Milwaukee Police Department
The U.S. Department of Justice announced plans Monday to launch a civil-rights investigation into the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white Milwaukee police officer. On Monday, District Attorney John Chisholm declined to press charges against Officer Christopher Manney, who shot and killed Dontre Hamilton during a confrontation in a park last April. Manney arrived and began patting down Hamilton after workers at a Starbucks called to complain about Hamilton sleeping in the park. Hamilton, who was schizophrenic, fought back and Manney shot him 14 times. Chisholm said Manney was acting in self-defense, but the Justice Department will “undertake a federal review of this case to determine if, under federal civil-rights law, there is a basis, both legal and factual, upon which a federal civil-rights prosecution may be premised,” the U.S. attorney said.