Statement by The Coalition for Justice on the Refusal to Press Charges Against the Cop Who Killed Dontre Hamilton
December 24, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Editors’ Note: The following was sent to revcom.us in response to the decision on December 21 not to bring charges against the cop who killed Dontre Hamilton. On April 30 this year, Milwaukee cop Christopher Manney shot Dontre Hamilton 14 times and killed him after reportedly getting a complaint from workers at a Starbucks about a man sleeping in a park.
For Official Release by The Coalition For Justice:
To Milwaukee and Our Country,
The decision released today by Milwaukee’s District Attorney John Chisholm is in no uncertain terms an affirmation that the justice system of our city, state, and country has once again failed. There is no justification that can be provided that will allow us to believe that this officer operated within the law when the initial meeting between Dontre Hamilton and Christopher Manney originated by an unconstitutional pat down that violated Dontre’s basic/fundamental rights as a citizen of this country and as a human being.
Your justice system has once again proven that black people continue to be seen as nothing more than 3/5ths human, and property that can be destroyed and/or terminated at the whim of officers that were taught to view black skin as a threat long before they ever received their gun and badge. It is our belief that there can be numerous “outside investigative agencies” and “experts” who review cases such as this; however, as long as the criminal justice system is based on practices, principals, and polices, that subordinate and denigrate groups of people based on race, no true justice will ever prevail.
The fact remains that Dontre Hamilton was racially and criminally targeted because he was Black man, sleeping in a public park. We feel that when rudimentary rights such as resting become illegal for the people of this country, that we have truly lost our way, and veered off on a slippery slope that will justify more unmerited murders such as the one that took place in Red Arrow Park on April 30, 2014.
You have therefore left the members of this community no other alternatives than to stand up, protest, and take the justice that was rightfully ours at birth. There is no justice. So there can be no peace or compromise.
Signed With Disdain For Your Corrupt System,
The Coalition For Justice
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