More Than 70 Arrested After Interstate Protest In Milwaukee

Supporters of Dontre Hamilton’s family have another march scheduled for Saturday afternoon following the arrest of more than 70 demonstrators on Friday evening for disrupting traffic on the Interstate 43 freeway in downtown Milwaukee.

A group of protesters also spent much of the night outside the Milwaukee County Jail waiting for the arrested activists to be released.

The demonstrators are pressing for criminal charges be brought against a now-fired Milwaukee police officer who shot and killed Dontre Hamilton, a mentally ill African-American man, during an altercation at a downtown park last April.

Outside the jail on Friday night, Mike Wilder, of the African-American Roundtable, said that having to wait months to see if the former officer, Christopher Manney, will be charged with a crime is a bigger deal than the freeway protest.

“The point we’re trying to make is this is a minor inconvenience … but it’s due to a major injustice, right?” Wilder said.

Wilder said that he was part of the freeway protest, but left the roadway before he could be taken into custody.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said that he’s angry and disappointed the protesters went on the interstate.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm has said he’s closer to deciding on whether to criminally charge Manney.