No federal charges against ex-Milwaukee cop: Justice Dept
By Brendan O'Brien
MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - The Justice Department said on Tuesday there is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against a former Milwaukee police officer in the death of an unarmed black man.
Former Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney was fired after fatally shooting Dontre Hamilton on April 30, 2014. Federal authorities reviewed evidence collected in the death of Hamilton, the Justice Department said in a statement.
"The evidence was insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Manney acted willfully with a bad purpose to violate the law," the Justice Department said.
Manney shot Hamilton, an unarmed 31-year-old mentally disabled black man, 14 times during a struggle in Red Arrow Park in downtown Milwaukee. Manney opened fire after Hamilton took the officer's baton and hit him, according to authorities.
"Mistake, misperception, negligence or poor judgment are not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation," the Justice Department said.
Police killings in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City, along with subsequent decisions by grand juries to not indict the officers who were involved, have rekindled a national debate over race relations in the United States.
After the justice department made its announcement, Hamilton's brother Nate said that he was "fed up" with the judicial system
"Our family has been denied justice," he said during a news conference in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Milwaukee.
"It is time for us as a community to stop playing around. It's time for us to stop acting like we don't care," he said, promising protests and civil disobedience in the name of his brother and other unarmed black men who have recently died at the hands of police.
Lawyers for the Hamilton family said that they were preparing to file a civil lawsuit in federal court against Manney.
"The public will be assured that every detail of this injustice will be demonstrated and we will prevail," said the family's attorney Alex Flynn.
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn announced the firing of Manney in October 2014. He said Manney had acted without malice but that he had failed to follow police policies when addressing mentally ill people.
Two months later, Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm said he would not press charges against Manney because he acted in self-defense.
(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales and Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Franklin Paul, Chris Reese and Steve Orlofsky)
