“They were just fights to fight” – Brookfield Asst. Police Chief Chris Garcia.
Multiple fights at the Saint John Vianney Parish Festival in Brookfield, Wisconsin, were captured on video and left two officers injured and four people under arrest, Wisconsin Right Now has learned.
The fights broke out on Saturday, June 10, 2023. Videos show an officer on the ground as people continue fighting.
One local man, Alan Zinda, told Wisconsin Right Now: “The event is normally a fun and safe event. My wife and I will no longer be attending it in the future. The festival had numerous fights.”
According to Assistant Police Chief Garcia, police heard from two people that a gun was involved, but “we have no report of a gun. We didn’t respond to anything involving a firearm.”
Garcia said two officers were injured and one of those officers missed two days of work after being “scuffed up and beat up a little bit from landing on the ground” while trying to intervene.
He said he had no idea of the motive. “They were just fights to fight,” Garcia said.
He said that Brookfield police had officers working at the festival, both on foot and officers who were assigned to regular duty patrolling the city.
“There were a number of altercations or fights observed or reported to officers,” Garcia told Wisconsin Right Now.
Garcia said it was hard to give an accurate number of fights or altercations because “everything tends to get lumped together” but that police arrested four separate people.
“It was not an ideal situation,” he said. “It’s something we will continue to evaluate to remedy it for the future. We don’t want those things going on. The safety and security of those events is our responsibility, and we take it very seriously.”
He said the festival had experienced “nothing of this magnitude” in the past, where there were consistent fights. There was also a fight on Friday, he said.
It was not an ideal situation, something we will continue to evaluate to remedy it for the future, we don’t want those things going on safety and security of those events is our responsibility we take that very seriously.
The asst. chief said that the fights occurred in the midway, the game-ride area. “At some point, the decision was made, let’s close down the midway area,” he said.
He said those arrested were ages 20, 21, and two age 15. One 15-year-old is being referred to the District Attorney’s office for resisting and disorderly conduct because the officer was injured.
The others were given municipal tickets for resisting and obstructing or disorderly conduct, he said.
