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Church Members Allege Police Abuse

By Jenn Rourke

MILWAUKEE - Church members said it was chaos. They can't believe how they were treated by Milwaukee police. It happened after officers chased a wanted man into the Family Worship Center at 27th & Vliet during a Sunday night service. Once the suspect was in handcuffs, church member Jimmy Turnage said he asked police to leave. "The police attacked me, hit me in the face, threw me down to the floor and started to kick me," said Turnage. Twelve-year-old Tytrice Yarn was in the middle of it, she said. She got scared when she claims a police officer got angry. "She looked like she was coming towards me trying to like grab me or something," Yam said. "She said things like 'shut up!' " Church members claim at one point there were as many as 40 officers inside the church. Pastor Willie Lewis said he feels police treated members as if they had no rights. "Why, with all those guns out here, our kids are traumatized, they still stayed here and held us captive here," Lewis said. Now members want a response from police. Police claim church members were obstructing officers. The pastor said that is simply not true. Pastor Lewis said internal affairs officers are now investigating the incident. PAST TMJ4 COVERAGE: Church Disturbance 12/10/06