The City of Milwaukee will have to pay Sterling Brown $750,000 to settle an excessive force lawsuit that the NBA profiled against them. Brown claims that Milwaukee police targeted and brutalized him because he was a black man.
The Milwaukee Bucks guard filed the lawsuit following a January 26th 2018 incident where he was stopped by police for parking illegally at some time around 2 a.m. While Brown waited to receive his citation, one of the officers became enraged when he refused to take his hands out of his pockets. As seen on body-camera footage, several officers then approached him and wrestled him to the ground. He was then shot with a stun gun.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett apologized to Brown following the release of the video.
“Mr. Brown deserves an apology, and I’m very sorry the Milwaukee police treated him in the fashion he was treated in.”
The Bucks expressed their satisfaction with the settlement and revealed that the city has vowed to make changes following the incident.
“We are pleased that Sterling’s lawsuit has been mutually resolved and that there’s been an important commitment by the City of Milwaukee and its Police Department to make changes to the MPD’s standard operating procedures. No one should ever have to go through the horrifying abuse and injustice that Sterling experienced. We commend Sterling for his courageous response to this terrible situation by repeatedly sharing his story and working tirelessly with countless local groups and organizations to help make change in our community. And we also commend the City’s leadership for its commitment to implement these important changes to better Milwaukee.”
Milwaukee is no stranger to police misconduct lawsuits. Within the past five years, the city has paid at least $31.6 million to settle lawsuits. However, Brown’s case was the first time that the city admitted to wrongdoing.
