Community Task Force Milwaukee (ComForce MKE) is a non-incorporated community-level left-of-center advocacy organization. ComForce MKE is allied with Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR), a left-of-center race- and social-policy organization. ¹ MAAPR is known for calling for defunding of police departments. ²

Opposition to Police

ComForce MKE, through its founder Vaun Mayes, has supported cutting police funding and diverting such funds to alternative neighborhood safety programs in Wisconsin such as 414Life and ComForce MKE. ³

In a press event hosted by the organization, ComForce MKE president Vaun Mayes condemned the Wauwatosa police department ⁴ for having shot a mentally disturbed woman who had allegedly attacked another woman, attacked police, and refused arrest. ⁵

Public Advocacy

Senator Ron Johnson

On June 28, 2022 the Facebook page for Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression claimed that the organization, in concert with Freedom Road Socialist Organization–Wisconsin and ComForce MKE, ran out U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) while he attempted to participate in a planned coffee social with  constituents, in effect disrupting the meeting. ⁶

2016 Wauwatosa Shooting

In 2016, police officer Joseph Mensah shot and killed an individual, Jay Anderson, Jr., while attempting to communicate with Anderson from inside his car. ⁷ Special prosecutors in the case announced they declined to charge Mensah based on footage showing that Anderson appeared to reach for a handgun which was visible from the front passenger seat of the car. ⁸

On October 24, 2020, Vaun Mayes confronted Mensah after locating him at the Brothers Bar and Grill on Milwaukee’s Water Street. In the video, Mayes can be seen harassing Mensah and repeatedly demanding that he resign from the police force. ⁹

Leadership

Vaun Mayes is the leader of the ComForce MKE organization. ¹⁰

In 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed charges against Mayes for alleged involvement in an alleged plot to firebomb a Milwaukee police station during the 2016 riots that took place after police officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown shot Sylville Smith during the course of a pursuit to make an arrest. ¹¹ The DOJ alleged that Mayes planned to bomb a police station with Molotov cocktails, and encouraged children he was mentoring to participate in throwing the devices at the police station. ¹²Since charges were pressed in 2018, Mayes has been charged by DOJ with witness tampering in relation to those charges. ¹³ Mayes has argued that the charges should be dismissed due to legal deficiencies in the statutes under which he was charged. ¹⁴

1. “Facebook Post” Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression–Facebook Page. June 28, 2022. Accessed September 15, 2022.  https://www.facebook.com/page/102484531497166/search/?q=task%20force
2. Slowey, Ben. “Milwaukee Common Council revisits and accepts COPS grant” Liberation. January 24, 2021. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://www.liberationnews.org/milwaukee-common-council-revisits-and-accepts-cops-grant/
3. Clark, Quinn. “Milwaukee Common Council Rejects COPS Grant” Shepherd Express. December 15, 2022. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://shepherdexpress.com/news/features/milwaukee-common-council-rejects-cops-grant/
4. “Justice 4 Nesha presser” TMJ4 News-Facebook Post . December 15, 2020. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/tmj4/videos/132561628510875
5. Sisk, Courtney. “Wauwatosa officer won’t be charged after shooting woman” ABC-WISN. December 9, 2021. Accessed January 19, 2023. https://www.wisn.com/article/wauwatosa-officer-wont-be-charged-by-da-after-shooting-injuring-woman/38478792
6. “Facebook Post” Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression – Facebook Page. June 28, 2022. Accessed September 15, 2022.  https://www.facebook.com/page/102484531497166/search/?q=task%20force
7. Anderson, Andrea et al. “The officer who killed Jay Anderson Jr. in a Wauwatosa park will not face charges” Wisconsin Public Radio. June 1, 2022. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://www.wpr.org/officer-who-killed-jay-anderson-jr-wauwatosa-park-will-not-face-charges
8. Anderson, Andrea et al. “The officer who killed Jay Anderson Jr. in a Wauwatosa park will not face charges” Wisconsin Public Radio. June 1, 2022. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://www.wpr.org/officer-who-killed-jay-anderson-jr-wauwatosa-park-will-not-face-charges
9. Piwowarczyk, Jim. “Officer Mensah Stalked & Confronted at Milwaukee Restaurant [VIDEO]” Wisconsin Right Now. October 24, 2020. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://www.wisconsinrightnow.com/2020/10/24/officer-mensah/
10.  Jannene, Jeramey. “Protest Organizer Vaun Mayes Arrested” Urban Milwaukee. June 29, 2020. Accessed January 19, 2023. https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2020/06/29/protest-organizer-vaun-mayes-arrested/
11. “Feds Charge Milwaukee Man With Planning Arson During Sherman Park Unrest” Wisconsin Public Radio. July 2, 2018. Accessed September 15, 2022.  https://www.wpr.org/feds-charge-milwaukee-man-planning-arson-during-sherman-park-unrest
12. Piwowarczyk, Jim. “Vaun Mayes: Prosecutors Allege He Involved Children in Firebombing Plot” Wisconsin Right Now. October 29, 2020. Accessed September 15, 2022.https://www.wisconsinrightnow.com/2020/10/29/vaun-mayes/?swcfpc=1&fbclid=IwAR01xZMJZG10FO9r0y6BojKVc-ZhmQ6UP0rTXz9QUCi3GFaeW_T_K2t0vL8
13. Vielmetti, Bruce. “Witness intimidation charge added to firebomb plot case against community activist” Milwaukee Journal Sentinal. October 19, 2022. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2019/10/21/activist-vaun-mayes-charged-witness-intimidation-firebomb-plot-case/4027038002/
14. Vielmetti, Bruce. “Vaun Mayes Seeks Dismissal of Indictment Related to 2016 Unrest in Sherman Park Area.” Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 7, 2021. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2021/06/07/vaun-mayes-says-charge-2016-sherman-park-unrest-unconstitutional/7529068002/.