Another lawsuit filed

I got the same!

For immediate release:

October 7, 2010

Wisconsin Carry, Inc. has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Brookfield and 4 Brookfield Police officers who unlawfully arrested one of our members on July 4th 2010.

A copy of this lawsuit is available here:

http://www.wisconsincarry.org/pdf/Brookfield/Doc_1_Complaint.pdf

Our member who has been a victim of violent crime in the past openly carries a sidearm for personal protection as Wisconsin law allows. On July 4th she was attending church services in Brookfield, WI. After the service, a church member called the non-emergency number of the Brookfield Police Department to inquire as to the legality of open-carry. Brookfield Police responded to the call by sending several officers/squads to the church. On the way to the church the officers were made aware by the dispatcher that our member was not being threatening or creating a disturbance. As our member was leaving the parking lot in her vehicle. A Brookfield Police officer waved her down drew his weapon and ordered her out of her car at gunpoint.

As open-carry is perfectly legal in Wisconsin and the officers were aware our member had threatened no one and caused no disturbance, the officers had no reasonable articulable suspicion, which the law requires, to stop and detain our member against her will. In addition, by drawing their guns on a law-abiding citizen who had done nothing wrong, the officers used an unlawful threat of deadly force during their unlawful detainment of our member. The police proceeded to, without reasonable suspicion or probable cause that any crime had occurred, conduct an unlawful and unconstitutional search of our members person and car. Our member was then unlawfully arrested and taken to the Brookfield Police Department for processing.

Wisconsin Carry has filed this lawsuit to obtain damages on behalf of our member for the unlawful arrest and violations of her civil rights by the Brookfield Police Department. On behalf of our members all across the state, Wisconsin Carry continues to establish a precedent that departments who violate the rights of law-abiding Wisconsinites who legally carry in the only manner Wisconsin Law allows “open carry” will face legal consequences.

In a virtually identical situation in San Diego, CA a person lawfully open carrying was detained/arrested in a similar manner. Within the last few weeks that case resulted in a $35,000 settlement from the City of San Diego paid to the man unlawfully arrested at gunpoint. Details of that case can be viewed here:

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=347348

Wisconsin Carry, Inc. has also obtained a $10,000 judgement in Federal Court against the city of Racine earlier this year for an unlawful arrest of one of our members who was approached by police merely because he was legally open carrying.

Wisconsin Carry is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the protection and expansion of the right to carry in Wisconsin. We believe that “conceal carry” and “open carry” are choices to be made by the law-abiding citizen based on their own preference, not the government’s. As open carry is generally the only legal way to exercise the right to carry in Wisconsin provided by our state and federal constitution, we advocate that people who wish to carry follow the law and open carry while our organization seeks to expand the right right to carry in Wisconsin to include conceal carry. Our website is http://www.wisconsincarry.org

Carry On,

Nik Clark
Chairman/President – Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
[email protected]

I’m assuming the police dept involved here have never read the 2nd amendment to our constitution.I hope an example is made of this case! Our freedoms are precious, never let them be infringed upon!

It’s a little “different” in WI.

…and I don’t blame the police.

Their governor won’t allow concealed carry.

So open carry is the only way to legally carry. If I was an officer and had a call with weapons involved, I would owe it to my wife and family to make sure I come home at the end of the day. This amounts to “over reacting” when someone mentions gun.

I’m willing to bet all of a quarter if open and concealed were allowed in WI as it should be, most if not all would conceal.

A concealed weapon by a law abiding citizen creates zero phone calls by the uninformed.

I completely understand the “over-react” when using caution. But the arrests need to stop and the lawsuits. Ultimately, the tax payers pay for them….

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But the arrests need to stop and the lawsuits.

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I was thinking about what I typed above today.

As Damman pointed out in another post. The police are caught in the middle of this “war”. If they don’t respond to a call saying “a person with a gun”, they’re screwed if a murder takes place. The media would go nuts with “ladies 911 call goes unheeded and helpless person was shot down”.

On the other hand, they get sued for rights violations.

All I know as a person living on the border, it’s a pain in the holster to have to disarm every time I go to get cheese.

Reply any way that’s needed if it is a gun call. Survey the situation and determine whether or not drawn guns or other means are needed. Where it goes south for me is that the arrest took place. Where was the shift sergeant? In MN, we have to site the State Statute on the arrest paperwork. What did they use?

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Reply any way that’s needed if it is a gun call. Survey the situation and determine whether or not drawn guns or other means are needed. Where it goes south for me is that the arrest took place.

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My point exactly. Its not a violation of your rights to have an officer talk to you and make the determination that nothing is wrong and be on their way. It becomes a problem when citations or arrests are made just because…..