Jay-Z’s Team Roc calls for prosecution of cop who fatally shot three men

Jay-Z and his Team Roc organization are calling for the prosecution of the Wisconsin officer who fatally shot 3 Black men. 

Officer Joseph Mensah has come under fire after his third killing of a man of color in the city. The first shooting occurred in 2015, about six months after he was hired by the department, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. 

In 2015, Antonio Gonzales died after Mensha pumped eight bullets into him, six shots killed Jay Anderson in 2016, and he fired five to kill Alvin Cole in February 2020, per the Wall Street Journal, 

In response, three activist groups: Team ROC, Until Freedom and Gathering for Justice, called out District Attorney John Chisholm in a full-page ad in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 2. 

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JAY-Z’s Team Roc calls for the prosecution of police officer who has killed 3 men of color

The social justice sector of Roc Nation wrote an open letter in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to Milwaukee DA @DAJohnChisholm,calling for the firing & prosecution of officer Joseph Mensah pic.twitter.com/RvDfh7jSCV

— JAY-Z Daily (@JAY_Z_Daily) July 2, 2020

“How many more people must die at the hands of Officer Joseph Mensah?” the ad says. “Since joining the Wauwatosa Police Department in 2015, Mensah has shot and killed THREE men of colour⁠ — Alvin Cole, Antonio Gonzales and Jay Anderson⁠ — with an excessive total of NINETEEN fired shots. His actions demonstrate an utter disregard for the lives of these young men.”

Calls for Officer Mensah’s firing have increased in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. In the weeks since his death, nationwide protests have over police reform and social injustices have dominated the news cycle. 

“If you fail to prosecute Mensah, you’re doing a disservice to the legacies of Alvin Cole, Antonio Gonzales and Jay Anderson, ignoring the lives of black, brown and LGBTQ citizens in your county and essentially allowing for the possibility of a future catastrophe,” said the advertisement in the Journal Sentinel.

The ad demands Mensah’s immediate termination and that he be prosecuted “to ensure he never kills anyone again.”

The activists also call on Chisholm to mandate body cams for all police officers. 

Jay-Z published a similar ad following the death of George Floyd in New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The ad included a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1965 address in Selma, Alabama.

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