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Wauwatosa Police Shooting Protest Ends With Chaotic Arrest Tuesday

Chuck Quirmbach
/
WUWM
Tuesday was the second night without a curfew in Wauwatosa following Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s decision last week not to charge Wauwatosa Officer Joseph Mensah.";

Police in Wauwatosa, Wis. arrested a bicyclist after a physical struggle during another night of protests over a prosecutor's decision not to charge an officer who fatally shot a Black teen in February.

Police blocked residential streets Tuesday night and redirected a caravan of cars and a small group of protesters while announcing the gathering was an unlawful assembly.

Video posted on social media shows the bicyclist, holding what appears to be an air horn, approaching a group of officers. One officer rushed toward the man and several others followed, tackling him to the ground and struggling with him as they attempted to handcuff him.

Screaming could be heard as officers made the arrest. One officer apparently hit a photographer's camera and pointed a smoke canister at him, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Police fired a round of smoke at people who had congregated in the street near the officers.

Tuesday was the second night without a curfew in Wauwatosa following Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s decision last week not to charge Wauwatosa Officer Joseph Mensah, who also is Black, in the Feb. 2 shooting death of 17-year-old Alvin Cole outside a mall. Police have said Cole pointed a gun at them and refused to drop it.

Police and National Guard members fired tear gas during protests following Chisholm’s decision and made arrests for curfew violations, includingCole's mother and sisters. Several businesses along North Avenue were vandalized during the first night of the protests.

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