MILWAUKEE (AP) — A white Milwaukee police officer fired after fatally shooting a mentally ill black man in April won’t face criminal charges, the county’s top prosecutor said Monday, while the U.S. attorney said hours later that there will be a federal investigation of the case.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said Christopher Manney won’t be charged because he shot Dontre Hamilton in self-defense. Manney is at least the third white police officer to avoid charges in the past month after a confrontation that led to a black man’s death.
After waiting eight months for the decision, Hamilton’s family reacted with disappointment and anger. Family attorneys said they had called for a federal investigation. They also urged that protests be peaceful “so as not to dishonor Dontre’s name and the Hamilton family name.”