Family looks to federal investigation in Milwaukee shooting

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By Todd Richmond
Associated Press

Milwaukee — The family of a Milwaukee man who was fatally shot by a city police officer say they aren’t giving up hope that the officer will be charged.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced Monday that former Officer Christopher Manney, who is white, acted in self-defense when he killed Donte Hamilton, who was black. But later in the day, U.S. Attorney James Santelle announced that the Department of Justice, his office and the FBI will review whether Manney violated federal civil rights laws.

Dontre Hamilton’s brother, Nate Hamilton, said the family hopes federal investigators can take a more objective look at the case than Milwaukee authorities and weigh all the evidence. The state Division of Criminal Investigation led the review of the case, but Nate Hamilton said the family thinks that agency works too closely with Milwaukee police to be impartial.

“I think we’ll get a better look. I want to be confident in it, but, right now, I cannot put my trust in the system,” he said.

Manney’s attorney didn’t return a message seeking comment about the federal review. Manney is at least the third white police officer in the U.S. to avoid charges in the past month after a confrontation that led to a black man’s death.

He shot 31-year-old Hamilton in April after responding to a call of a man sleeping in a downtown park. Hamilton’s family said Hamilton suffered from schizophrenia and had recently stopped taking his medication. Manney said Hamilton resisted when he tried to frisk him. The two exchanged punches before Hamilton got hold of Manney’s baton and hit him on the neck, the former officer has said.

Several witnesses told police they saw Hamilton holding Manney’s baton aggressively before Manney shot him 14 times, according to Chisholm’s report. Police said they have no video of the incident, but Chisholm’s report said Manney suffered minor injuries, including a bite to his right thumb, a neck strain and a neck contusion. He was treated for post-concussion syndromes, a mild traumatic brain injury and had physical therapy for bicep and rotator cuff injuries.

Police Chief Edward Flynn fired Manney in October, saying the officer correctly identified Hamilton as mentally ill but ignored department policy and treated him as a criminal by frisking him. Manney is appealing. Meanwhile, tension mounted ahead of Chisholm’s decision, fueled by anger over the police killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in New York.

Chisholm said use-of-force experts concluded that Manney’s conduct was justified. Emanuel Kapelsohn of the Peregrine Corp. told Chisholm that all the shots were fired in 3 or 4 seconds and there was no evidence that Manney continued firing after Hamilton hit the ground.

Chisholm said at a news conference that his job wasn’t to evaluate whether Manney adhered to policy but whether he applied the correct amount of force in that situation. He said witnesses reported Manney gave Hamilton verbal commands to stop.

“On a human level, of course, it’s tragic,” Chisholm said. “(But) our job is not to tell people necessarily what they want to hear.”

At a separate news conference, the Hamilton family urged protesters to remain peaceful, but Nate Hamilton spoke bitterly, saying the family had “cried too long” and, “We don’t have to be the voice of reason.”

“We need to stop the violence in our communities so we can get rid of these pigs that kill us,” he said to applause. “Because that’s what they are. They feed, they feed off of us. And we can’t let them do that no more.”

His remarks came just two days after two New York City police officers were killed in an ambush. Police said that attack was carried out by a man who posted online about putting “wings on pigs.”

Flynn said he was disturbed by Hamilton’s choice of words. Hamilton family attorney Jon Safran later said the brother didn’t condone “any type of violence” and the family was dealing with “great anxiety and frustration.”

Later, Hamilton led a crowd of protesters through Milwaukee’s streets. Chanting, “Arrest the police,” and, “Whose streets? Our streets,” the group brought traffic to a standstill, prompting one motorist to shout, “Get back to work!” The march ended by mid-afternoon without incident.

On Monday evening, Hamilton gathered more protesters at the park where his brother was killed, imploring each to return Tuesday afternoon with two more people to make their “biggest statement ever.”