Off-duty Milwaukee police officer who swung at photographers during police brutality protest reaches plea deal
The Milwaukee police officer accused of assaulting two photographers while off-duty during a 2020 police brutality protest reached a plea agreement shortly before a jury trial was to begin Monday.
Officer Matthew Willmann, a 15-year veteran of the department, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct and a non-criminal county citation of disorderly conduct, according to online court records.
The misdemeanor conviction means Willmann faces up to three months in prison and $1,000 in fines. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Feb. 17.
Willmann previously was charged with one misdemeanor count each of disorderly conduct and battery. Had a conviction for the battery charge been secured, Willmann would have faced up to nine additional months in prison.
Jury selection was set to begin Monday and a trial was expected to run into Wednesday.
The scuffle, which was partially caught on video along the 1000 block of North Old World 3rd Street in July 2020, left one photographer, LaTasha Lux, with a concussion and another, Sean Kafer, with a broken camera lens worth hundreds of dollars.
Lux said Monday she was "relieved" to hear about the conviction, while Kafer said he was "glad some sort of justice is served."
Willmann received an unpaid 45-day suspension for his role in the altercation from then-Acting Chief Michael Brunson, Sr.
In a statement, the Milwaukee Police Department said it holds its officers to the "highest level of integrity" and said it is committed to building positive relationships with community members.
While off-duty on July 5, 2020, Willmann and his wife were spending time at a bar when a group of protesters began marching by. Willmann’s wife walked outside, tossed a drink in their direction and shouted “blue lives matter,” according to court documents.
The group then turned its attention on the woman, and as protesters approached her, Willmann is seen on video throwing a punch towardKafer, which knocked his lens onto the ground.
Willmann appeared intoxicated and angry, speaking unintelligibly while swinging his arms, the criminal complaint said.
Off camera, Willmann later swiped at Lux's camera, causing it to hit her face, according to witness accounts and the complaint. Lux said the impact gave her a concussion and she suffered side effects — dizziness, nausea and traumatic stress — for the rest of the summer.
In a statement to responding officers at the scene, Willmann said he swatted at Kafer and Lux's camera to prevent them from photographing his wife and himself, according to the complaint. He also claimed more than once to investigators that he wasn’t sure if one of the cameras was a gun, according to police reports obtained through an open records request.
Willmann’s attorney, Daniel Adams, also asserted in court filings that Willmann was then grabbed, pushed and assaulted by protesters. He said Willmann’s family was “doxxed,” with their identities, photos of their children, home address and occupations published on social media. They also received unwanted and threatening text messages and calls and their home became the site of protests.
Kafer, a filmmaker and lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Lux, a professional photographer, have frequently attended and documented Black Lives Matter protests locally.
The incident also drew concern from witnesses and the victims who said hat on-duty officers who responded to the scene protected Willmann by downplaying the severity of the incident.
After reviewing the incident, the Police Department said in February that no other officers were disciplined.
Witnesses were initially upset that Willmann was not arrested, while Kafer and Lux were cited for disorderly conduct. Police reports obtained through an open records request show that Willmann and his wife were also given the same $195 ticket at the scene.
An internal affairs detective who responded to the scene, Elizabeth Stewart, initially advised Sgt. Michael Dix to cite Willmann’s wife, according to the police report. After Stewart left the scene, Dix then decided to cite Willmann himself and the two photographers.
Stewart voided the tickets for those three the next day.
Willmann joined Milwaukee police in 2006 and was paid more than $105,000 in 2020.
Between 2008 and 2014 he received district-level reprimands or additional training for three department violations involving court appearances and investigating and filing reports, according to police documents obtained in an open records request.
Contact Elliot Hughes at elliot.hughes@jrn.com or 414-704-8958. Follow him on Twitter @elliothughes12.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trial for off-duty Milwaukee officer involved in scuffle to begin
