*Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown has reached a $750,000 settlement with the city of Milwaukee, over his 2018 run-in with police over a parking violation.
We previously reported, Brown slapped the city of Milwaukee and its police department with a lawsuit, claiming officers’ use of a stun gun during his arrest for a mere parking violation constitutes excessive force and that they targeted him because he is Black.
Brown’s attorney Mark Thomsen filed the lawsuit in federal court, accusing police of “discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race.” The lawsuit alleged that officers involved in his arrest used their incident report to try to reframe what happened to give the impression Brown resisted and obstructed them.
Officers’ bodycam footage was ultimately released, confirming Brown’s account of what went down that night. In one video, the NBA star is on the ground and handcuffed when an officer puts one of his boots on the athlete’s ankle, holding it there.
READ MORE: New Body Cam Video Shows Milwaukee Police Using Stun Gun on Sterling Brown
Along with financial settlement in Sterling Brown’s lawsuit stating officers used excessive force with Taser/racially profiled him, the city of Milwaukee would admit to constitutional violation and commitment to incorporate changes to the Police Department operating procedures. https://t.co/H9uiJlPLbE
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 9, 2020
The officers talked about “trying to protect” themselves from possible public backlash and synchronized “their stories concerning what took place in the parking lot,” the lawsuit said.
Police video also showed one of the officers drawing his gun for a brief moment.
“That gun could have gone off, and it would be a whole different story,” Thomsen said.
The settlement will require the city to admit that Brown’s constitutional rights were violated and to commit to implementing changes to the police department, CBS reports.
“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,” the Milwaukee Bucks issued a statement on Monday. “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.
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