Sen. Lena Taylor will be prosecuted by Milwaukee city attorney for allegedly berating bank teller with racial slur

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Milwaukee city attorney is prosecuting Wisconsin Sen. Lena Taylor for disorderly conduct for allegedly berating a bank teller with a racial slur, her attorney said.

Vince Bobot, an attorney for the Milwaukee Democrat, said his client will plead not guilty in Milwaukee Municipal Court to the $195 citation, which is civil rather than criminal.

Both Bobot and an assistant city attorney read from the ticket, which alleges that on April 6 Taylor used undisclosed racial slurs in a dispute with a Wells Fargo bank teller.

Taylor, the citation says, was "visibly upset, waving her arms, pointing her finger at the bank staff, using racial slurs (and) causing a disturbance."

Bobot declined comment on whether Taylor had used racial slurs, saying there were two police body cam videos and one bank video that he had requested and wanted to review.

"At this point, I'm holding off on making definitive statements. We're trying not to try the case in the public," Bobot said. "We were hoping that they wouldn't refer it to court but obviously they have."

Assistant City Attorney Nick DeSiato said he approved the $195 ticket for prosecution on Monday. Taylor is scheduled for a May 21 plea hearing, but Bobot said he planned to enter the plea electronically before then.

DeSiato said he has received some but not all the reports from the Milwaukee Police Department, which has yet to release the citation.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has made an open records request for any video or incident report related to the citation.

If Taylor enters a not guilty plea, a trial will be scheduled. The city attorney's office typically engages in settlement talks before trial and makes offers depending on the facts of the case, DeSiato said.

At a meeting of the Joint Finance Committee last week and then again on Tuesday, Taylor declined to discuss the incident with reporters.

"Talk to my lawyer, talk to my lawyer," she said last week.

Bobot previously confirmed that there was an incident between Taylor and a bank teller at the Wells Fargo Wisconsin Ave. branch and that Milwaukee police, who were at the bank for another reason, filed a citation after observing the dispute.

Wells Fargo spokesman John Hobot said the bank was cooperating with police on the investigation but doesn't discuss its customers or employees because of privacy concerns.

An aide to Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) declined comment on the allegations against Taylor

This isn't the first time that Taylor has been ticketed.

In 2009, Taylor ripped into Milwaukee police officers who ticketed her for crossing the centerline on N. 35th St. The police report from the incident said Taylor told officers “we 'shouldn't waste our energy for the stop and she can't be expected to wait for the light.’ Taylor was very argumentative and appeared her intent was to provoke an argument with us officers."

Soon afterward, the ticket was rescinded by a captain, only to be reinstated by then-Chief Edward Flynn. Taylor ultimately paid the $122 ticket.

Last summer, the Journal Sentinel also reported on high turnover in Taylor's Senate office, noting that a half-dozen workers on her small staff had left, went on leave or both within a matter of months. That turnover came despite the fact that Taylor was playing a key role on the Legislature's budget-writing committee at the time.