Democratic State Senator Lena Taylor was cited for disorderly conduct following an incident in a Milwaukee bank Friday afternoon in which she used racist language against an African-American teller, multiple sources told News/Talk 1130 WISN.
Taylor, who is also African-American, called the teller a "house n****r" after that teller would not cash for Taylor an $831 check for which there were insufficient funds.
Milwaukee Police officers, who were coincidentally in the Wells Fargo Bank at 735 W. Wisconsin Ave. on an unrelated call, overheard Taylor berating the teller and intervened. A shift lieutenant arrived on the scene shortly thereafter and, after viewing the bank's security camera footage, issued Taylor a municipal citation for disorderly conduct.
When asked for comment on the incident, the Milwaukee Police Department referred News/Talk 1130 WISN to Taylor's office.
The citation is not a criminal violation but does carry a maximum fine of $500. Taylor has not responded to a request for comment, but her office confirmed the citation and indicated that she would make a statement on the incident Monday.
She never did, but her attorney, Vince Bobot (a former municipal judge), is trying to get the citation quashed and has requested a meeting with the Milwaukee City Attorney.
"I mean she did intimate to me that they're trying to accuse her of a racial slur. But I don't want to get into that right now. You know, it's highly unusual for it to go to the press like this," Bobot told CBS 58 News.
Notably, Bobot did not deny that Taylor used the phrase "house n****r." Neither did Taylor nor her staff after News/Talk 1130 WISN broke the story on Monday. Given that the use of that phrase by a state senator is very troubling, this silence is unusual if Taylor will now argue to the city attorney that she did not utter it.