Family Of Dontre Hamilton Sues Milwaukee Police, City

The family of a mentally ill black man fatally shot in a 2014 confrontation with a white police officer in a downtown Milwaukee park has sued the Police Department, officer Christopher Manney and the city.

In documents filed as part of the federal civil rights lawsuit, the Hamilton family says that Manney unlawfully detained Hamilton and that Police Department policies contributed to Hamilton’s death.

Manney was fired after the shooting, and lost an appeal. He was later allowed to retire on disability, because he had filed a claim just before being fired. Local and federal prosecutors decided not to file criminal charges against him.

Dontre Hamilton’s mother, Maria Hamilton, said Wednesday that she’s pursuing the civil rights case, because she wants to prevent others from being killed by police.

“By a country that protects their officers, and do not hold them responsible for their actions, while they’re on payroll,” she said.

The family’s attorney, Jon Safran said the department should have been psychologically testing police officers.

“And we believe that if the department had in place at the time the proper psychological testing, that there is the likelihood that many officers, including potentially Christopher Manney … would have potentially also been one to have been weeded out and not made it forward,” Safran said.

The lawsuit does not specify a dollar amount, but will seek compensatory and punitive damages. The Milwaukee City Attorney and Milwaukee Police Department declined comment.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story featuring Associated Press content has been updated with original reporting.