Supervisor Clancy Statement on His Arrest
MILWAUKEE – Supervisor Ryan Clancy issued the following statement regarding his arrest Sunday night:
“Last night, I supported the peaceful protests happening around Milwaukee, using my position as an elected representative to observe and defuse potentially negative interactions between law enforcement and Milwaukee residents. I have volunteered as a legal observer for many years, but what I witnessed last night shook me to the core.
“What was a small, peaceful, unremarkable gathering of people on the border of Shorewood and the City of Milwaukee was very suddenly surrounded by scores of law enforcement, from five different jurisdictions, in militarized vehicles and full riot gear.
“No arrest at that scene was for a violent act, nor even for the sort of property crime that some media outlets are focusing on more than the loss of life at the core of this protest. No crimes were stopped. Nobody was protected. Every arrest at that scene was primarily for a curfew violation – for merely existing in a space which many of us were forced into by a line of police in riot gear. And those arrests were brutal. The Milwaukee Police Department did not issue orders and then arrest people for failing to comply, but simply grabbed and tackled people, throwing them to the ground. I was among them.
“A curfew, and the disproportionate application of brutal force – in the midst of a protest against brutal force – is not the way forward.
“I look forward to supporting and advocating both for the specific measures that reign in future abuses and the call for all municipalities – County, City, State and National – to defund the law enforcement and military and to shift that spending to public health and social services.”
Clancy represents the 4th District on the Board of Supervisors and was first elected in April, 2020.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
More about the 2020 Racial Justice Protests
- Plea Agreement Reached On Long-Pending Sherman Park Unrest Charges Involving Vaun Mayes - Jeramey Jannene - Oct 17th, 2024
- Rep. Ryan Clancy Settles With City Following 2020 Curfew Arrest - Jeramey Jannene - Dec 12th, 2023
- Supervisor Clancy Applauds Settlement in Clancy vs. City of Milwaukee - Ryan Clancy - Dec 12th, 2023
- Tosa Protest Assails Federal Court Decision Exonerating Police - Isiah Holmes - May 9th, 2023
- Wauwatosa ‘Target List’ Trial Begins - Isiah Holmes - May 3rd, 2023
- Shorewood Spitter Found Guilty For 2020 Protest Confrontation - Jeramey Jannene - Apr 20th, 2023
- City Hall: City Will Pay 2020 George Floyd Protester $270,000 - Jeramey Jannene - Feb 14th, 2023
- Tosa Protest Tickets Dismissed - Isiah Holmes - Jul 21st, 2022
- Op Ed: ‘We Need More’ - Charles Q. Sullivan - Mar 4th, 2022
- Milwaukee Officers Circulate “2020 Riot” Coins? - Isiah Holmes - Nov 14th, 2021
Read more about 2020 Racial Justice Protests here
Recent Press Releases by Ryan Clancy
Thanks for your first-hand account.
Did the escalation occur before or after the destruction of the vape store?
From what little could be observed on the relatively crappy and often-interrupted by weather and sports TV “news” coverage, it seemed like that line was formed primarily to push the remaining crowd back south past prime target businesses, especially Otto’s Liquor.
The initial amassing of force also seemed more like it was to make a wall to keep them out of Shorewood or as a response to the damaging of the (Brown Deer ?) police vehicle.
I’m not saying I agree with the handling and its is true that the only people left to arrest are for curfew violations because that’s all they can prove in that moment. How they chose who got arrested will probably never be known; the reports that no clear orders or actions with timelines were given prior is concerning to say the least.