Milwaukee Grass Roots Organizing By Frank Nitty, Khalil Coleman And Vaun Mayes Have Ignited Local Protests For Social Justice And Reform

Mayes says that Milwaukee local protests with continue until public elected officials are able to act on their demands for social justice and change.

By H. Nelson Goodson

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

June 8, 2020

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - On Sunday, Vaun Mayes, a local African-American activist posted a Facebook video confirming that he was the first to call for action in Milwaukee to protest the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin and three other cops involved and that Khalil Coleman then led the organizing of protests with Frank Nitty (birth name, Frank Sensabaugh) , two local African-American activists that have had a history of fighting for social justice and equality for the African-American community, and who have stood against police brutality and the murders of unarmed Black civilians by police. Mayes also mentioned Tory Lowe another local African-American activist involved as well in the protests.

Mayes says that other individuals including unions have organized protests, but the organized peaceful protests and marches organized and led by Coleman and Nitty continue to focus on police brutality and calling for justice, reform and accountability of police officers involved in the murder of unarmed civilians of color.

The three main groups that are involved in the organizing of local protests are the New Milwaukee Group, ComForce MKE and the People's Movement, according to Mayes.

Mayes says that the protests and marches will continue until local, county and state public elected officials, including Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett adopt the following demands for reform posted at the following link https://bit.ly/2AQdE53 proposed by ComForce MKE (Community Task Force MKE).

ComForce MKE on Monday released an updated list of demands.

The members of ComForce MKE are committed to the advancement of equity, dignity and human rights for all. Since our formation we have always supported building community and engaging in programs in parks and public spaces that prevent violence and crime. We are a grassroots coalition of

community/resident/youth leaders, activists, faith based orgs, electeds, and others

striving toward peace, unity, and progress in Milwaukee.

All of our members are committed to the elimination of police brutality and racial

discrimination. At our roots we have always been ready, willing and able to rise up in the face of injustice. 

We are grieving the loss of George Floyd, but we are also grieving the many Black and

Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) killed across the nation and right here in Milwaukee at the hands of police.

Some of the demands are as follows:

African-American Roundtable MKE (AART) & Black Leaders Organizing Communities (BLOC)

• Community investment:

A $75 million divestment from the Milwaukee Police

Department and reinvestment into building healthy communities that can thrive.

In accordance, $50 million must be allocated to fund public health and $25 million to housing cooperatives.

• The rights of protestors are respected and no harm comes to them:

Governor Tony Evers must withdraw the National Guard from Milwaukee. Mayor Tom Barrett must end the 9 p.m. city-wide curfew. The Milwaukee Police Department must stop shooting rubber bullets and using teargas on protestors. City and County officials must release all arrested protestors, and revoke curfew fines and tickets.

• Justice for Joel Acevedo:

Officer Mattioli must be terminated from the Milwaukee Police Department immediately and criminally charged for the murder of Mr. Acevedo. In addition, the three named accomplices must also be held accountable by law and also brought to justice.

• FPC be the voice of the community:

The Fire and Police Commission must remain the lead investigator on the internal investigation involving police officer Michael Mattioli. The Fire and Police Commission is an extension of the community; its role is to represent the interests of Milwaukee residents. Community voices must be given precedence in the six month review process of Police Chief Alfonso Morales.

• Accountability to the community:

Common Council President Cavalier Johnson must immediately appoint community members to the Community Collaborative Committee.

• Instead of an Executive Order to Activate the National Guard, the Governor & County Executive Should Provide Safeguards to Black communities during COVID-19 pandemic.

• Housing:

Implement a moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, rent, mortgages, and utility disconnections for Milwaukee County residents through the end of 2020.

• Healthcare:

Declaration of racism in the state of Wisconsin as a public health crisis. Public health services must be expanded to ensure Milwaukee County residents have access to affordable healthcare.

Office of Violence Prevention (OVP)

• Continue regular trainings in areas of crisis intervention, fair/impartial policing, and procedural justice

• Share data with grassroot and community-based orgs that service the community

for sustainable violence prevention efforts.

