TV news often sucks, but this is the crappiest-written TV news item of the week. After opening with seven or eight hosannas for the great and glorious FOX6 News, here’s what matters:
A gentleman named Michael Poe went to a Milwaukee cigar-smoking club. This is America, so an accidental gunshot came through the ceiling and hit Mr Poe in the leg. Friends took him to an emergency room for treatment.
Cops came to the hospital, and the victim spent nearly an hour cordially answering their questions, before being handcuffed and taken into custody for the crime of being shot.
Mr Poe resisted, and cops roughly knocked him to the floor, then dragged him to a squad car for still more questions, before letting him limp away.
When Milwaukee cops use force, a report is supposed to be filed by their supervisor, but the supe didn’t want to bother. He retired, was never disciplined, and is still lying about what happened.
Officials offered Mr Poe $150,000, he’s taken it, and he seems to be a gung-ho “support the cops” guy, before and after what happened.
As for FOX6 News, they did dig up the story, and kudos for that, but a bright fifth-grader could’ve written better coverage.
Just as an aside, the settlement agreement likely contains a clause preventing disparagement from the victim as a condition of payment. Regardless of his stance before the incident, he’s going to be publicly pro-cop if he wants his share of the money.
Those clauses are stupid.