Milwaukee – The police chief of Milwaukee suburb, who has seen protests and unrest after an officer was acquitted of criminal malpractice. Fatal shooting of a black teenager Said Monday in February that he sees no reason to fire the officer.
Joseph Mensah, who is also black, shot the 17-year-old fatally Alvin Cole Outside Mayfair Mall in Vauatosa on February 2nd. Cole was the third person to shoot and kill Mensah five years ago after he joined the police force.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney announced last week that Mensah, like the first two fatal shootings, would not be charged in Cole’s death. In his report, he noted that officers said Cole showed him a gun and refused to let him go, and Mensah could successfully argue that he fired in self-defense.
Although Mensah will not face charges, Vavvatosa police and the Fire Commission consider firing him. The commission asked independent investigator Steven Biscupik, a former U.S. attorney, to investigate a complaint filed by the family of the man who killed Mansah.
In a report provided to the Associated Press by Cole’s family lawyer, Biscopic recommended that Mensah be fired because he felt the risk was too great that Mensah would shoot someone else fatally, which was “extraordinary, uncontrolled and unnecessary” for the city. Risk “. And the police department.
After five nights of protests and sporadic unrest, Police Chief Barry Weber said during a news online news conference on Monday that he disagreed with Biscopic’s recommendations because Mensah was found to have acted legally when the trio used lethal force in the shooting.
“I’ve never heard of a police officer being disciplined for something that they are disciplined to do or not do in the future,” Weber said, adding that the decision is ultimately up to the decision-making commission.
“Joseph Mensah has been cleared by the district attorney in three separate cases. There is no reason for the issue, and there is nothing I can see, (why) he should be removed from the force,” the chief said.
Kimberly Motley, a lawyer for the Cole family, denied Weber’s position, again calling Mensah “inappropriate” and renewing her call for him and the chief to be fired.
“I think the chief’s position is another reason he also needs to be terminated,” Motley added: “Joseph Mensah is not credible and neither is Chief Weber.”
Mayor Dennis McBride, who also spoke at the news conference, has in the past openly questioned whether Mansah should stay on force. But on Monday, he declined to say where he now stands, saying he did not want to put more pressure on police and fire commissioners.
“I’m not a police officer, I’m not a psychologist. I’m a mayor, I’m a lawyer. Those things don’t seem right to me to determine the fitness of police officers.”
Mensah’s lawyer, Jonathan Cermel, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Gary Monrail / Monrail Photography LLC / Vauwatosa Police Department by A.P.
The decision not to charge Mensah with Cole’s death sparked a five-night protest in Vuatosa, including a protest rally on Sunday in which protesters clashed with police who used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them.
Cole was the third person to join the force in 2015 since Mensah was killed on the job. He shot Antonio Gonzalez in 2015 after police said Gonzalez refused to drop his sword. A year later, Mensa shot Jay Anderson Jr. in a car parked in the park hours later. Mensah said he saw the gun in the passenger seat and thought Anderson was reaching for it. He was wrongly prosecuted in each case.
The latest in a series of protests against police racism and barbarism that have spread across the country since the death of George Floyd is just the latest in a series of protests in Vauatosa. Floyd, who was black, died after a white police officer in Minneapolis pressed his knee for several minutes, despite Floyd’s request to kill a white police officer in Minneapolis in May.
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