A 911 caller wrongfully accused Dane County Supervisor and Wisconsin State Assembly candidate Sheila Stubbs of drug-related activity while she was introducing herself to voters Aug. 7, according to the Madison Police Department.
As The Cap Times first reported, Shelia Stubbs was campaigning in Madison’s west side just a week before the Democratic primary election with her mom and eight-year-old daughter, all of whom are African-American.
Stubbs had been campaigning door-to-door when a Madison police officer arrived. The silver sedan Stubbs and her family were driving had been reported on suspicion of drug activity, according to MPD.
“THINKS THEY ARE WAITING FOR DRUGS AT THE LOCAL DRUG HOUSE — WOULD LIKE THEM MOVED ALONG,” the dispatch notes read, according to an MPD case report.
When MPD officer Katherine Bland arrived at the scene, Stubbs was speaking to a resident of a nearby home, while her mother Linda Haskin, waited in the car with Stubbs’ daughter. After explaining that Stubbs was campaigning for the State Assembly, Bland apologized for interrupting their evening.
Stubbs declined to name the neighborhood to The Cap Times, but she said it was a predominantly white community.
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“It’s 2018,” Stubbs said in an interview with The Cap Times. “It shouldn’t be strange that a black woman’s knocking on your door. I didn’t do anything to make myself stand out. I felt like they thought I didn’t belong there.”
Stubbs will be the first African-American person to represent Dane County in the state Legislature if she wins this November. According to a study by the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Wisconsin is ranked among the worst in the nation for racial equality.
Stubbs and Haskin offered MPD assistance in positively connecting with the Madison community, according to the report. MPD officer Joel DeSpain said Stubbs worked well with them despite being upset.
Stubbs was not available to comment on this story.
