Bucks guard Sterling Brown has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the city of Milwaukee of violating his civil rights, saying police used excessive force when they arrested him earlier this year.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, names the city, police chief Alfonso Morales, and eight other officers as defendants. The 40-page filing says police violated Brown's 14th Amendment rights when officers tackled and tased Brown outside a Walgreens on Jan. 26 after an officer questioned him about being double parked in a handicap space.
"Defendants violated Mr. Brown’s right to equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment, by unlawfully discriminating against Mr. Brown on the basis of his race when they, among other things, instead of issuing a parking citation, they stopped and questioned Mr. Brown for an extended period of time about an alleged parking violation, and then utilized unlawful and excessive force against Mr. Brown as they arrested Mr. Brown and further unlawfully detained him."
Police body camera footage of the incident sparked widespread outrage when it was released in May, as Brown appeared to be complying with the officers' requests before being taken down.
Morales said in a statement after the footage was released that members of the department had "acted inappropriately and those members were recently disciplined. I am sorry this incident escalated to this level."
Brown's attorney said last month that the 23-year-old planned to sue in an effort to shed more light on the situation.
"My experience in January with the Milwaukee Police Department was wrong and shouldn’t happen to anybody," Brown said last month in a statement released by the Bucks. "What should have been a simple parking ticket turned into an attempt at police intimidation, followed by the unlawful use of physical force, including being handcuffed and tased, and then unlawfully booked.
"This experience with the Milwaukee Police Department has forced me to stand up and tell my story so that I can help prevent these injustices from happening in the future."
