A Student Association director who was fired is under criminal investigation for allegedly vandalizing an Enterprise van and taking more than 2,000 copies of The Leader.

Enterprise Loss Control Specialist Cory Wesell estimated $1,300 in damage was caused to the van’s steering column and console.

A spokeswoman for the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department said the van is being examined for damages and the department is looking into filing charges.

Christopher Brown, 22, was relieved of his duties as legislative affairs director of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee SA on Saturday, Sept. 24, at an outing to the Milwaukee County Zoo.

Members of the SA rented three vans to use as transportation to the zoo for an executive board bonding retreat. Five incident reports were collected from the other five individuals in the vehicle who witnessed the termination, SA President Russ Rueden said.

Brown’s account

Upon arrival, Brown said he wanted to obtain a soda from across the street. He said Chief of Staff Samantha Prahl threatened to fire anyone who left the van.

Brown said he called his cousin to relay Prahl’s threat and was fired immediately after.

“You’re not going to talk to me like that,” Brown said. “I said a few things like anyone would.”

Brown said Prahl instructed him to remain in the van and that he would not be returning home with the delegation.

“They left me in the van,” Brown said. “I called for a ride and I leave. The next thing I know the police are calling me up saying they have questions to ask me.”

Brown said he doesn’t know what happened to the van.

“They left me in the van with the windows down and the doors unlocked in the city of Milwaukee,” he said. “Anything could have happened. I didn’t do it, I just left.”

The Student Association’s account

The incident reports confirmed Brown’s interest in going to a gas station but stated Brown’s termination was a result of the profanities he called Prahl.

The reports stated no one was opposed to him going to the gas station, but he had to wait for the remainder of the party to arrive.

One report detailed that Prahl asked what Brown needed at the gas station and inquired as to whether the need was pressing or if it was an item that could be obtained at the zoo.

“She said no and that’s when he called her (a profanity) and that’s what prompted the termination,” Rueden said.

One of the incident reports said Brown made a phone call to someone expounding on the profanities he called Prahl.

“He used such derogatory remarks towards me that I would have fired anyone on the spot if they would have called me the remarks that he called me,” Prahl said.

“Brown was alone in the vehicle for five-10 minutes,” one incident report stated. “I observed that the van was vandalized—the ignition and shifter broken, leaving the vehicle unoperable (sic). Chris Brown (had) left.”

Issues of leader removed, some destroyed

Joe Ahlers, news editor of The Leader, said 2,000 issues of the Wednesday, Sept. 28, newspaper edition were stolen because of the article “SA official investigated for vandalism after firing” which reported on Brown’s termination.

On Monday, Sept. 26, Ahlers left a phone message for Brown in which he requested Brown’s account of the incident. The next morning, Sept. 27, Brown returned the call and left a voicemail threatening to sue if The Leader published anything about him. He came to see an advanced copy later the same day.

“To me, we offered to publish his side of the story and he missed the deadline,” Ahlers said. “If it wasn’t true, why would (he) be so upset?” The offer to publish his side of the story remains, Ahlers said.

After the newspaper’s distribution last Wednesday, Brown took a recycling bin up to The Leader’s office and started dumping the papers in it.

Ahlers said he was able to recover about 1,500 papers. “He tried to douse a lot of them with water.”

“I threw them away,” Brown said. “I wasn’t stealing newspapers … to say I can’t throw away a free newspaper is ludicrous.”

The Leader advertises itself as a free newspaper on its cover. However, on the inside cover, it reads, “First copy free, additional copies are seventy-six cents.” The damaged, unsalvageable copies of The Leader totaled almost $400 in damage.

Sgt. Arthur Koch of the UWM Police Department said the conflicting information may raise an interesting problem.

“We’ve caught him more than once stealing this issue,” Ahlers said. Brown was arrested by the ATMs on the ground floor of the Union Thursday, Sept. 29. Ahlers said The Leader is working with an attorney to determine whether or not to pursue legal action.

“It’s free, I threw it away,” Brown said. “I feel I’m obligated to my American right to defend myself.”

Koch said, “I told him to stop doing it. I am going to be passing along my reports to the dean of students.”

Dean of Students James Hill did not return a phone call.

According to the Student Press Law Center, newspaper theft is a crime. “It is also a terribly effective form of censorship,” an SPLC statement reads. “Each year dozens of student newspapers and other publications across the country fall victim to thieves whose intent is to prevent the dissemination of news, information and opinion with which they disagree.”

A district attorney meeting is scheduled for Oct. 19 at the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office at 8 a.m.

Brown said his termination and The Leader’s involvement of the police were “very racially motivated” actions. “That’s the type of stuff that would never happen to a white person,” he said. “I don’t have a way to voice myself.”

Tawan Bowling, president of the Black Student Union, declined to comment as to whether or not he felt Brown’s termination was racially motivated.

“We don’t hire or fire based on color,” Rueden said. “We don’t make staff decisions based on race. We fire certainly on actions or lack of action. We have never or never will tolerate racially motivated acts.”

The Milwaukee Sheriff’s Department, the UWM Police Department, Enterprise and the SA all reiterate that Brown hasn’t been found guilty of anything and is still under investigation.

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