Giannis Antetokounmpo, marches in Shorewood and Milwaukee, and Stephanie Rapkin spitting. Images from Frank Nitty (video still), Jeramey Jannene and Caress Gonzalez Rodriguez (video still).

Thousands of Milwaukeeans took to the streets Saturday to demand justice and police reform. They were joined by people across the world who did everything from close down the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to march in Japan and New Zealand.

It’s an expression of frustration, it’s a call for justice and it’s a movement for a more equitable society.

Meanwhile in Fayetteville, North Carolina, over 100 people attended a funeral for George Floyd. It was Floyd’s murder at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer that triggered the nationwide protests.

But the fact that all four officers involved were arrested and charged won’t end the movement.

“Just because you arrested four officers doesn’t change anything, it’s the system. Because they’ll kill somebody else next week and we will have to march again,” said Frank Nitty, the de facto leader of the Milwaukee movement, at a daytime march near the Shorewood-Milwaukee border on N. Oakland Ave. “We don’t care about the officers. We want to change the system.”

The march, led by Darius Smith, drew thousands of people, the biggest one Urban Milwaukee has observed over the nine days of protests. The march went from Milwaukee’s Lower East Side to the Riverwest neighborhood into suburban Shorewood and Whitefish Bay before looping back.

Marchers took over five minutes to pass by Urban Milwaukee as we filmed from above. When Smith went to address the group, he had to ditch his bullhorn and instead climb atop a van with top-mounted speakers in the middle of the crowd.

It was one of at least seven marches that took place in the Milwaukee area Saturday.

Those in another march, coming from the Mitchell Park Domes, made their way north onto the 27th Street Viaduct when Milwaukee Bucks players Giannis Antetokounmpo, Sterling Brown, Brook Lopez, Donte DiVincenzo, Frank Mason III and Thanasis Antetokounmpo appeared.

The march was in honor of Joel Acevedo who died at the hands of an off-duty Milwaukee police officer in April.

“It means a lot to the city to see you,” said Nitty to Antetokounmpo in announcing the surprise in a Facebook live video. He praised Giannis for helping change the narrative around black people in Milwaukee. Giannis said he was there in support of his city and justice.

And while Antetokounmpo will draw the national headlines as the league’s reigning most valuable player, it is Brown that unfortunately has first-hand knowledge of police brutality.

Brown has a pending lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee Police Department for an incident in which he was tased, stepped on and arrested after parking illegally in a Walgreens parking lot. The parking lot Brown was arrested in is at the south end of the bridge the players greeted the marchers on.

Nitty said the players approached him through area pastors. “This isn’t just a photo [opportunity],” he said. The players handed out water and marched briefly alongside pastor Kenneth Lock II, Khalil Coleman, Rafael Mercado and Nitty.

But the day wasn’t all highlights.

Attorney In Custody for Spitting in Teens Face

While walking through Shorewood, hundreds of people, many wearing masks because of the pandemic, cheered on the mostly-masked marchers and businesses handed out food and water. But one woman parked in the street to obstruct the marchers and then spit in a teenager’s face while standing on the sidewalk.

The incident was captured on video by Caress Gonzalez Ramirez and attorney Stephanie Rapkin, 64, was led from her home in handcuffs Saturday night at around 10:00 p.m.

A photo, shared by Public Allies Milwaukee executive director Ashley Lee, showed Rapkin being walked away from her house in handcuffs by police officers.

Neither Rapkin nor the unidentified victim was wearing a mask at the time of the incident. The victim had one around his neck.

The Shorewood Police Department said she was in custody, but not yet charged. The case has been referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney.

Protesters quickly identified Rapkin, in part based on the personalized license plate of her car left in the street.

Otherwise Peaceful

The marches observed by Urban Milwaukee, with the exception of the Rapkin incident, were peaceful affairs.

One march coming east down W. Vliet St. near N. 35th St. parted to let a Milwaukee Fire Department truck through and then applauded. At another point teenagers were called out to stop setting off fireworks.

Three marches converged at N. 27th St. and W. Vliet St. around 9:00 p.m. with some people heading home and the “all night” group of several hundred forming to head east down Vliet towards Downtown. Urban Milwaukee left the group at 10:30 p.m. when it was crossing the W. Winnebago St. bridge over Interstate 43 and entering The Brewery.

A number of familiar faces and some new ones were spotted at marches Saturday, including Mayor Tom Barrett, council members Ashanti Hamilton and Russell W. Stamper, II, state representatives Kalan Haywood II, Jonathan Brostoff and David Bowen and state senator Lena Taylor.

Reggie Moore, director of the city’s Office of Violence Prevention, was also out Saturday evening, and was spotted talking to Nate Hamilton. Hamilton’s brother, Dontre Hamilton, was killed in 2014 by a Milwaukee police offer in Red Arrow Park. Filmmaker Erik Ljung captured the encounter. His film, The Blood is at the Doorstep, is free to watch for this week.

At least three marches are scheduled for Sunday in Milwaukee.

Photos

Videos

Jefferson County’s top prosecutor is recommending dismissing the case against Kenneth Walker, at least for now.

