Milwaukee police defend the six times officers used tear gas, pepper spray during protests; state lawmaker says it's a 'false narrative'

The Milwaukee Police Department defended its use of tear gas, pepper spray and smoke during civil unrest in May and June in a video released Tuesday.

MPD was asked by the Fire and Police Commission, its oversight body, to explain the use of tear gas and "large volumes" of pepper spray "during peaceful civil disturbances and the situations that warrant those tactics." It is one of several directives the commission said Chief Alfonso Morales must do under threat of discipline or firing.

Morales and Assistant Chief Michael Brunson maintained in the video that civil disturbances are not "peaceful" by definition, that the unrest endangered the public and officers and that they warned the crowds to disperse before firing the chemicals.

"A peaceful civil disturbance does not exist," Morales said.

According to a standard operating procedure on crowd control the commission approved in March, a civil disturbance is any group that has unlawfully assembled where there is the potential for collective violence or destruction.

Brunson detailed the six instances where officers fired chemical irritants this summer, and argued that each action was to disperse an unruly crowd that posed a violent threat.

He noted the "riotous behavior" of some in the crowds and said in each case objects such as rocks, bottles, pieces of concrete and fireworks were thrown at officers.

The six days police used tear gas, pepper spray or smoke are:

• May 29 outside Police District 5
• May 30 outside Police District 7
• May 31 outside Police District 5
• June 2 at North 6th Street and West McKinley Avenue
• June 4 outside Police District 5
• June 23 outside a Washington Park home a crowd believed was a sex trafficking hub

As daily protests took over Milwaukee's streets in late May and early June, civil unrest — and how the Police Department responded to it — unfolded differently each day. And each crowd had mixed motivations: some wanted to incite violence, while some simply yelled at officers and others tried to calm down the agitators.

May 29-31: Unrest outside the police districts often clogged nearby streets with traffic late at night, bringing onlookers and reckless drivers to the area. The video includes footage of people setting a dumpster on fire, looting, and climbing on a bus, a tactical vehicle and a nearby Burger King roof. Brunson said shots were fired near the districts on at least two nights.

On May 29, an officer was shot in the foot and another got a concussion when he was hit in the head with a piece of concrete, Brunson said.

June 2: At 6th and McKinley, a group of protesters faced off with police in tactical gear. Brunson said police began firing smoke and pepper spray into a crowd of about 200 when the protesters threw objects at the officers and refused to leave the area after repeated warnings. Tensions rose when officers arrested a man on a bicycle close to the police line.

Police had previously said someone threw a Molotov cocktail at them that failed to ignite. Brunson said in his recounting that people threw rocks, bottles and asphalt at officers.

June 4: A fleeing vehicle hit and dragged a person in the crowd and hit two officers, injuring all three.

June 23: In the chaotic scene outside an investigation at a Washington Park house, Brunson said officers were trying to regain control of the situation. Officers had been at the scene earlier in the day without armor as police investigated the home, but they left as the crowd grew larger and the investigation wrapped up — because the presence of officers was possibly agitating the group, Brunson said. People then broke into the home in search of two missing girls they believed were inside. Over the course of several hours, officers wearing face shields and batons arrived and the scattered crowd continued to express their agitation.

The home was set on fire in the early evening and fire crews arrived. Police previously said the conditions were dangerous for firefighters. The video included footage of several rocks on the ground near fire hoses — which Brunson said people threw at officers. Police fired smoke and pepper spray there, Brunson said.

Eight officers suffered cuts and bruises from the items thrown, Brunson said.

"I would say based on the level of behaviors that occurred during that period of time, our (Major Incident Response Team) unit and our tactical enforcement unit showed a lot of restraint," Brunson said.

Three people were also shot near the scene, including two 14-year-olds.

The commission also directed Morales to work with the commission to change the department policy to discontinue the use of those chemicals.

The commission ordered Morales to provide written updates on his and the department's compliance with the directives at its next meeting, scheduled for Thursday.

Critics respond to video

Fred Royal, president of the Milwaukee branch of the NAACP, said he was glad MPD was transparent about its use of chemical irritants but he wished the department had done it voluntarily and not as an order from the Fire and Police Commission.

"Since he is claiming to be a proponent of community-oriented policing, that type of conversation should be something he would be willing and forthcoming (to have) without being urged to do so by his boss," Royal said.

Morales should have worked with peaceful protesters to develop a plan for their safety, Royal said. Ideally, under a community policing model, officers could draw on relationships with protest leaders to help diffuse situations without resorting to force.

And, he said, the department should have said they supported and understood the protesters' aims from the beginning — instead of charging the department was being "crucified" as Morales did in June.

"That further divides the community when we constantly talk about 'us against them,'" Royal said.

Rep. Jonathan Brostoff, D-Milwaukee, called the video a "wild fabrication and a false narrative" and said the Police Department was trying to justify its use of force by demonizing the crowds.

"Maybe instead of trying to crack heads and take it out on people who are demonstrating because they're upset with you, take a second of introspection and ask yourself, why are they so upset with the police? What have we done and how can we make it better?" Brostoff said. 

"And we're getting none of that. We're getting quite the opposite."

Brostoff also called out MPD's handling of the supposed Molotov cocktail thrown at officers on June 2. Brostoff and others have criticized the department for claiming the plastic bottle contained an incendiary device and presented a real threat.

The footage of unrest that MPD includes in the video is heavily edited, Brostoff said. Protesters themselves have full, unedited livestreams from each day to disprove the department's framing, he said.

"We have the actual footage, we have the counter-narrative," he said.

Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.