Wauwatosa man confronts protesters, goes viral

A video from protests in Wauwatosa in the wake of the decision not to charge Officer Joseph Mensah in the February shooting death of Alvin Cole, 17, has gone viral. In the video, a man comes out to confront protesters who were trespassing on his property.

WAUWATOSA, Wis. - A video from protests in Wauwatosa in the wake of the decision not to charge Officer Joseph Mensah in the February shooting death of Alvin Cole, 17, has gone viral. In the video, a man comes out to confront protesters who were trespassing on his property.

Jason Fritz

"Somebody directly outside my house, here in our yard, who was with another gentleman on their crotch rockets, motorcycles and revving their engines on my lawn," said Jason Fritz.

Shortly after that, the now-viral moment occurred.

"You don't even know who in this neighborhood supports what you're doing and doesn't, and you're going in my yard," said Fritz.

Jason Fritz

Confronting hundreds of protesters, he made a desperate appeal.

"Do you know how many Democrats, MPS teachers, union members -- other people that could support you -- live on this street, and you're going to let him ride through my yard!?" he said.

In that moment, something changed.

"You could see that there were people that wanted to have real conversations," said Fritz.

And that's what they did for the next 30 minutes.

"Just, in that moment, I wanted to find common ground with just somebody, anybody," said Fritz.

On Thursday morning, bits of rubber littered the front and side of his property, along with black tire marks, but with the video going viral, Fritz himself is serving as an example of change after Wednesday's protests.

"I would just like to very much be a part of whatever that change is," said Fritz.