Dontre Hamilton Decision
Officer Christopher Manney, the Caucasian police officer who shot and killed Dontre Hamilton,
a mentally ill African-American man at Red Arrow Park in Downtown Milwaukee
will not be charged. District Attorney John Chisholm said the incident was justified
as means of self defense.
"This was a tragic incident for the Hamilton family and for the community;
Chisholm said. "But based on all the evidence and analysis presented in this report, I come
to the conclusion that Officer Manney's use of force in this incident was justified self- defense and
that defense cannot be reasonably overcome to establish a basis to charge Officer Manney with a crime."
According to an NBC News report, in addition to an autopsy, a state investigation and an
independent expert's investigation were conducted. The investigations were then reviewed by a prosecutor. "I am satisfied that we have done a very thorough, very independent investigation," Chisholm said. He added that he is "deeply aware" that his decision might cause protests, but " I can't control outside events and I can't allow outside events to control me."
What I'm wondering is why in the world did it take Mr. Chisholm this long to make that decision if he didn't want outside events to control him. Its very obvious that his job is more important to him than the death of an innocent man. For crying out loud you were elected to serve the people not for fame.
A friend of mine once told me that Mr. Chisholm acted this way so that he could keep his job and if he didn't make this decision he made, there would be angry people coming after him. I'll rather get fired for doing my job rather than going against the people to save my reputation. That person was only speaking his opinion; its not based on a fact. I'm sure that might not have been Mr. Chisholm's intention. Either way, how can you let an officer who shot a man fourteen times go. All it really takes to kill a person is one bullet or at least for him to suffer. This clearly shows no type of self defense reasoning because first, the victim was unarmed and nor can a baton kill the officer if Hamilton beaten him with it. Why couldn't the officer use his taser, why did he have to take someone's life away? Too many officers are using self defense as a reason of killing or harming African American men today. It was reported last week that another African- American man was shot because he was thought to have had a gun which was later said to be fake. Rather than the officer making sure that the gun was real, he shot and killed the man.
I'm very upset on how the American criminal justice system has come to be. In addition to the decision of the Dontre Hamiton decision, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke requested National Guard support in anticipation of protests following the announcement. The request comes after protesters blocked traffic on Interstate 43 on Friday, leading to the arrest of 74 people.
Moments ago it was announced that Christopher Manney, the officer who killed Dontre Hamilton is currently trying to file for disability. Is he serious! And what injury has he gotten for all this in order to obtain disability. The only people who need to be getting money for disability is the Hamilton family for all the trauma and distress they're facing during this tough time.
Manney was fired by Milwaukee police Chief Edward Flynn in October, not because of his actions in the shooting but rather for failing to follow department rules in the moments leading up to the altercation, resulting in a struggle that left deadly force as the officer's only option.
The Hamilton family's attorney, Jonathan Safran, requested Monday that a federal investigation be
conducted, " with the belief that federal law criminal civil rights charges are warranted in this case."
Now, I know District Attorney John Chisholm. He takes his job seriously and participates in many violence prevention events as he can. I'm criticizing the decision he made on this case, but Mr. Chisholm as a person is a really caring man. I am simply expressing my self and I know for a fact that Mr. Chisholm understands what he's dealing with here. I've participated in some of the sessions he spoke at last summer and it was an eye-opening moment for me to hear about issues in our community which I did not know about. Because of him and some of his colleagues, I am aware of many issues that I'm looking ahead to address. As I mentioned several times, I don't agree with D.A. Chisholm's decision; it just doesn't make sense to me. It has nothing to do with someone being black or white but simply the fact that some law enforcement officials need more training in situations like dealing with people who have some sort of illness or disability. I certainly am not against law enforcement, we need them in our community. As a matter of fact, I have colleagues who are and were police officers. I do however believe that we need to change and start building a close relationship with police and members of our communities! It is wrong to think that the law enforcement community believe citizens are now becoming anti-Police. We need to change this way of thought. Change is only seconds away, lets make it happen!
Ashley, Luthern
Ex- Milwaukee officer won't be charged in Dontre Hamilton shooting
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
News
Milwaukee County
2014/12/22
Jenna, Sachs
Protesters Stage a "die in" at Mayfair Mall in support of Dontre Hamilton
Fox 6 News
2014/12/23
Paul, Schmitz
Why I Was Arrested Standing Up for Dontre Hamilton in Milwaukee
Huffington Post
The Blog
2014/12/22
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