Six
months after Officer Christopher Manney shot and killed an unarmed
Dontre Hamilton, the officer’s been fired by the Milwaukee Police
Department for, the police chief Edward Flynn says, instigating the
fight that ended with Hamilton being shot at 14 times.
“There’s got to be a way for us to hold ourselves accountable
absent putting cops in jail for making mistakes,” Flynn said,
saying Manney shouldn’t have tried to frisk Hamilton just because
he seemed mentally ill but that he didn’t think there was any
“malice” involved in the shooting.
Flynn’s decision was based on an internal affairs review but
other investigations are continuing. The Associated Press
reports:
Hamilton’s family has said he was diagnosed with schizophrenia
but was not violent, and they doubt he struck Manney. They called
Wednesday for police to release photographs documenting the
officer’s injuries. They also said that while the firing was “a
victory,” they would continue to lead and participate in marches in
an effort to persuade the district attorney to bring criminal
charges.“Yes, he was fired, but he took a man’s life,” Hamilton’s
mother, Maria, said during a separate news conference.
While the A.P. reports about the independent investigation
required under a new state law in the past tense, the results of
that investigation have not yet been released. The father of a
previous Wisconsin police shooting victim
used a portion of his settlement to lobby for the law.
Unfortunately, Milwaukee TV station WISN
reports that a number of the “outside” investigators working
for the state are retired Milwaukee Police Department
employees.
The Milwaukee police union protested Manney’s firing. Cops fired
in Milwaukee have gotten their jobs back
before thanks to the police bill of rights.
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