Justice for Brieon Green - No More Deaths in the County Jail

In-Custody Deaths

Brieon Green died inside the Milwaukee County Jail hours after being arrested on June 26, 2022. For months, Brieon's family received no answers from the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office as to how or why he died inside the jail.

When we met with Brieon's family shortly after his death, we realized this is a fighting family. So, we quickly started planning actions and ways to boost awareness about this case. After nearly 6 months of protests and rallies demanding transparency and accountability from the Sheriff's office, the District Attorney's Office granted Brieon's family access to the footage.

The footage reviewed was from inside the County Jail. Brieon was placed inside a holding cell, separate from general population. 28 minutes after being placed inside the cell, Brieon began wrapping the metal phone cord inside the cell around his neck. Seconds after he begins to do so, a correctional officer walks by the cell. This was supposed to be a routine wellness check, but it lasted less than a second. The correctional officer did not stop to look into the cell. Had he done so, he would've seen Brieon choking. The next wellness check came 37 minutes later. At this point it was too late.

There's a longer history of in-custody deaths inside the County Jail. Between 2008 and 2012, there were 18 in-custody deaths. Between 2020 and 2021, there were 4 in-custody deaths. Following Brieon's death, there have been 3 other deaths inside the county jail.

Taking Action and Fighting Back

On October 13, dozens of community members, including organizers, concerned community members, and Brieon's family gathered to officially launch the Justice for Brieon Green Coalition. It's a MAARPR led coalition that has served as the organizing body for leading the work around Green's case and is built around the following points of unity: Justice for Brieon Green; full trnasparency now; 24/48 now; and CPAC now.

The Justice For Brieon Green Coalition has remained active since it's official launch and has held various actions. Most recently, the Coalition held a picket outside the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office to demand justice for Brieon and and end to in-custody deaths.

Since Brieon's death, there have been 3 more deaths inside the County Jail, and Sheriff Denita Ball has refused to respond to any of our inquiries. She ran a campaign on community trust, but she's refusing to speak with concerned member of our community.

We're demanding that she hold a town hall so that the public can ask questions about how she's operating the jail and why there are so many deaths inside there. The public deserves to know what's happening. By refusing to be transparent, she's making it clear that she doesn't plan on holding people accountable and doesn't plan on making the changes needed to prevent any more deaths.