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.”
Community members and city leaders celebrated the opening of four new community-powered fridges on the North Side of Milwaukee. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Friday, Feb. 27, at Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, 3624 W. North Ave., to mark the occasion.
The effort to fight food scarcity by opening community-powered fridges comes after several grocery stores closed in the area, creating a food desert.
District 15 Ald. Russell W. Stamper II, who saw several grocery stores in his district close over the past few years, served as the event’s emcee.
“We could either complain about the problem, or we could come together to find a solution,” Stamper said.
In July 2025, a Pick ‘n Save on the North Side closed, prompting the opening of a community-powered fridge at Tricklebee Café in the Sherman Park and Uptown area. Since then, several other grocery stores have closed in the area.
This led Stamper, FEED MKE, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and One MKE to open four more community-powered fridges.
Christie Melby-Gibbons, executive director of Tricklebee Café, talked about the organization’s community-powered fridge. About a week ago, the fridge was empty for the first time since its launch, so staff turned to their online community for support.
“Within 20 minutes, a woman came in with bags of food and filled the fridge for less than $100,” Melby-Gibbons said.
The community-powered fridge network is run by residents on a take-what-you-need, leave-what-you-can model. Taking a grassroots approach to solving food insecurity in the area, community members provide fresh produce and other healthy food options to ensure that their neighbors have access to nutritious foods.
“Everybody deserves to eat. I can’t go to sleep at night knowing my neighbors are hungry,” said Melody McCurtis, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges.
Here’s a list of all the community-powered fridges:
Metcalfe Park Community Bridges
3624 W. North Ave.
Rooted & Rising- Washington Park
3940 W. Lisbon Ave.
Sherman Park Community Association
3526 W. Fond du Lac Ave.
Dominican Center
2470 W. Locust St.
Tricklebee Café
4424 W. North Ave.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
This article first appeared on Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Milwaukee Brewers were one of the more active teams in the league this offseason and it was one of the more shocking storylines to follow all winter.
They opted to trade Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets, which was a blockbuster deal, but it was expected. Peralta was on an expiring contract, and the Brewers were unlikely to be able to land a long-term deal with him. Milwaukee would much rather have control of Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams for the next five to seven years rather than a singular year of Peralta.
But they also traded Isaac Collins to the Kansas City Royals and Caleb Durbin to the Boston Red Sox. The Collins deal was a head scratcher, but the Durbin deal was the most shocking move of Milwaukee’s offseason.
If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.
The Brewers traded Durbin and two other infielders to Boston in exchange for Kyle Harrison, David Hamilton, and Shane Drohan. Harrison is the biggest addition of the trade. Drohan has already flashed dominant potential this spring. Hamilton, who struggled last season, seemingly has the full belief of Brewers manager Pat Murphy.
David Hamilton could soon become a star for the Brewers
“He’s got so much ability in there, and he’s got experience, and he might be a utility player but I think he can be really good for us. I think he can take his offensive game to a whole other level,” Murphy said when talking about Hamilton, per Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy.
Last season, Hamilton slashed .198/.257/.333 with a .590 OPS and a 63 OPS+. It was his third year in the big leagues and his second full year at the level and he’s yet to post an OPS+ over 100. But he’s still been worth 3.6 WAR over the last two years because of his defense and baserunning. The issue has been his bat. Even when he hit .248 in 2024, his OPS was under .700.
But Murphy seemingly believes Hamilton could take the next step at the plate, which would set him up to be a very good platoon infielder and versatile bat. He has the chance to quietly develop into a star with the Brewers if he can get his OPS over .700 and closer to .750. Obviously, this isn’t going to be easy, but Murphy seems to believe he’s closer to this breakout than many fans assume.
Setting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
West Virginia Surrenders Six-Run Lead, Falls in Series Finale to Kennesaw State
Meyer’s Late Score Lifts Wyoming past Air Force – SweetwaterNOW
Crypto Sector Suffers Exodus of Reliable Retail Investors | PYMNTS.com
Canton High School students find success in personal finance
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Indiana Members Credit Union announced as new anchor tenant at Bottleworks District
House Republicans push Johnson to go to war with Senate over SAVE Act
Israel FM says Europe too divided, slams Spanish PM
Satellite images provide view inside Iran at war
Video: What the Texas Primary Battle Means for the Midterms
Dems’ potential 2028 hopefuls come out against US strikes on Iran
-
World4 days agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts4 days agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Montana1 week ago2026 MHSA Montana Wrestling State Championship Brackets And Results – FloWrestling
-
Denver, CO4 days ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Louisiana7 days agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Technology1 week agoYouTube TV billing scam emails are hitting inboxes
-
Politics1 week agoOpenAI didn’t contact police despite employees flagging mass shooter’s concerning chatbot interactions: REPORT
-
Technology1 week agoStellantis is in a crisis of its own making