When the Associated Press reports on embarrassing conduct by an elected official but discreetly avoids telling us what party (s)he belongs to, you can generally guess. This one is an entertaining example:
State Sen. Lena Taylor used a racial slur against a Milwaukee bank teller and was acting aggressively before being cited for disorderly conduct, according to police reports released Friday.
The reports released to The Associated Press and other news organizations quote multiple witnesses saying they heard Taylor, who is black, call a Wells Fargo bank teller, who is also black, a “good house (N-word).”
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The confrontation on April 6 came after a dispute over cashing an $825 check. Taylor told police she was at the bank to cash the check from a tenant in one of several Milwaukee properties she owns, but Taylor did not have an account at the bank. She wanted to verify that the person who wrote the check had enough money in their account to cash it, but the teller declined to tell her, citing bank policy, the reports said.The teller told Taylor she had to sign the back of the check to cash it, but Taylor refused.
The newly released reports said Taylor was speaking loudly, acting aggressively, pointing at bank workers and demanding to speak to a manager.
The Milwaukee city attorney is prosecuting Taylor for disorderly conduct.
State Senator Taylor responded to the bad publicity as you might expect:
“The police report and subsequent coverage, in certain media outlets, continues a consistent pattern of unfair treatment and a misrepresentation of the facts when dealing with African-Americans, especially those who vigorously advocate for themselves and their community,” she said.
The AP concludes with information about Senator Taylor’s political career:
Taylor, 51, has been in the Legislature since 2003.
Taylor is a Democrat.
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