Accident – Death – Obituary News :
March 15, 2024 – 10:45 AM
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — In a recent development, a federal judge has dismissed two out of three claims against former Wisconsin police officer Joseph Mensah, who was involved in the deaths of three individuals of color over a span of five years.
The families of Antonio Gonzales, Jay Anderson, and Alvin Cole filed federal lawsuits in 2021 and 2022 against Mensah and the Wauwatosa Police Department, alleging excessive force and racism within the department. These lawsuits were consolidated in September 2022.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman in Milwaukee made the decision to dismiss the claims filed by the Gonzales and Anderson families, as per online court records. However, the case concerning the Cole family is set to continue, with oral arguments scheduled for next month.
Antonio Gonzales, 29, was shot by Mensah in 2015 after approaching him with a sword and refusing to drop it. Jay Anderson, 25, was shot in 2016 by Mensah when found sleeping in a car in a park after hours. Alvin Cole, 17, was shot during a foot chase outside a mall in 2020. Mensah explained his actions in each incident, stating self-defence.
Despite the families’ claims of excessive force and racism, prosecutors opted not to press charges against Mensah in any of the cases. Mensah resigned from the police department in 2020 and later joined the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department.
Judge Adelman’s written order noted that Mensah had given warnings before opening fire in the Gonzales case and that squad-car footage showed Anderson reaching toward a gun on the passenger seat. Adelman acknowledged the claims that Anderson may have been reaching for a cellphone, but stated that Mensah could not have known this.
The judge did not delve into the racism claims, as the excessive force claim was deemed to be insufficient. The families’ attorneys, Kimberly Motley and Annalisa Pusick, have not yet responded to the recent developments.
With the dismissal of two of the three claims, the legal battle surrounding Mensah’s actions continues to be a point of contention in the Wisconsin justice system.
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