MADISON, Wis. (AP) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a former Milwaukee police officer was rightly fired for posting racist memes related to the arrest of an NBA player that sparked public outrage.

Officer Erik Andrade was involved within the 2018 arrest of Sterling Brown, who went on to play for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Brown alleged that police used excessive force and targeted him because he’s black when he was confronted about illegally parking in a handicap accessible space. When the situation escalated, he talked to officers while waiting for a call. The officers caught him and used a stun gun because he didn’t immediately comply and took his hands out of his pockets.

Andrade didn’t take part in Brown’s arrest, but transported him after his arrest.

Brown filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against town, police and a number of other officers who were involved in his arrest, including Andrade.

In the lawsuit, Brown referred to a series of racist memes posted on Facebook by Andrade. In one post just a few hours after his arrest, Andrade wrote: “Nice to meet Sterling Brown of the Milwaukee Bucks at work this morning! Lol#FearTheDeer.”

The lawsuit alleges that about three months later, Andrade also shared a disparaging meme about NBA star Kevin Durant.

Andrade was fired in 2018 after being suspended for violating the department’s code of conduct over his social media posts, not for his conduct during Brown’s arrest.

Then-Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said during Andrade’s disciplinary hearing that he was fired since the Facebook posts could be used to undermine his credibility in future criminal proceedings and due to this fact he wouldn’t be allowed to testify.

Andrade deleted his Facebook account the day the lawsuit was filed. He sued the Milwaukee Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, which reviewed and upheld the chief’s decision to fireside him. Andrade argued that his due process rights had been violated.

Both the Milwaukee County Circuit Court and a state appellate court upheld his dismissal, leading Andrade to appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

In Tuesday’s ruling, the Supreme Court voted 5-2 to search out that the police chief adequately explained the evidence supporting Andrade’s firing and gave him a likelihood to reply.

“We conclude that the Due Process Clause does not require a more stringent and rigid early termination process than the one Andrade received,” Justice Brian Hagedorn said, writing for almost all.

The court also found that the police chief followed the law by listing the policies Andrade violated and referring to the Facebook posts that formed the premise of the violations in filing a criticism with the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commissioner.

Hagedorn was joined in the bulk by judges Ann Walsh Bradley, Rebecca Dallet, Jill Karofsky and Janet Protasiewicz. Chief Justice Annette Ziegler and Justice Rebecca Bradley disagreed.

The dissenting judges said they didn’t condone Andrade’s behavior but believed his due process rights were violated.

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Andrade’s attorney, Brendan Matthews, said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the ruling.

“This continues the disturbing deterioration of due process, not only for police officers, but for all ‘defendants’ in the state of Wisconsin,” he said in an email. “It is unfortunate and will certainly have tragic consequences in the future.”

Brown’s attorney, Mark Thomsen, said the ruling confirms that the police chief has the authority to fireside an individual for violating the code of conduct.

“Andrade knew he violated Sterling Brown’s rights and knew his social media posts were racist,” Thomsen said. “He got what was coming to him.”

Under the 2021 settlement, town paid Brown $750,000 and issued an apology. The Milwaukee Police Department also said it “deems the incident escalated in an unnecessary manner and despite Mr. Brown’s calm demeanor.”

brownHe spent his first three years within the NBA with the Bucks, from 2017 to 2020. He also played for the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers before joining Alba Berlin of the German Basketball Bundesliga and EuroLeague in 2023.

Reality star Phaedra Parks, 50, divorced her ex-husband Apollo Nida the identical yr she left the Bravo show that made her famous. But now she has finally found her “peace”.

The former Real Housewives of Atlanta Southern belle says she thinks living in public for the past 14 years has made her look old, but now she’s regaining her natural glow and rejuvenating her life.

“I think your surroundings can age you. Being in terrible shows with terrible women, being in terrible marriages that age you. So, once I got out of a terrible program, got out of a terrible marriage, and had wonderful children… I was able to focus on myself and not all the bullshit…’ she said in an interview with People magazine.

Parks, a well-known entertainment lawyer, joined “RHOA” in season three in 2010. The year before, she married Nida, who was five years her junior.

The two appeared on the show as a young married couple and allowed the cameras to capture their love, the birth of their two sons, Ayden Adonis Nida, 13, and Dylan Nida, 10, and the launch of their various business ventures. However, in Season 7, everything seemed to fall apart.

In 2014, Nida pleaded guilty to conspiracy involving mail fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud and identity theft. As part of his sentence, he was ordered to pay $1.9 million in restitution and began serving an eight-year prison sentence.

Previously, Nida was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison on charges of car theft.

