Former Milwaukee police officer breaks code of silence in Frank Jude beating trial
Nicole Belmore was the first to break the “police code of silence” with her testimony in the trial of 3 former police officers accused of beating Frank Jude Jr. She testified that she saw all three defendants, Jon Barlett, Daniel Masarik, and Andrew Spengler make forceful contact with Jude while he was lying on the ground. She also said that Bartlett and Jude kicked him hard after he had been handcuff, and that Bartlett put a knife to his neck.
Upon arriving at the scene with her partner Joseph Schabel, Belmore said Jude was on the street and surrounded by seven or eight people. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
“I heard Officer Bartlett say (to Jude), ‘I’m going to kill you if you don’t give me the badge,’ ” Belmore said.
Belmore says that Schabel struck Jude on the shoulder to help handcuff him. Bartlett then kicked Jude in the head at least three times. After Bartlett held the knife to his throat, Masarik began kicking Jude in the crotch.
Belmore also testified about how she has been treated by other officers since the defendants were arrested, including how she could not get any backup on a solo assignment. She was called a rat and ridiculed in other ways. She has been on duty disability retirement since September.
Tags: code of silence
