Milwaukee Cop Not Charged in Shooting of Mentally Ill Man

A Milwaukee district attorney has declined to bring charges against a former member of the Milwaukee Police Department who shot a mentally ill man 14 times.

The Associated Press reports that the District Attorney who made the decision is known as John T. Chisholm. Chisholm claimed that the decision of the former officer, Christopher Manney, to use lethal force against the victim, Dontre Hamilton, was justified.

Hamilton died of the wounds he sustained after being shot April 30, 2014. Manney was fired from the Milwaukee police force shortly after the incident.

Hamilton's family held a press briefing on the steps of the courthouse where the decision was announced. They asked that demonstrators protesting the decision remain peaceful to better honor Hamilton's memory. They also asked the federal government to investigate the incident and determine if charges can be brought against Manney at the federal level.

Hamilton was killed when Manney responded to a call asking for police to check on the well being of Hamilton, who was sleeping on a park bench. Manney claimed that had a brief exchange before the mentally ill man began to scuffle with him, seizing his baton. Manney said he shot Hamilton after Hamilton took his baton.

The AP notes that Manney is the third officer to avoid charges for killing an unarmed black man since Darren Wilson avoided prosecution for the death of Michael Brown. In that case, the prosecutor allowed a person to testify to the grand jury despite knowing that one key witness was lying.  

In the other case, Daniel Pantaleo of the New York Police Department avoided charges despite using a chokehold, an illegal maneuver, that resulted in the death of Eric Garner. Despite that incident being caught on camera, and the fact there were numerous officers present to help in the arrest, making the chokehold unnecessary, Pantaleo was not charged.