A Wauwatosa, Wisconsin police officer named Joseph Mensah is under investigation after fatally shooting three men during his five years of policing. The cop reportedly used a total of 19 bullets against 17-year-old Alvin Cole, who died back in February; 25-year-old Antonio Gonzales, who was shot in 2015 and 24-year-old Jay Anderson, who was killed in 2016. In all three deaths, Mensah did not administer CPR and for two of them, he failed to enable his dash camera.
Amidst ongoing police brutality protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death, Wauwatosa residents have called for the firing and prosecution of Mensah and demanded justice for Cole, Antonio and Gonzales. On Thursday (July 1), JAY-Z and Roc Nation added their names to the list of supporters by writing an open letter to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm.
In the letter, Roc Nation’s Team Roc urged Chisholm to immediately fire and prosecute Mensah.
“Since joining the Wauwatosa Police Department in 2015, Mensah has recklessly shot and killed THREE men of color… with an excessive total of NINETEEN fired shots,” the letter states. “What is also egregious is that the department’s failure to mandate body cameras has enabled these tragic instances.”
“As a result, we are calling for your office to prosecute Mensah to ensure that he never kills anyone again and to immediately outfit all of our price officers with body cameras… Mensah must also be de-certified and fired from the police force immediately.”
“Outside of the three tragedies associated with Mensah, no other fatal shootings by police have taken place in Wauwatosa since Mensah joined the force in 2015. Doesn’t that tell you something?” the letter notes.
Last month, following protests demanding justice for the three deaths, the Wauwatosa Police Department defended Mensah’s actions in a statement.
“Each incident happened very quickly and verbal commands were given and not complied with. He defended himself with deadly force,” the department said.
Mensah remains on administrative leave pending District Attorney Chisholm’s decision about whether or not to file charges against him.
See Team Roc’s full letter to Chisholm below.