Milwaukee Protests Continue Regarding Hamilton Shooting

Protests continued in Milwaukee during the weekend as demonstrators gained more support from longtime leaders of the African-American community in the effort to get charges filed against a police officer pertaining to the shooting death of Dontre Hamilton.

A grassroots group called the Coalition for Justice has been holding protest marches every few days calling for Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm to file criminal charges against the Milwaukee police officer who was involved in the shooting. Police Officer Christopher Manney, who is white, shot and killed Hamilton, an unarmed, 31-year-old black man, in April during an altercation at a downtown park. Manney has since been fired from the department.

On Saturday, officials of the Milwaukee Urban League and NAACP joined the demonstrations. Urban League President Ralph Hollman said Chisholm should issue his decision as soon as possible.

“Now, we all want a very thorough investigation of all of the facts involved in this case,” he said. “However, it has been more than seven months, and the longer the decision is delayed, it causes speculation and distrust in the criminal justice system.”

Hollman said parts of the Milwaukee community don’t trust the police.

“Because they feel that right now and historically, there has been excessive force used against African-American males. And that trust has to be restored because quite frankly, we need each other,” he said. “The community needs the police to protect and serve … and the police need the community to prevent and solve crimes.”

But Hollman said to build trust, the police need to train more officers on how to interact with mentally ill citizens, such as Hamilton.

On Sunday, more African-American leaders joined the street marchers, including many pastors from the group Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope.

Chisholm said he’s waiting for more input from outside experts before deciding whether to charge Manney with a crime.