Milwaukee, WI
Judge Hannah Dugan’s clerk reprimanded for calling ICE agent a ‘fascist’
Dugan’s clerk on his testimony and calling an ICE agent a ‘fascist’
After his testimony, Alan Freed, Judge Hannah Dugan’s clerk, voices his opinion about calling an ICE agent a “fascist” and what he thinks of Trump administration.
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan’s clerk, who called a federal immigration agent “a fascist” outside a courtroom, was reprimanded for the comment.
Alan Freed testified at Dugan’s federal obstruction trial that he told Dugan the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were in the hallway outside her courtroom on April 18.
Freed testified he went into the public hallway and called one of the agents a “fascist.”
The agents were in the hallway outside of Dugan’s courtroom to arrest Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, who was wanted for illegally re-entering the U.S. after being previously deported.
In a split verdict, a jury found Dugan guilty of felony obstruction of agents, but not guilty of trying to hide the suspect, a misdemeanor.
Dugan’s defense team is seeking to overturn the jury verdict and will file motions by late January with U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman.
Milwaukee County Clerk of Courts Anna Hodges said she couldn’t provide specifics about the situation with Freed because it is a personnel matter. But she added it is impermissible, under state Supreme Court rules, for court staff like Freed to express personal opinions on the job.
Clerks are key employee for judges, calling cases, determining available dates for next hearings and answering questions when the judge is not on the bench.
“People have their own personal opinions, but we need to be professional and appropriate in the courtroom setting,” she said. “Our job is to be impartial.”
Radio host Mark Belling first reported on Hodge’s concern about Freed’s conduct.
Hodges said her staff, including Freed, are well aware of the state Supreme Court rules on decorum because of required trainings.
In an interview, Freed said he is retiring Jan. 2, but said it was planned and unrelated to his reprimand. He is 70.
Freed said he received the “lowest level of write-up” for what he said on April 18. He said he didn’t back down when it was delivered, and added that it was his first reprimand in seven years as a clerk.
“I said, ‘I stand by my comments, and it’s political speech, and that’s that,’” Freed said.
Freed said the reprimand came before he testified. He said his supervisor approached him again after his testimony, but didn’t give him an additional write-up, because it was for the same thing, he said.
Freed said he was told by his supervisor that “language like that isn’t appropriate, especially in the public hallway, as you’re an employee of the county, and it doesn’t show good judgment.”
“I said, ‘It was on the spur of the moment, and a lot of us were outraged at what was going on. And I stand by my words.’”
Freed said he wasn’t aware of rules around decorum for court clerks.
“I’m not aware of that, but maybe (Hodges) has got some document but she hasn’t shared it with me,” said Freed, who was a disability rights lawyer before he became a court clerk.
Asked if he would have done anything differently on April 18, Freed said he may have tried to convince Dugan not to take Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out of an employee-only door into a private hallway.
At trial, Freed testified he had never seen a defendant use that door in thousands of cases. Dugan guiding the pair into that private hallway was a key part of the case.
“I might have spoken out and encouraged the judge not to do what she did, but you know, that’s her call,” Freed said. “It’s ultimately her courtroom.”
Milwaukee, WI — Kansas City scored seven runs in the final two frames and cruised to a 12-6 win over the Milwaukee Milkmen behind a 15-hit night.
This game worked quickly as only 28 minutes had gone by and it was the bottom of the third. The Monarchs started to settle in and found the breakthrough in the fourth inning when Saul Garza hit a solo smash to jump into the lead. The league leader in triples, Hudson Head, recorded his ninth triple and then was brought home on an RBI double from JD Davis. Shortly after, Tyler Gentry registered his first RBI as a Monarch when he sent a ground ball into right that scored Davis. Kansas City would not slow down as Austin Callahan ended the frame with a two-run blast. KC put up a five spot and would not surrender the lead the rest of the way.
The Milkmen found an immediate response in the bottom half of the fourth as Andy Blake crushed a two-run homer to cut the lead back down to three.
