No Federal Charges for Officer Who Killed Dontre Hamilton
The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it would not pursue civil rights charges against a police officer in Milwaukee who shot and killed Dontre Hamilton in a city park last year.
Hamilton, who was schizophrenic, was shot 14 times by officer Christopher Manney in April 2014. The District attorney did not file charges against him and Manney was fired by the Milwaukee police department.
The DOJ decided not to pursue charges based on eyewitness accounts, physical evidence, Manney’s testimony and use-of-force experts, the Associated Press reports. Prosecutors said they couldn’t prove that Manney willfully broke the law.
Hamilton’s family was notified of the decision by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Wisconsin, the FBI and the DOJ’s civil rights division. Jonathan Safran, the Hamilton family’s lawyer, said the family plans to file a civil rights lawsuit in federal court.
See powerful images of the Million Man March below.
BET National News - Keep up to date with breaking news stories from around the nation, including headlines from the hip hop and entertainment world.
(Photo: AP Photo/Family photo courtesy of Dameion Perkins)