Walker was boyfriend to Breonna Taylor, who died during an LMPD narcotics raid in March.

MORE: What we know about the death of Breonna Taylor

Walker was also at the apartment that night, and police say he fired his gun and struck a police officer.

He is facing charges in connection with the shooting.

A motion to dismiss the case alleges police presented misleading information to the grand jury. While Commonwealth’s Attorney Thomas Wine said he strongly disagrees with the analysis, he does believe more should have been presented to the grand jury.

That being said, Wine is directing his office to dismiss the case for now. He says additional investigating needs to be done by both LMPD and other agencies.

During the news conference, he played audio from both Walker and Sgt. Mattingly, who was shot that night. Both described what happened in their words.

LISTEN TO ALL AUDIO IN THE PLAYER ABOVE

“The statements dovetail very well as to the number of knocks, what was going on, the efforts to breach the door and what happened once that door opened,” Wine said.

Read this thread from WLKY’s Deni Kamper for more details about what happened during the news conference:

Asked whether is was possible no one would be charged in the case, Wine said it is possible there was no criminal activity on either side of that door.

Attorney Ben Crump, representing Taylor’s family released a statement on Wine’s choice to request dismissal.

It said, in part, “While dismissing the charges is the right thing to do, it comes more than two months after Breonna was killed and Kenneth was arrested. Louisville police spent these months defending their actions and smearing Kenneth’s and Breonna’s good names. This is just another step to the LMPD taking full responsibility for its actions. They need to get their story straight.” Read the rest of the statement here.

WLKY will update this story.

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia’s attorney general appointed a black district attorney Monday to take over the case of a white father and son charged with killing a black man, making her the third outside prosecutor in a slaying that’s prompted a national outcry over suspicions that race played a role in delaying arrests.

Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was fatally shot Feb. 23 by the men who told police they chased him because they believed he matched the appearance of a burglary suspect caught on surveillance video. Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, were arrested last week, more than two months later, after video of the shooting appeared online and provoked outrage. Federal prosecutors are also considering hate crimes charges, the Justice Department said; that would allow for a separate case in federal court.

Cobb County District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes takes over the case from prosecutor Tom Durden, who the state’s attorney general said asked to be replaced by a prosecutor with a large staff as “this case has grown in size and magnitude.” Holmes is based in metro Atlanta, more than 300 miles (480 kilometers) from the coastal Georgia community in Glynn County where the shooting happened.

“District Attorney Holmes is a respected attorney with experience, both as a lawyer and a judge,” state Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, said in a statement. “And the Cobb County District Attorney’s office has the resources, personnel and experience to lead this prosecution and ensure justice is done.”

Holmes served four years a magistrate judge in suburban Cobb County before Gov. Brian Kemp appointed her to fill the vacant district attorney’s position last July. According to the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Council, Holmes is one of only seven black district attorneys in the state.

An attorney for Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, applauded the appointment of a new lead prosecutor.

“In order for justice to be carried out both effectively and appropriately in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, it is imperative that the special prosecutor has no affiliation with the Southeast Georgia legal or law enforcement communities,” attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement. He asked that Holmes “be zealous in her search for justice.”

The McMichaels weren’t arrested until after the video became public and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to look into the killing. It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, have been jailed since Thursday on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself from the case because the elder McMichael had worked under her. The first outside prosecutor appointed, District Attorney George Barnhill of the neighboring Waycross Judicial Circuit, stepped aside about a month later because his son works for Johnson as an assistant prosecutor. Durden got the case in mid-April.

Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation to weigh whether hate crimes charges should be brought. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing state charges.

“We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement Monday.

According to Kupec’s statement, the department is also considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.

The leaked video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. A truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one white man standing in the pickup’s bed and another beside the open driver’s side door.

The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.

A man who says he recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.

William R. Bryan is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He has not been charged.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday. “I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Updated at 3:56 p.m. Monday

Georgia’s attorney general appointed a black district attorney Monday to take over the case of a white father and son charged with killing a black man, making her the third outside prosecutor in a slaying that’s prompted a national outcry over suspicions that race played a role in delaying arrests.

Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was fatally shot Feb. 23 by the men who told police they chased him because they believed he matched the appearance of a burglary suspect caught on surveillance video. Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis McMichael, were arrested last week, more than two months later, after video of the shooting appeared online and provoked outrage. Federal prosecutors are also considering hate crimes charges, the Justice Department said.

Cobb County District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes takes over the case from prosecutor Tom Durden, who the state’s attorney general said asked to be replaced by someone with a larger staff and more resources as “this case has grown in size and magnitude.” Holmes is based in metro Atlanta, more than 300 miles from the coastal Georgia community in Glynn County where the shooting happened.

“District Attorney Holmes is a respected attorney with experience, both as a lawyer and a judge,” state Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, said in a statement. “And the Cobb County District Attorney’s office has the resources, personnel and experience to lead this prosecution and ensure justice is done.”

An attorney for Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, applauded the appointment of a new lead prosecutor.