• Become more acclimated and supportive of language within Blueprint for Peace

• Conduct regular reviews od incidents of violence in coordination with public health, hospital, and community partners

• Conduct regular community town hall meetings which support community input

on public safety in neighborhood

Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT)

Instead of an Executive Order to call in the National Guard, we urge Governor Evers,

County Executive Crowley, and Mayor Barrett to all issue emergency orders to support Black lives and dismantle racist practices in all our institutions they have authority over:

1. Declare racism a statewide emergency with the same force and resources of the National Guard

2. Remove all police and policing resources from our neighborhoods and schools immediately

a. Shift 25% from Milwaukee city police, county sheriff, and state police budgets to public health equity efforts focused on Black and Brown residents.

b. Cut all policing resources from Milwaukee Public Schools and shift the $16 million budget to hire more counselors and mental health professionals for Black and Brown students

3. Demilitarize our streets and stop accepting Federal surplus of military weapons

4. Allocate emergency and permanent resources to invest in Black and Brown lives like counseling, strengthening our schools, replacing our lead pipes, and rebuilding our Black and Brown businesses.

5. Audit all government institutions to identify racist practices and deliver a comprehensive plan to address the problem.

Our Demands:

We need our legislators to back the people across this nation in drafting and co-sponsoring the following laws, policies and procedures.

A Red Flag System

The officer who killed George Floyd had 20 former complaints. This is typical of officers who end up escalating behavior that gets hidden off in personnel files. If officers get too many of or certain complaints, that officer needs to come under review and up for firing/suspensions due to the complaint and findings Intervention/Deescalation Policing should be about de-escalation. Comprehensive mental health assessment and training must be provided by the police department. Any officer who escalates a situation unnecessarily, especially if it leads to excessive force, injury, or death, should face automatic firing and possible charges. Any officer should be able to override or intervene to de-escalate a situation if they see a fellow officer overreacting or being irate/violent unnecessarily. Any officer who does NOT intervene in any incident that results in injury, violence, or death should also be held accountable, face firing, and or possible charges.

Misconduct in Office

This is an enforceable law on the books currently, yet it is almost NEVER used. Why is that? It is an automatic felony that would help strengthen prosecution.

Good Samaritan Law

Citizens should be able to enact this clause of power if an officer is unnecessarily harming a citizen. Intervention should lead to de-escalation. This can also be amended into the citizens arrest law where citizens can invoke the right to intervene and detain/deter an arrest until another or superior officer arrives in the spirit of de-escalating the situation and applying less force.

Racism

Any officer found to use, participate in, or employ racist rhetoric, language, or perform

with a racist bias on duty should face immediate firing. This includes social media

comments, posts, etc, especially if that officer works in any area that is predominantly

preoccupied by another race of people they have clear bias or prejudice against.

Funding/Pensions

Districts/stations that have alarming numbers of complaints should be in jeopardy of losing funding from city, state, and federal funders. Currently, we have tens to hundreds of millions of lawsuit payouts occurring yearly. These should start affecting their budgets and funding, and possibly even their pensions. Officers need actual reprimand that will affect them as encouragement and incentive to act professionally and humanely.

• Executive Branch:

Provide citizens with protective rights to intervene with law enforcement when suspects are detained with excessive force.

Digitize a nationalized law enforcement complaint registry, complaints against law enforcement officers should be easy to view/track, citizens should be able to digitally file reports, upload images/footage etc. much like the BBB

• Judicial System:

Expunge arrest records of non-violent felons to allow them to re-enter the workforce and further stimulate our working economy

Until the justice system is able to guarantee that all members of the judicial system have not been recorded as racially biased or discriminatory, reduce all crimes committed by BIPOC to half than that of whites.

• Financial Institutions:

Provide credit score modifications (normalizations) to African-Americans given the severe impact of poverty and historic poverty within our communities.

• Municipal Government:

Immediately erect a committee to eradicate the lead water issue completely and declare it a public health crisis within predominantly African-American communities.

• Education System:

Educate African-American students on past, current and potential future civil rights laws. Proficiency in said rights and laws are required prior to them being subject to any judiciary system.