Wisconsin police shooting protest ends with chaotic arrest

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WAUWATOSA, Wis. (AP) — Police arrested a bicyclist after a physical struggle during another night of protests in Wisconsin over a prosecutor’s decision not to charge an officer who fatally shot a Black teen in February.

Police in Wauwatosa, a Milwaukee suburb, 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. The protest was the latest in a string of demonstrations since a prosecutor cleared Wauwatosa Officer Joseph Mensah, who also is Black, in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole.

On Wednesday, police said the protest, which included about 20 vehicles and 30 to 40 marchers, disturbed the peace because of horn honking, engine revving and profanities being yelled.

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.

Two officers had minor injuries, police said. The 28-year-old West Allis man was medically cleared and taken to the Milwaukee County Jail.

Screaming could be heard as officers made the arrest. One officer pushed a person who was video recording the arrest because he did not comply with an order to back away, police said.

Police deployed smoke to disperse people who had congregated in the street near the officers, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Tuesday was the second night without a curfew in Wauwatosa following Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm’s decision last week about the Feb. 2 shooting death of 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, including Cole’s mother and sisters. Several businesses along North Avenue were vandalized during the first night of the protests.