Public Meeting to Air Squad Car Death Video

A community meeting Thursday night will air concerns about the death of an African-American man in the back of a Milwaukee squad car. The session comes as top state Republicans say they will not join the call for a federal probe of the Derek Williams case.

Williams died 14 months ago when patrol officers appeared to ignore his pleas for help. A video of the incident was first made public this week.

Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett and Democratic representative Gwen Moore want a federal review of the Williams case, but Governor Walker sidestepped the topic saying, “That’s one I’ll leave to federal authorities.”

Walker says he does want police statewide to follow their department’s guidelines, so all citizens have the right due to them. Republican U.S. Senator Ron Johnson also says he will not call for a federal probe. “We’ll let the judicial branch handle this.”

The grass roots group Milwaukee Matters will hold tonight’s community meeting and show the squad car video of Derek Williams’s death.