Shortly after he was sent to prison for a second time in 2015, Parks filed for divorce. Their divorce was officially finalized in July 2017, ending their eight-year relationship. Nida was released from his sentence in 2019 and later accused his ex-wife of abandoning him and their marriage when he got into legal troubles.

Anyone watch “The Real Housewives of Atlanta”? Phaedra’s husband Apollo sentenced to 8 years in prison for bank fraud ~Ash pic.twitter.com/0zJdyAaePJ

— CHUM 104.5 (@Chum1045) July 8, 2014

“When it first happened, she wasn’t there. When I passed the verdict, she wasn’t there. My surrender, she wasn’t there. I am basically not allowed to see my children. A lot of things showed me that she wasn’t really there for me,” Nida expressed during a cameo appearance on “RHOA” in season 14, concluding: “When I left, Phaedra was definitely cold-blooded and cold-hearted.”

The same year that Nida was imprisoned, in a dramatic turn of events, Parks was fired from the cast of “RHOA” before the long-awaited 10th season.^vol season.

The decision comes in the wake of a scandalous rumor propagated by Parks that fellow “RHOA” cast members Kandi Burruss and her husband, Todd Tucker, were involved in an alleged “sex dungeon” and drug controversy involving Porsha Williams and Shamea Morton.

Parks also had conflicts with other cast members, including Nene Leakes and Kenya Moore.

The lawyer-turned-funeral director admitted that her outburst at Moore during the season six reunion episode was steeped in “pent-up anger” that spilled over onto the beauty queen. In an attempt to defend her then-husband, she accused Moore of “ripping sperm banks” to find a father for her child.

Years later, Parks returned to Bravo and joined the cast of “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girl Trip.” In one episode, fellow cast member Vicki Gunvalson asked her to share details about her departure from “RHOA,” but she was reluctant to do so.

She later explained that she had talked about it before, but producers decided not to air it, stating: “You only heard one thing and obviously they decided not to play the other side. And so it is, but I live in the present.

Both Parks and Nida reunited on camera during the upcoming Season 10 finale^vol season of Married to Medicine. He talked about their relationship and how they became co-parents, calling it “impeccable.”

“When I came home, everything started turning upside down,” Nida said. “I used to be nervous as all the time. She was nervous.”

The parents revealed that they would meet at Chic-fil-A for Nida to visit the boys. They eventually came to an agreement that was beneficial to everyone involved. He can come to her house, but he is not allowed inside. Parks still does not have a relationship with his current wife Sherien Almufti and does not think it is necessary.

Around the time he was recently filming a new show, text messages and recordings were leaked that appear to show Nida cheating on Almufti.

One message from his alleged mistress mentioned Parks, saying, “It’s okay to confer with FAEDra about my kids… Today has been a busy but very productive day.”

Parks did not address her ex-husband’s allegations of infidelity, nor did she deny or confirm the rumors.

Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso’s WNBA debut received wide attention on social media live broadcast from a fan who stepped in when the league’s app couldn’t stream the sport.

Reese and Cardoso played of their first preseason game for the Chicago Sky on Friday night, a 92-81 loss to the Minnesota Lynx.

The WNBA app had incorrectly mentioned the sport as available to look at, resulting in confusion amongst fans before the league clarified that only Caitlin Clark’s debut from the Indiana Fever was being broadcast.

This is when @heyheyitsalli entered X.

“Would you like me to try broadcasting the game here?” user X asked: “I don’t promise quality, but I can try.”

Viewer numbers for the livestream varied, however the video had about 434,000 total views as of Saturday. User X previously posted a screenshot showing that the live stream peaked at 173,381 viewers.

“These are some of the WILDEST numbers, WOW” – user he tweeted.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was asked concerning the stream After game. She said @heyheyitsalli deserves “three dollars” per viewer.

“Anyone who watched this could send that person three dollars. I do not even know who that’s,” Reeve said. “I suppose I might say the expansion is going on in a short time. It’s so sped up. I’ve been saying this over and another time in our own organization – business as usual will not work.

“You will be left behind, and this is an example.”

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Reeve said she understood Clark’s game can be televised and was “all about it.”

“People want to see it, but they also want to see, you know, it’s not just about Caitlin,” Reeve said. “This is in no way Caitlin’s fault. Rather, it’s about knowing that there’s a widespread excitement about the WNBA that we haven’t seen before. So we have to leverage the potential to really make sure this is a movement.”

Reese finished the sport with 13 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes. Cardoso had six points and 4 rebounds in 13 minutes.

Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon said she was pleased with the debutants’ debuts.

“It’s a learning process for all of us. … And we are going through this process the right way,” she said. “Our leaders lead them and pull them along. Maintaining their self-confidence. This is what counts. So we’re in a great place and they’re in a damn great place.”