Milwaukee Bucks player Sterling Brown filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Milwaukee Police Department on Tuesday citing excessive force and wrongful arrest during an interaction with officers in January.
An officer, identified as Joseph Grams, initially approached Brown outside a Walgreens, because he suspected Brown was illegally parked. The situation escalated, and as police video released in May indicated, Grams called for backup creating a scene where Brown, at one point, was outnumbered by officers six to one.
According to the Journal-Sentinel, Brown’s lawsuit claims his fourth and 14th amendment rights were violated during the arrest that left Brown with visible bruising and scarring.
Following from Ashley Luthern and Gina Barton of the Journal-Sentinel,
“This federal lawsuit reflects the fact that for too long in this city African-American men have been arrested, abused and, as in the case of Dontre Hamilton, killed as a result of bad police work,” Brown’s attorney, Mark Thomsen, said at a news conference outside City Hall.
“That work is a stain on the city and it’s an insult to every good, decent police officer in this city and in this county,” Thomsen said.
The lawsuit also shows that one of the arresting officers has used his Facebook profile to taunt NBA players racially. Officer Erik Andrade posted images to his social media in the months following the Brown arrest mocking Golden State Warrior Kevin Durant and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ JR Smith.
In April 2018, Andrade uploaded a meme poking fun at Durant’s hair with the caption, “Damn……more naps than a preschool! Lmao.”
During the NBA Finals, and only a few days removed from the release of the MPD video, Andrade took to Facebook to voice his opinion on Smith’s infamous Game 1 gaffe while simultaneously mocking his encounter with Brown. The post reads: “I hope JR Smith double parks in Walgreens handicap Parkin [sic] spots when he’s in Milwaukee.”
Hamilton wrote in the federal court filing that Andrade’s posts are “an admission that he and other Defendant officers are allowed to engage in unlawful attacks and arrests of African Americans without justification and then relish such events without any fear of real discipline.”