It was an exceptional pitching performance from former World Series champion, Michael Mariot. He went 6.1 innings while shoving in a season-high nine K’s, despite giving up three runs. Jack Walker, Jeff Hakanson, and Wyatt Wendell also stepped on the bump as they combined for two strikeouts with three runs allowed.
Milwaukee would not go down so easily as they cut the lead down to just one in the bottom of the seventh inning. There were three-straight base hits by Wendell Marrero, Alec Olund, and Chase Weddell to load up the bases with only one away. Charlie Marion drove in a pair of runs as he reached base via fielders choice with a ground ball up the middle. The Monarchs were fortunate to close out the inning with a one-run lead, but had work to do.
This group quickly answered by putting up their second five-spot of the night. In the top of the eighth, Head walked and then JD Davis drove in another run with a knock up the middle. Brady Lindsly immediately followed it up with a single and then Gentry ripped a ball into center field that scored Davis and Lindsly. Callahan finished the inning with the last run as he got home on a wild pitch from Milkmen pitcher, Justin Kelly. Just like that, the Monarchs had their largest lead at 10-4.
Davis was on a tear tonight as he added the last two Monarch runs in the ninth. Garza walked and then Head singled while Davis delivered a fly ball into center to score both runners. Davis, Gentry, and Callahan all collected three RBI’s each and were a huge part of the Kansas City offense tonight.
The Milkmen added two consolation runs in the bottom half of the ninth, but it was too little too late.
This was a much needed series win over the East Division leaders. Kansas City has now reestablished a 1.5 game lead over Winnipeg and will look to build on that tomorrow afternoon. It will be a 1 o’clock first pitch at Franklin Field to round out the six-game roadtrip.
Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee County Sheriff conducting death investigation following water rescue at Bay View Park
MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office is conducting a death investigation after receiving a report of a body seen in the water near Bay View Park on Saturday morning.
First responders were dispatched to the area at around 9:40 a.m. after a passerby on the Oak Leaf Trail saw a body about 30ft off the shore in the water.
TMJ4
A man was recovered following a water rescue and life-saving measures were taken. He was pronounced dead at 10:15 a.m.
A security perimeter has been set up at the scene and park visitors are being asked to respect the boundaries as the investigation continues.
The identity of the man has not been identified yet.
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Milwaukee, WI
Milwaukee Election Commission begins review, plans procedure updates after ballot delay
Milwaukee’s election commissioner addressed a human error that caused about 28,000 absentee ballots to be delayed late in the evening of the primary election, saying the process and procedure is under review.
“Since 2024, we’ve conducted after-action reviews every election, and we our review for this partisan primary is underway. It’s an entire department-wide effort,” said Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutierrez.
At a Friday meeting, Gutierrez said the commission plans to update its procedure.
“The failure of the to download the correct files it was a human error, and we are obviously accountable to that mistake. We have plans to update our written procedure to include images of each screen,” Gutierrez said. “We want to make that written procedure available to observers at central count.”
Watch: Milwaukee Election Commission begins review, plans procedure updates after ballot delay
Milwaukee election process under review
Milwaukee election officials say workers accidentally uploaded audit logs instead of actual vote totals onto five out of nine flash drives used during ballot processing. When TMJ4 spoke with Gutierrez late Tuesday night, she described the issue as a:
“We had a human error, that’s what it was. It was a mistake that the wrong report— the button on the machine was the wrong one that was pressed,” Gutierrez said.
Earlier this week, TMJ4’s Mike Beiermiester spoke with Wisconsin Election Commission Vice Chair Bob Spindell, who criticized the matter and called for an investigation.
“There were problems in 2024. There’s problems last night, and the explanation that I heard did not satisfy,” Spindell said.
Election officials say the ballots themselves were never compromised.
“We operate with only 11 full-time staff, which is exceptionally lean for a city of our size. But overall, you know, the partisan primary was administered without major issues impacting voters or the accuracy of elections,” Gutierrez said.
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Hey there! At TMJ4 News, we’re all about listening to our audience and tackling the stuff that really matters to you. Got a story idea, tip, or just want to chat about this piece? Hit us up using the form below. For more ways to get in touch, head over to tmj4.com/tips.
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