Matthew Rittner, the fallen Milwaukee police officer, served two tours of duty in Iraq

Matthew Rittner was not afraid to face danger, whether on the dusty roads of Iraq or the streets of Milwaukee.

As a U.S. Marine, he was deployed twice to Iraq. During a harrowing tour in 2004-'05, Rittner was in vehicles hit three times by roadside bombs and was in a 4½-hour firefight in which a fellow Marine was killed.

And as a 17-year veteran officer with the Milwaukee Police Department, Rittner rose through the ranks to handle high-risk situations as a member of the Tactical Enforcement Unit.

continue at JS

Congratulations to Matt & Caroline Rittner who were married & celebrating at Miller Park today... with lots of wedding crashers! #MILatMIA pic.twitter.com/uedz1HX4zc

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) September 16, 2017

A procession Thursday afternoon carrying Officer Matthew Rittner's casket will pass through Miller Park where he was married two years ago. https://t.co/KhGZ1AjQRp

— JSOnline - NewsWatch (@js_newswatch) February 7, 2019

'We're dads, we're people,' says Milwaukee cop featured in viral photo with 2-year-old boy he rescued

A photo of a 2-year-old boy eating chicken McNuggets on the lap of a Milwaukee police officer had been shared thousands of times on social media by Tuesday.

Officers Vin Paolo and Dan Resnick were called to a vacant, boarded-up home on N. 29th St. near W. Locust St. on Friday morning to assist child welfare workers who had received reports of a pregnant woman living inside, according to Milwaukee police.

The officers found the woman and her 2-year-old son, who was wearing several coats, in the unheated house. They got the hungry boy a meal from McDonald’s and brought him into the warmth of a squad car.

As the boy sat on Paolo's lap, Resnick took a photo and sent it to Paolo's wife because the couple have adopted five foster children.

continue at JS

NatReview: The Nihilism in Milwaukee

Tim Pool is a fearless social-media reporter who specializes in getting close to the action. It almost doesn’t qualify as a protest or a riot if Pool isn’t live-streaming from the streets. But he is pulling out of Milwaukee because it is too dangerous for white people.

In a carefully stated YouTube video, Pool described the verbal taunts and threats, as well as actual violence, directed at whites. After an 18-year-old male was shot in the neck and extracted by Milwaukee police in an armored vehicle — Pool identifies the victim as white, although other press reports don’t mention his race — he concluded he had to leave. (For the record, Pool is half Korean — not that rioters care.)

The Milwaukee unrest has taken on a more explicitly racist cast than other riots after officer-involved shootings, in yet another new low for the anti-police movement that has roiled our cities in recent years. After Ferguson, the movement famously adopted the slogan “Hands up, don’t shoot.” If it were to take its next catchphrase from Milwaukee, it might be (per Pool’s reporting) “f*** white people.”

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/439009/milwaukee-shooting-sylville-smith-causes-riots

HT Sykes

Officer shot in 'vicious' attack on Milwaukee's south side

MILWAUKEE —A Milwaukee police officer was shot multiple times early Sunday as he sat in his squad car while colleagues investigated a domestic disturbance call, an official said.

The suspected shooter, identified by police as a 20-year-old West Allis man with two felonies on his record, was found dead in a nearby yard, they said.

The incident began as a response to a domestic disturbance call near South 17th Street and West Morgan Avenue at about 2 a.m. During that investigation, an officer was "attacked viciously" by someone who fired shots into his squad car, striking the officer multiple times," Asst. Police Chief William Jessup said in a morning press conference.

"It was tense, and they handled it well," Hansen said. "Absolutely, I want to thank the police for putting their lives on the line for us and being out there and protecting us each and everyday."

Police commanders have since instructed all Milwaukee officers to respond to calls in two-person squads until further notice.

WISN

Chilled free speech in Milwaukee

From Pro-Life Wisconsin:

This past week, Pro-Life Wisconsin held Empty Manger Christmas Caroling events at abortion facilities across Wisconsin.

On Friday, December 23 in Milwaukee, pro-lifers' constitutionally protected rights to free speech and freedom to assemble were violated by the Milwaukee Police Department. Read more about that here.

We chalked Friday's incident up to new officers and contemplated what to do next. Saturday's Empty Manger Christmas Caroling effort went off without any police show of force, but Affiliated was closed on Saturday (so Affiliated staff could not call and complain to the police that we were out there).

Last night, sidewalk counselors were present at Affiliated and were hustled off the street by the Milwaukee Police Department.

A firsthand account of last night's incident from Dan Miller of 40 Days for Life:

Tonight, at approximately 6:40pm, I, along with 4 other pro-lifers, were told by Officer Patkovich, of the MPD, to either leave immediately, or be cited and arrested for loitering in front of Affiliated Medical Services. There were four officers present, but I was only able to get the names of three -- Patkovich, Lucach and Kline. I mentioned to officer Patkovich that I had been on the sidewalks today since 1:30pm exercising my constitutionally protected right to free speech – sidewalk counseling peacefully as I have done for the last two years. Officer Patkovich reiterated his mandate, “Either you leave right now, or we will arrest you and cite you for loitering – and then you can work it out in court with the DA.” I asked Patkovich to show me the ordinance I was violating, but he simply said, “Look, it’s cold out – I see you over at the gas station all the time getting coffee – so I know you are here a lot. We’ve given you some leeway in the past. When we arrest you and take you downtown, I can show you the ordinance.” Before I did leave, I surveyed their name badges one more time, speaking their names out loud so I could remember them. As I left for my car, Patkovich said, “That’s right, it’s Patkovich – and you’re not welcome.” The police did not “escort” me home.

Is this payback for the MPD being exposed on Mark Belling’s popular radio show? Pro-lifers’ relationship with the MPD is somewhat precarious, given the arrest of James Marcou earlier this year and the ongoing federal lawsuit against the MPD.

Make no mistake about it - our constitutionally protected rights to free speech and freedom of the press are being chilled by the Milwaukee Police Department. We have the right to assemble in peaceful protest of the horrors of abortion – attesting publicly to the havoc it wrenches out on our state, cities, fellow citizens and most assuredly, the aborted babies. Sidewalk counselors are the last line of defense for these babies. We cannot and will not let this happen.

Today, on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, please keep women in crisis pregnancies, their unborn babies, sidewalk counselors and especially police officers in your prayers.