[5] At Bay View, McGee was a standout wrestler, taking third in the state in the 126-pound weight class in his senior year.
[4] Upon graduating from Bay View, McGee attended the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse where he joined the Army and served in the National Guard.
UWM officials said McGee has admitted to using "poor judgment" in getting students involved in "inappropriate" campaign activity.
"[10] The group, which stated its intention to make citizen's arrests, was variously described as an initiative to address black-on-black crime, a monitoring program to deal with police brutality and an information source for north side residents.
"[12] Following the beating of Frank Jude Jr. by off-duty Milwaukee police officers, McGee led a demonstration of about 100 people about the slow pace of the investigation.
[13] Numerous public officials called upon McGee to apologize for his use of the homosexual epithet, particularly State Senator Tim Carpenter, who is openly gay.
[14] The letter, an unusual public rebuke of a colleague, called the beating of Jude "heinous and despicable", but denounced McGee's use of "hateful and inflammatory speech" and went on to note McGee's comments "dipped well below the common threshold of statesmanship and civil decorum that we hold dear.
"[14] Milwaukee mayor Tom Barrett in reference to McGee's comments said, "he owes an apology to the gay community; he owes an apology to African-Americans in my office and African-American women in general", adding that McGee's remarks "go beyond what is acceptable for any mature adult or elected official.
"[14] McGee called for blacks to boycott downtown and central city shopping centers as a means of protesting the beating of Jude.
[15] As the verdicts were read acquitting the three officers who were charged with beating Jude, McGee repeatedly said "bullshit" in court.
[16] Subsequently, McGee led demonstrations calling for United States Attorney Steven M. Biskupic to bring federal charges.
Biskupic eventually did bring federal civil rights charges that resulted in the convictions of seven Milwaukee police officers.
[18] Following the incident, McGee issued a statement indicating he had been meeting a friend to whom he'd planned to give a DVD on non-violence, and that he'd been in the parking lot just a minute when police arrived.
"Any type of physical resistance to a lawful arrest will result in officers utilizing tactics to gain control of the situation and to minimize force used against them", he said.
McGee described Rucker as "a lying type of chick" and dismissed her allegations that he had impregnated her and, months later, grabbed and twisted her arm as "slanderous character assassination.
[33] Among the reasons Jordan listed for the recall were "fraudulent use of alias names to avoid responsibility for accident damages", referring to the discovery that McGee held driver's licenses under both names, and to other incidents, such as arrests for disorderly conduct and perjury allegations, both from a series of restraining-order hearings involving the mother of his child, as well as calling a suspect in the beating of Frank Jude Jr. a "straight-up sick faggot" at a rally.
[4][36] For example, in 1996, McGee's father, also named Michael McGee, congratulated the person who fire bombed Todd's home, stating, "They are the kind of people I would like to pin a medal of honor on", and "My whole-hearted congratulations to the guerrilla who issued a little warning shot to Todd.
[37] In response to a Jordan supporter admitting in an affidavit that she misled people into signing the recall petitions, the Election Commission asked the District Attorney's office to investigate.
On June 4, 2007, McGee was charged with five misdemeanors and five felonies for his alleged conduct during the recall election and the subsequent investigation.
He was also charged with two counts of criminal contempt for allegedly violating the secrecy order related to the John Doe proceedings.
As part of this investigation, business owners cooperated with the FBI in recording McGee allegedly demanding bribes.
[40] According to the federal criminal complaint filed in the case, FBI agents using wiretaps and undercover surveillance, watched as McGee shook down a business owner who wanted to obtain or keep a liquor license and a gas station owner who sought to operate 24 hours a day.
In February, an undercover agent approached McGee about putting a business with a liquor license in his district and paid a bribe, the complaint says.
At least two bribes were paid with money orders, one of which went to an attorney representing McGee in a paternity suit and another for "recall petition work", the complaint says.
A United States magistrate judge initially granted McGee bail but imposed numerous restrictions.
[42] The government appealed the grant of bail and Chief Judge Rudolph T. Randa ordered McGee detained pending trial.
[43] Randa cited concerns that if allowed home, even under severe restrictions, McGee would attempt to intimidate witnesses and sway their testimony on both state and federal charges.
[47] On June 24, 2008, after roughly six hours of deliberation, the jury returned its verdict finding McGee guilty of all nine counts.
[49] Judge Clevert did not mention numerous aggravating factors such as the fact that the evidence demonstrated that McGee had also taken bribes and extorted money for his personal benefit, including for moving costs or attorneys' fees.
[50] At his sentencing, McGee wept, apologized to his family, the community, victimized business owners, the Milwaukee Common Council, and black pioneers who laid the groundwork for his accomplishments, and called himself, "immature", "selfish", "narcissistic", "spiritually flawed", and "a very poor, broken man".