Black Wisconsin officer says protesters ‘tried to kill me’ during physical assault at girlfriend’s home

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A Black Wisconsin police officer said he was nearly killed Saturday after a group of protesters gathered outside his girlfriend’s house where he was staying and fired several shots inside.

The confrontation unfolded around 8 p.m. after a group of about 50 to 60 people gathered outside a private residence in Wauwatosa, about 7 miles west of Milwaukee, police said in a statement.

Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah.  (Wauwatosa PD)

Police said it was the home of Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah, but he later wrote on Facebook that the house belonged to his girlfriend.

The protesters began vandalizing the home. Officer Mensah, who was unarmed, tried to establish a dialog with the protesters outside but was physically assaulted, police said.

As Mensah retreated back into the house, an armed protester fired a single blast from a shotgun into the backdoor.

Mensah later wrote that the shotgun round “missed me by inches.”

“Not once did I ever swing back or reciprocate any hate that was being directed at me,” he said. “I am all for peaceful protests, even against me, but this was anything beyond peaceful. They threw toilet paper in her trees, broke her windows, and again, shot at both of us as they were trying to kill me.”

Mensah said there were children inside the home.

“The irony in all of this is that they chanted Black Lives Matter the entire time, but had zero regard for any of the black children that live there or me, a black man,” Mensah wrote.

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Wauwatosa Police received assistance from neighboring departments in breaking up the crowd. An investigation is ongoing.

Mensah did not immediately respond to a Fox News request for comment.

According to Fox 6, Mensah has been involved in the shooting deaths of three people while in the line of duty. Two of the shootings, one in 2015 and another in 2016, were ruled justified. But Mensah was suspended last month for the shooting death of 17-year-old Alvin Cole in February.

The case is still being reviewed by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.

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Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride released a statement acknowledging that various groups have protested in recent weeks demanding that Mensah be fired over the shooting.

“The City of Wauwatosa has always supported and protected the right to peaceful protest,” McBride said. “Last night’s event was not a peaceful protest; it was criminal behavior. If the perpetrators of this criminal behavior are identified, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

McBride has asked the city’s Police Chief and the City Administrator to “transition” Officer Mensah from WPD employment.

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During an interview on “The Dan O’Donnell Show” late last month, Mensah said he had fired his weapon in self-defense, and that he believes he was suspended to appease protesters.