WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) — Wausau’s police department has responded to accusations of racial profiling. They’ve decided to let everyone see exactly what happened during the arrest of 30-year-old Pavion Phillips November 24th, 2015, outside of a Wausau bar. Police have released a compilation video from two squad cars detailing the entire incident on their Facebook page.
Wednesday, Phillips appeared in Marathon County Circuit Court for a pretrial hearing. He’s charged with resisting or obstructing an officer. Several volunteers from North Central Area Congregations Organized to Make a Difference, or NAOMI, stood with him in court including Reverend Laurie Bushbaum from First Universalist Unitarian Church. Bushbaum told the Wausau Daily Herald Wednesday she questions why a black man was beaten and arrested for not doing anything illegal.
Wausau police don’t agree with Reverend Bushbaum’s perspective. In the lengthy Facebook posting, Wausau Police say Phillips was resisting and obstructing an officer.
According to police and the time code on the squad car video, Phillips and another man were having a loud discussion outside of a bar on S. 3rd Avenue half an hour after closing time. Lieutenant Bill Taylor says they had several reasons to stop and investigate why Phillips and another man may have been arguing. Once Phillips provided a false name and date of birth, and continued to be untruthful after several opportunities to identify himself correctly, Taylor says it was appropriate to arrest Phillips and charge him. “Yes, that would technically be obstructing an officer. If the officer was there for a legitimate law enforcement purpose investigating a possible fight that was about to occur, or if the two men were involved in a verbal altercation, the officer kind of has an obligation to investigate.”
Phillips believes he was being badgered by officers because he’s black, and claims officers used pepper spray on him after he was already handcuffed. Phillips also claims an officer kneed him in the eye during the arrest, which caused the eye to swell shut.
It’s not clear why Phillips tried to hide his identity, but he does have several prior experiences with the legal system. WSAU found electronic court records of eight criminal misdemeanors, three criminal traffic offenses, and one criminal felony scattered in Milwaukee, Marathon, and Wood counties dating back to 2003. The felony conviction was for manufacturing designer drugs with the intent to deliver in 2011, and Milwaukee County sentenced him to four years of incarceration and extended supervision. He was discharged from supervision May 22nd, 2014. His past convictions also include theft of movable property in Wood County, additional obstructing officer and disorderly conduct charges, and separate restraining orders for harassment and domestic abuse.
Phillips will be back in court April 1st for a review hearing on the new Marathon county charges.
The Wausau Police response says, “It is the actions of people that determine our response. If it appears two people are about to get into a fight or they are being loud and disorderly, our officers are expected to intervene. The skin color doesn’t matter.” They believe Minister Bushbaum has no basis for questioning the department’s integrity. Police also wonder why Phillips and his supporters would wait four months before accusing them of racism.
(The entire police department response and squad video is posted at their Facebook site, here.)
