Wauwatosa police release bodycam footage from arrest, defend their actions

WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Wauwatosa police are defending their actions during recent unrest, and Saturday released body camera footage from officers.

The video shows protesters throwing bottles at officers, who then fired pepper balls at the protesters.

At one point an officer is heard saying, “He’s got a gun in his right pocket,” on motions towards protesters.  Just then a bottle is thrown at officers, and one officer fires pepper balls in the direction of the crowd.

The video also shows a protester being arrested, and while going through his backpack an officer says, “He has lighter fluid in here,” before video shows the officer holding up a bottle of lighter fluid.

The officer shows it to a nearby ACLU observer who is record and says, “Get that on video, that’s in his backpack.”

In the video, police say they gave multiple warnings to the crowd before any action was taken. They also say the use of gas was only after objects were thrown at them.

The edited video shows only a few minutes of footage from a long night of protests.

Protesters have been in the streets of Wauwatosa for the past 4 nights in the wake of the Milwaukee District Attorney's decision not to charge officer Joseph Mensah in the fatal shooting of Alvin Cole.