300 Days of Black Lives Matters Protests
March in Wauwatosa also marks second day of John Doe probe of Jay Anderson’s killing by police officer.

Protesters hold a march for Jay Anderson Jr., on the 300th day of protest in the Milwaukee area. Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner.
Beneath a gray, overcast sky, on a damp and windy day, protesters gathered in Madison Park near Wauwatosa. Among them were the parents of 25-year-old Jay Anderson Jr., who was killed by former Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah in 2016. The group had gathered not only to pay their respects to the Anderson family, but to also celebrate the 300th day of Black Lives Matter protests in Milwaukee.
Day 300 coincided with the second court date in the ongoing John Doe hearing into Anderson’s death. The hearing ended with WPD Chief Barry Weber being ordered by a judge to testify on May 4. “I don’t think any of us can fathom what ya’ll are going through,” Smith told Anderson’s parents. “You guys get up every day, and ya’ll keep the fight. Ya’ll got to go on with your lives before this tragedy first happened right here in this parking lot,” said Smith. “So I commend ya’ll, and I love ya’ll.”

Jay Sr. and Linda Anderson, the parents of Jay Anderson Jr., (right) stand with protesters gathering in Madison Park. Anderson was killed in the parking lot in 2016 by a former Wauwatosa officer. Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner
Linda Anderson thanked the group, stating, “It’s ya’ll that’s keeping us going. I mean that, from the bottom of my heart. And I have to keep fighting for my son. He did not deserve this, and that’s the reason we’re out here every day.” After the speeches, the group organized a march and car caravan. The protesters, chanting Anderson’s name, traveled about a mile through the neighborhoods surrounding the park. As the marchers returned to the park, someone threw eggs from a hidden vantage point in a yard. Anderson’s parents and the marchers just grinned.
In Kenosha, Jacob Blake is making an effort to educate another Wisconsin community about the toll of racism and police violence. Blake is pressing charges against the officer who shot him in August. Unlike the murdered Black people whose names TPR and other groups call out as they march for an end to police shootings, Blake survived his encounter with an armed police officer. The 29-year-old was paralyzed after officer Rusten Sheskey shot him in the back seven times at almost point blank range.
The Blake lawsuit alleges that Sheskey acted recklessly, and names him as the sole defendant in the case. Kenosha’s District Attorney’s Office cleared the officer of criminal wrongdoing in January. The lawsuit also alleges that Sheskey used excessive force and displayed “reckless indifference” when firing the shots near Blake’s children.
Aspects of the suit have parallels in the Anderson John Doe hearing. In that court case the Andersons aim to find probable cause to charge former Wauwatosa officer Joseph Mensah with second-degree reckless homicide and homicide by negligence with a dangerous weapon. Meanwhile, a civil suit involving the 2016 shooting of 21-year-old Christopher Davis is challenging qualified immunity, which often protects police officers from civil suits in such situations.
TPR also regularly conducts literature distributions, or “lit drops,” to help raise local awareness of different cases. Daily actions are announced in advance on the group’s Facebook page for those who want to get involved. “We ain’t stopping,” assured Smith.
Reprinted with permission of Wisconsin Examiner.
More about the 2020 Racial Justice Protests
- 300 Days of Black Lives Matters Protests - Isiah Holmes - Mar 29th, 2021
- Murphy’s Law: 8 Ways Police Mishandled Protests - Bruce Murphy - Mar 24th, 2021
- Milwaukee Police Helped Patrol Tosa Protests? - Isiah Holmes - Mar 17th, 2021
- Evers Reflects on Year of Pandemic, Protests - Shawn Johnson - Dec 28th, 2020
- The Year of the National Guard - Jenny Peek - Dec 28th, 2020
- Baldwin Questions U.S. Marshall’s Role in Tosa Protests - Isiah Holmes - Dec 19th, 2020
- Op Ed: Vote No on COPS Grant - Markasa Tucker - Dec 18th, 2020
- People’s Revolution Marks 200 Days of Protest - Graham Kilmer - Dec 15th, 2020
- Supervisor Clancy Applauds Activists on 200th Day of Protests - Sup. Ryan Clancy - Dec 14th, 2020
- The “Molotov Cocktail” That Wasn’t - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 23rd, 2020
Read more about 2020 Racial Justice Protests here