Archive: 100 protest progress of police beating case

This story originally ran Feb. 11, 2005.

About 100 people demonstrated outside the Safety Building on Thursday about the lack of criminal charges in an October beating outside a police officer’s home in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood.

Many carried signs and shouted slogans alleging a racial coverup in the case of Frank Jude Jr., a black man who was beaten by a group of white men who identified themselves as off-duty police officers. Four officers have been suspended in the incident.

Ald. Mike McGee, who organized the protest, called District Attorney E. Michael McCann a "dumb ass" and, to loud cheers, called on McCann to resign in what McGee said is the latest in a long history of not aggressively prosecuting white-on-black crimes.

McGee also called Jude’s 12 assailants — who identified themselves as off-duty police officers at the Oct. 24 party — "hate mongers and KKK killers," as well as an inflammatory epithet for homosexual, for the brutality of the beating, which hospitalized Jude.

"Any man that would pull another man’s pants down is a straight-up sick faggot," said McGee, adding that he did not mean to offend all homosexuals.

The hourlong rally featured a number of elected officials and other black leaders as speakers, including former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt.

Milwaukee County Supervisor Toni Clark was booed into giving up the microphone after urging patience with McCann’s pace.

"We love Toni, but we don’t love McCann," McGee reminded the crowd.

McCann did not return a phone call to his home after the protest. He has said previously that the investigation has been hampered by the unwillingness of some police officers to tell all they know.

Also Thursday, McCann’s staff interviewed for the first time a man who was with Jude the night of the beating.

Lovell Harris, 32, and his attorneys met with officials from the district attorney’s office and the Milwaukee Police Department for 90 minutes and "answered every question they had," said Michael Bishop, one of Harris’ attorneys.

John Diedrich of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.