Minnesota police release video of officers tasing and arresting NBA star Sterling Brown over parking violation

Milwaukee department apologises for incident

Footage of police tasing basketball player Sterling Brown over a parking violation has been released.

The NBA player was arrested and shocked with a stun gun in January by Milwaukee police after he parked his car across a number of disabled spaces.

Mr Brown, who is black, announced on Wednesday he would be taking legal action against the Milwaukee police department. He said the incident was “an attempt at police intimidation” and that it “shouldn’t happen to anybody”.

Milwaukee Police later apologised to the NBA player for the arrest and said some officers had been disciplined.

In the video, a police officer approaches Mr Brown as he walks to his car after going to a shop and asks to see his driving licence.

When Mr Brown gets close to his car’s passenger door, the officer touches Mr Brown, who replies telling the officer not to touch him.

“Back up! Back up!” the officer yells. “For what? I ain’t did nothing,” Mr Brown responds. Eventually, Mr Brown shows the officer his licence.

The officer and Mr Brown wait for additional patrol cars to show up. The basketball player says he has no problem with the officer’s questions and the officer says he touched him “because you got up in my face”.

“I got up on your face? Really?” Mr Brown responds.

Mr Brown, surrounded by four officers, is then asked to take his hands out of his pockets. A scuffle ensues, with the officers swarming over Mr Brown and one yelling “Taser, Taser, Taser!”

Mr Brown is heard groaning in pain on the ground. Mr Brown was jailed briefly but was not charged with anything.

Later in the video, after officers used the stun gun, Mr Brown can be heard having a conversation with someone away from the view of the camera.

“They tased me for no reason,” Mr Brown says.

“I asked you to step back and you didn’t do it,” the officer who initially approached Mr Brown responds. That same officer is later heard mocking Mr Brown while talking to another officer about what happened, saying he thought Brown “was being an ass” and “trying to hide something.”

“And now he’s like, ‘I’m a Bucks player, blah, blah, blah.’ So what,” the officer says.

The president of the NAACP in Milwaukee said Wednesday that he “didn’t see anything that would warrant” a stun gun being used on Mr Brown.

“I find it disturbing that an officer would incite an argument over a parking citation,” Fred Royal said.

And Mayor Tom Barrett said he found the video concerning.

Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales told a news conference: “The department conducted an investigation into the incident, which revealed members acted inappropriately and those members were recently disciplined. I am sorry this incident escalated to this level.”

He left without taking questions. He did not identify the officers or say how they were disciplined.

Last year, Milwaukee paid $2.3m (£1.72) to settle a lawsuit over the death of Dontre Hamilton, a mentally ill black man fatally shot by a police officer.

In 2016, the city paid $5m to settle a lawsuit by 74 black residents who said police illegally strip-searched them between 2008 and 2012.

The city is currently being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union in Wisconsin, which is representing eight residents who say police targeted them for stops because they were black and Latinx .

The Associated Press and Press Association contributed to this report