Kenosha community activists and area residents criticized some local police for brutally arresting an African American man at Applebee’s last month after a hit-and-run incident at Green Bay Road and Highway 50.

Executive director of Leaders of Kenosha, Tanya McLean. | WBEZ

Local Kenosha community organizations express strong criticism towards the police following the cruel and wrongful arrest of an African American man.

Executive director of Leaders of Kenosha, Tanya McLean, organized a protest Wednesday evening at the Public Safety Building, 1000 55th St, accompanied by members of local groups like the Congregations United to Serve Humanity (CUSH), the Kenosha Coalition for Dismantling Racism, NAACP Kenosha Branch, and also the Urban League of Racine and Kenosha.

The protest was organized on behalf the African American man that local police brutally arrested. The local police was said to have wrongly arrested the African American man along with the woman he was with.

The vice president of CUSH, Rev. Monica Cummings, shared in a statement that she was heartbroken that the innocent African American man, who was peacefully eating with his family, experienced the trauma of being forced to the ground by police.

Cummings added that she was heartbroken by the traumatizing experience the family of the African American man went through, especially the baby who was yanked during the incident.

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In a video that caught the arrest inside a chain restaurant, it was depicted that while the police wrestle the African American man, he was holding a baby.

It was evident in the video that witnesses are shouting for someone to get baby out of the African American man’s hold as he was wrestled to the ground by the police officers. The poor baby, who was carried by the African American man at the time, was crying while his father was brutalized.

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According to the police, they were called to the scene of a severe hit-and-run accident nearby and received information from witnesses who said that the suspects involved were two Black men and a woman with a child, who were seen running towards the Applebee’s restaurant.

The police have issued a statement stating that the employees of Applebee’s directed them to the African American man shown in a video, WISN says.

WISN added in the report that the Police stated the African American man attempted to leave against officers’ orders and was restrained. In the video, it can be seen that the African American man was repeatedly assaulted by the police, causing outrage to the Kenosha community.

The real suspects responsible for the hit and run were eventually caught and was said to have hidden themselves in the bathroom of the same Applebee’s restaurant. Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton said that the wrongly apprehended African American man just matched the description of the real suspects.

The wrongly apprehended African American man was later brought to the hospital; there were no information of what injuries he sustained during the incident.

Kenosha City Administrator, John Morrissey, stated that the police chief has indicated that the police chief’s division of professional standards will into the incident. He added that he trust that the Chief will conduct a proper investigation and is prepared for any issues that may arise.

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