Mayor Tom Barrett and Anthony J. Peters

Anthony J. Peters

Thug Anthony J. Peters attacked the wrong person on Saturday night.

The 20-year-old used a metal pipe to beat Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett when he intervened to help calm a domestic dispute.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

It started with an urgent plea for help late Saturday night as he walked to his car after a State Fair outing with his family.

And it ended with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett lying in a pool of blood with a broken hand after he rushed to confront a pipe-wielding suspect officials described as a "vicious thug."

By Sunday evening, the suspect was in custody, Barrett was recuperating at a hospital, and his heroics were being recounted on national cable and network news shows.

Barrett, first elected in 2004 and re-elected last year, was struck on the head and torso with the pipe and broke his hand, presumably when he punched the man. As he rested Sunday at Froedtert Hospital, where doctors stitched up cuts on his head and lip, authorities and witnesses explained what happened.

The 55-year-old mayor, his sister, niece and two of his daughters were walking to his car around 10:45 p.m. Saturday in the 8800 block of W. Orchard St. in West Allis when they heard a woman yelling.

Authorities said Anthony J. Peters, 20, was arguing with his ex-girlfriend's mother, whose cries for help were answered by the mayor. Telling his sister to take his two young daughters out of harm's way, Barrett confronted the man and tried to calm him. When Barrett took out his cell phone, Peters attacked him, authorities said.

Barrett's niece stayed behind and called 911.

...West Allis Police Chief Mike Jungbluth described Peters as a "desperate man" who had threatened to shoot himself and others. He had taken a cell phone from the woman who was trying to protect her 1-year-old granddaughter from Peters, the girl's father, police said.

...A tearful John Barrett said doctors expect his brother to recover from his injuries. The mayor was alert and talking when he was taken to Froedtert. He was listed in stable condition Sunday evening and expected to stay in the hospital through Monday.

Here's video of John Barrett's statement.



John Barrett is so emotional.

Obviously, the ordeal has taken a toll on him.

It would have been very easy for Tom Barrett to call 911 from a distance rather than attempt to assist the woman.

By intervening, he put himself at risk. It was a brave, selfless act.

Thankfully, Mayor Barrett will recover from his injuries.

From FOX 6:

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn hopes for a speedy recovery. "[Barrett] acted like the good citizen that he is," he said.

The 20-year-old suspect was arrested 13 hours after the incident and is the main suspect in this case. He has not yet been charged. Chief Flynn says the man has a lengthy record, and called Peters, "A violent and vicious thug."

Understandably, this story is getting a lot of attention because Milwaukee's mayor was the citizen who stepped in to help the woman and was brutally attacked.

Peters will be getting a lot of attention, too. He'll get his 15 minutes of fame as the thug who beat down Milwaukee's mayor.

The fact is attacks by thugs like Peters happen too often. Those crimes matter as well.

Here's to all the "good citizens," not high profile figures, that intervene to help others, putting themselves in danger as Mayor Barrett did.