Media Contact

Alyssa Mauk, ACLU of Wisconsin communications director, amauk@aclu-wi.org

June 1, 2022

MILWAUKEE - Prosecutors announced today that they will not file charges against former Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah for fatally shooting Jay Anderson Jr. in 2016.

Melinda Brennan, executive director of the ACLU of Wisconsin, said the following about  the decision:

“The decision not to prosecute former Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah in the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Jay Anderson Jr. is reprehensible and reflects the systemic lack of accountability for police, who continue to kill and hurt Black and Brown people without legal consequences. In this case, Joseph Mensah, who remains a law enforcement officer in Wisconsin, was responsible for the deaths of three people in five years. Law enforcement has a long track record of resorting to deadly force when it isn’t necessary, especially against people of color.”