The 2016 Milwaukee riot highlighted ongoing tensions over police use of force against Black Americans and resulted in the first homicide charge against a Milwaukee officer in over a decade.
Key Facts
- Riot start date
- August 13, 2016
- Duration
- Three days
- Age of Sylville Smith
- 23 years
- Civil lawsuit settlement
- 4,000,000 USD
- Shooting officer
- Dominique Heaggan-Brown
- Trial outcome for officer
- Acquitted
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
On August 13, 2016, Milwaukee police officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown fatally shot 23-year-old Sylville Smith in the Sherman Park neighborhood. Smith was fleeing on foot while armed with a stolen handgun; bodycam footage showed he had turned toward the officer with the gun in hand moments before the shooting.
The shooting triggered a three-day riot in the Sherman Park neighborhood of Milwaukee. Several people, including police officers, were injured, and dozens of protesters were arrested. Authorities imposed a nightly curfew for teenagers in the area to contain the unrest.
Heaggan-Brown was criminally charged with homicide — the first such charge against a Milwaukee police officer in over a decade — but was acquitted at trial. A civil lawsuit brought by Smith's family was settled in 2020 for $4,000,000, and the episode intensified national debate over policing and racial equity.
Political Outcome
Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown was acquitted of homicide charges; civil lawsuit settled in 2020 for $4,000,000; nightly curfew imposed during unrest.