Milwaukee City Attorney: Sterling Brown's Rights Weren't Violated During Tasing

Milwaukee City Attorney Grant Langley defended the officers involved in tasing Milwaukee Bucks guard Sterling Brown during his arrest in January.

"The injuries and damages sustained by the plaintiff, if any, were caused in whole or in part by their own acts or omissions," Langley wrote on behalf of the city in a civil lawsuit, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Gina Barton.

In May, Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales and Mayor Tom Barrett apologized to Brown after body-cam footage of his arrest was made public.

Prior to his arrest, a police officer approached Brown after seeing his car parked across multiple handicap spots at a Walgreens pharmacy. The officer subsequently called for backup and a group of officers surrounded Brown.

Brown began following an order to take his hands out of his pockets before officers pulled him to the ground and tased him.

"This type of behavior has no place in our city," Barrett said about the incident, per CNN's Emanuella Grinberg. "No citizen should be treated this way. The fact that it escalated to what happened is what disturbed me the most."

Brown filed suit against the city in June. As part of the lawsuit, Brown's attorneys highlighted social media posts from Erik Andrade, an officer at the scene, in which Andrade seemingly made light of Brown's arrest. The suit included more "insensitive and racially charged posts" that were allegedly posted to Andrade's Facebook account.

Brown is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages, arguing Milwaukee police officers violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.