Milwaukee Bucks: Sterling Brown opens up on experience of police brutality
By Adam McGee
In an essay penned for The Players’ Tribute, Milwaukee Bucks wing Sterling Brown opened up about his experience of police brutality.
At this point, most Milwaukee Bucks fans will know the key details from Sterling Brown’s wrongful arrest by City of Milwaukee Police back in January, 2018.
Brown was double parked outside of a Walgreens late at night, which led to an interaction with a police offer that led to backup being called, Brown being physically overpowered by multiple police, and then ultimately tased and arrested.
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Brown was released the following morning, attended shootaround, and then played for the Bucks that night.
Although Brown has not shied away from talking about his experience, and helped to lead the Bucks’ own protest march last month, with an ongoing civil suit in process, he hasn’t necessarily always been able to talk extensively about all of the details and his feelings on the incident.
That changed on Thursday, as Brown posted a lengthy article for The Players’ Tribune, detailing not only the specifics of the incident itself from his perspective, but also explaining why he turned down the City of Milwaukee’s $400,000 settlement offer.
Opening up his essay, Brown explains:
"“I rejected the offer because I have a responsibility to be a voice and help change the narrative for my people. In order to do so I have to tell my story, so dialogue and conversations about police brutality can help influence and change a corrupt system. It goes deeper than me just illegally parking.”"
Expanding upon that sentiment further, Brown adds later in the article:
"“I want more than just money. I want cops to show respect and to be held accountable when they step out of line, especially in the neighborhoods they are supposed to serve and protect every day. If they kill a man, I want them to receive the same punishment that another guy on the street would.”"
Brown also highlights the fact that his own father was a police officer, and how that ultimately shaped his view that police should earn respect based on how their actions serve their community rather than any societally in-built reverence or sense of authority that the badge could imply.
"“My dad was a police officer. We didn’t have a smooth relationship partly because of that. But I had respect for him and other men in the neighborhood who were cops because of what they did when they put the uniforms down. They helped out in the communities by running basketball, football, and mentoring programs for the youth. I don’t respect the badge and uniform they wear because of where it stems from, what it stands for, and its abuse of power.”"
Given the protests of police brutality and racial injustice that have swept the US, and the world beyond that, over the past couple of months, Brown’s voice carries real power and it’s great to see him put it to use.
To that same end, Brown has also spoken out in support of the proposed resumption of the season, in part because he believes in the power of the platform it could offer players to spotlight the most pressing social issues.