Friend –

Many of you may have heard the news about the fatal civilian police shooting of Samuel Sharpe Jr. that happened yesterday afternoon in Milwaukee by Columbus, Ohio Police. We've seen misinformation and disinformation swirling around the internet and social media. This incident had nothing to do with protests at the RNC. We are left with an incredibly concerning question – why are out-of-state police, who are unfamiliar with the Milwaukee community and its residents, present in communities that they do not know and neighborhoods that they were not equipped to meet or deescalate?

Yesterday, we released a statement from our Executive Director, Dr. Melinda Brennan, who said that despite having more than 4,000 additional law enforcement officials in Milwaukee for the RNC, there was no significant community input into the policing strategies for the RNC. We feared the significant police presence without community agreements, so we sent this letter last week before the RNC. We knew that more police could increase the risk of deadly police encounters, and unfortunately, this has been a well-founded fear.

The fact that out-of-state police officers – who are only in Milwaukee to provide security for the RNC – were policing well outside the security zone is profoundly concerning and contradicts what was repeatedly told to community members.

This tragic incident precisely demonstrates that more police is never the answer. Police officers must prioritize de-escalation rather than resorting to using force so routinely, which is seen disproportionately in Black and brown communities.

The ACLU of Wisconsin believes deeply in transparency and police accountability, and we are taking steps to ensure that law enforcement is held accountable for their actions, regardless of which state they are from. As always, this work will be done in collaboration with coalition partners across the city to ensure that the needs of our local communities are put at the forefront of our work.

To ensure that proper transparency and accountability occur, we are filing several open records requests to obtain the following information:

• Wisconsin government agreements with out-of-state law enforcement agencies, including but not limited to Columbus, Ohio, and Fort Worth, Texas.
• All training and briefing materials provided from the Milwaukee Police Department to law enforcement agencies coming into Milwaukee.
• The release of all body camera footage of the incidents.
• The identities of officers involved in the incidents.
• All materials regarding how incidents involving out-of-state officers are to be investigated.

We'll never stop fighting for a state and country free of police violence and for transparency, accountability, and fairness in policing, especially in communities of color who are too often the victims of police brutality.

We thank you for supporting our communities and this work, previously and in this moment, and ask that you remain engaged as we learn more. For more information on this and other work, visit our website.

With care,

ACLU of Wisconsin