
ticket?
Nope.
With
another squad car approaching, Krueger answers Brown's question of
what's next with a cryptic “We're going to wait.”
Brown
is illegally parked and has freely admitted such. Krueger is cop,
with a computer and presumably fully-loaded printer in his squad car.
Why isn't Krueger asking Brown to return to his vehicle while he
checks for outstanding warrants and writes-up a ticket?
This
is where the interaction goes wholly and irretrievably wrong. This is
where the Titanic meets the iceberg.
When
Brown questions the delay, the now-relaxed Krueger says
enigmatically “We're just going to figure it out, man.”
Brown
correctly questions what else needs to be figured out before the
ticket-writing can commence. Kruger tells him “We're going to
figure out what we're going to do. Whether you're going to get
tickets...(ominous pause) whatever.”
As a young black man, he seems to instinctively fear the 'whatever'. Brown
asks one more question. “You can't do that by yourself?”
It
is his last.
Another
squad car enters the lot. Police radio chatter is heard. There is a cut in
the video. An onscreen message says only that more officers have
arrived. Brown is now surrounded by at least five Milwaukee police
officers.
One
of them yells for Brown to take his hands out of his pockets. When he
doesn't immediately comply, they rush him. Brown is wrestled to the
ground. There is much jostling. Visually, the bodycam reveals
very little.
This
because Krueger appears to be standing back from the fray.
The
audio isn't much better.
Amid
the jostling, one of the cops seemingly suggests using a taser on
Brown. Seconds later, another one appears to urgently request it,
shouting “Taser! Taser! Taser!” (This might also be a warning
that one was about to be employed.)
In
either case, the next sound we hear is Brown, groaning. He is
obviously in great pain.
The
video again fast forwards. Krueger is heard recounting the incident
to another officer. He says he wondered whether Brown was in the
middle of a medical emergency. If that wasn't the reason he was
illegally parked.
He
mentions speaking to a third-party about the illegally-parked car. He
then claims that the minute Brown exited the store, he was a threat
to Krueger. Chillingly, he adds offhandedly “Same thing as before.”
Wow.
We can all be grateful we weren't in Sgt. Krueger's path that
night.
For
six-figure salaries and generous pensions that kick in after a mere
twenty-years, we ought to expect a whole lot more from our police
than capricious, race-based bullying.
Yes,
Brown could have been more servile. And yes, Sgt. Krueger was clearly
having a bad day. But
the fact remains: there was no reason whatsoever for tasering
Sterling Brown.
None.
It
was, and is, indefensible.
This
is textbook. You want to know why African-Americans don't trust the
police? You want to know why Colin Kaepernick (who ironically was
born in Milwaukee) has, in all likelihood, sacrificed his NFL career protesting this?
It's
right here, ladies and gentlemen.
Sterling
Brown—despite cooperating with police and admitting guilt—was
gang-tackled, tasered and treated like a gang-banging thug because he
is black.
There
is no other reasonable conclusion.
Yes,
big-city cops have tough jobs. But in addition to be being very
well-paid to perform them, they are also officers of the peace;
entrusted with de-escalating and defusing potentially volatile
situations that threaten the public safety.
I
didn't see any defusing. And I certainly didn't see any
de-escalation. And I doubt you did, either. I saw a pissed-off cop spoiling
for a fight—but only after five of his buddies showed up to stack the odds in his favor.
I
have spent the majority of my working life with the public. And
across several different jobs with several different employers, there
is one constant: don't take it personally. If the last customer was
abusive and accusatory, flush it out of your system. Move on.
Never,
ever take it with you.
Sgt.
Krueger was plainly unable to do so.
It
is an outrage that he and his fellow gang members haven't been
suspended without pay. They desperately need extensive time-off to
examine the baggage they brought to this stop.
And
while Sterling Brown is clearly the victim Rose Campbell imagines
herself to be. I would offer him—in the gentlest words
possible—this advice: next time, remain silent and obey.
You
knew you were not a threat. Sgt. Krueger did not. Let him find his
way to that truth.
And
if he doesn't, there are avenues in which to seek justice.
In
the end, what is most ironic is that despite all the chest-thumping
and the challenging and the accusations, Brown never got that ticket.
It
obviously wasn't a priority.