“In order for justice to be carried out both effectively and appropriately in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, it is imperative that the special prosecutor has no affiliation with the Southeast Georgia legal or law enforcement communities,” attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement. He asked that Holmes “be zealous in her search for justice.”

The McMichaels weren’t arrested until after the video became public and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to look into the killing. It was not known Monday whether the McMichaels had attorneys to represent them. They had no lawyers at their first court appearance Friday.

Gregory McMichael, 64, and Travis McMichael, 34, have been jailed since Thursday on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault. Gregory McMichael is a former Glynn County police officer who later worked 20 years as an investigator for the local district attorney’s office. He retired a year ago.

Glynn County District Attorney Jackie Johnson recused herself from the case because the elder McMichael had worked under her. The first outside prosecutor appointed, District Attorney George Barnhill of the neighboring Waycross Judicial Circuit, stepped aside about a month later because his son works for Johnson as an assistant prosecutor. Durden got the case in mid-April.

Attorneys for Arbery’s parents and others, including Carr and the Southern Poverty Law Center, have asked for a federal investigation to weigh whether hate crimes charges should be brought. Georgia has no hate crime law allowing state charges.

“We are assessing all of the evidence to determine whether federal hate crimes charges are appropriate,” Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said in a statement Monday.

According to Kupec’s statement, the department is also considering Carr’s request for federal authorities to investigate how local police and prosecutors handled the case. She said Carr has been asked to “forward to federal authorities any information that he has.”

The father and son told police they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before, according to the Glynn County police report filed after the shooting.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed.

The leaked video shows a black man running at a jogging pace. A truck is stopped in the road ahead of him, with one white man standing in the pickup’s bed and another beside the open driver’s side door.

The running man attempts to pass the pickup on the passenger side, moving briefly outside the camera’s view. A gunshot sounds, and the video shows the running man grappling with a man over what appears to be a shotgun or rifle. A second shot can be heard, and the running man can be seen punching the other man. A third shot is fired at point-blank range. The running man staggers a few feet and falls face down.

A man who says he recorded the cellphone video of the shooting said he’s received death threats.

William R. Bryan — who reportedly goes by “Roddie” — is identified as a witness in the police report taken after Arbery’s shooting. He also appears to be mentioned in a single sentence of the report, which says Gregory McMichael told an officer that “’Roddy’ attempted to block (Arbery) which was unsuccessful.” It’s not clear what that is referring to.

“I had nothing to do with it. I’m trying to get my life back to normal, and it’s been smeared for the last week,” Bryan told WJAX-TV in an interview that aired Monday. “I was told I was a witness and I’m not sure what I am, other than receiving a bunch of threats.”

Bryan has not been charged in the case. The TV station reported Bryan would not discuss his involvement in the events that led to Arbery’s death.

Defense attorney Brock Schoenlein said his client does not have a criminal history and it’s the defense’s belief that the case should remain in juvenile court.

RELATED: Dunbar player charged with assault of football official

“We keep talking about this helmet. Guys, the helmet is made of plastic, the helmet is not a weapon,” he told media after a hearing Monday. “It’s there to soften the blow. It’s not there to do more damage. His skull is harder than the helmet. So when we talk about what happened, it would probably make more sense for us to stop talking about the helmet as an aggravating factor.”

The legal troubles began for the juvenile when he allegedly headbutted an official during a game in August at Welcome Stadium against Roger Bacon. The player, who was 17, was charged with felonious assault causing serious physical harm in Montgomery County Juvenile Court. Prosecutors are trying to transfer the case into adult court.

A Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman said the office believes the helmet was used as a weapon.

“This defendant, wearing a helmet to protect himself, head-butted a referee who was not wearing any protective gear,” the statement said. “Any reasonable person would find that the defendant used the helmet as a weapon. The NFL rulebook even has an Article that addresses using a helmet as a ‘weapon.’”

The Monday hearing in Montgomery County Juvenile Court was supposed to be a full probable cause hearing where prosecutors would have tried to convince the judge through testimony that there was enough evidence to move the case forward.

Montgomery County Juvenile Court Judge Helen Wallace said during the hearing that the defense and prosecutor’s office agreed to certain facts of the case, including that the video showing the charged juvenile allegedly head-butt an official was an accurate depiction of what took place, that the official went to the emergency room and was diagnosed with a “closed head injury with concussion-like symptoms” and that a Dayton police officer would testify to the facts of the case.

The agreement allowed the court to forgo the hearing, and Wallace is expected to make a ruling on whether there’s enough evidence to proceed in the case at a later date.

Schoenlein told the media that whether the official suffered a concussion is important to how severely the juvenile could be punished.

LIKE REPORTER PARKER PERRY ON FACEBOOK

“We’ve all seen the video, and that’s not what at issue here,” he said. “What’s at issue is … whether or not the referee actually has a concussion, because I have not been given anything by anybody — medical or otherwise— that confirms that he actually has a concussion. Because if that’s the case, then we would be talking about not a felony, it would be a misdemeanor.”

An amenability hearing is set for next month — where the defense and prosecutor’ will argue whether the teen can be rehabilitated in the juvenile system.