Milwaukee Police Viciously Beat Bi-Racial Man

Frank Jude Jr. suffered a brutal beating on a street in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood early Oct. 24. Surrounded by a dozen men, he was kicked repeatedly in the head, stripped naked and threatened with a knife, his attorney said.Authorities knew right away who was involved, but more than three months later no one has been charged or even arrested. The suspects? Off-duty Milwaukee police officers who claimed Jude stole one of their badges. The officers said they had to subdue Jude because he fought with them. Witnesses tell a different story - that Jude didn't steal anything, that he wasn't resisting, and that the some of the crowd dragged him out of a truck and beat him maliciously. Jude was arrested and taken by police wagon to the hospital - no ambulance was called. Prosecutors did not file charges against him, instead focusing on the off-duty officers' actions. In connection with the incident, four off-duty officers were suspended by Chief Nannette Hegerty, who declined to comment on the pending matter. The investigation has been slowed by some officers who aren't fully cooperating, the district attorney said. A secret John Doe investigation was launched in an effort to get witnesses to talk. Jude, 26, has been interviewed extensively but can't identify his attackers, said Deputy District Attorney Jon Reddin, the lead prosecutor. "He is very little help of telling us what happened," he said. "He was beaten within an inch of his life." Many officers won't tell all they know, some because they committed crimes, others because of "misplaced loyalty" to colleagues, said District Attorney E. Michael McCann, who called Jude's case "horrendous" and compared it to the 1981 beating of James Schoemperlen, whose skull was fractured by Milwaukee officers after a car chase. [more] and [more]