The family of a Black man who died following a detainment by hotel security guards have spoken out against the claim from authorities that the man showed aggression toward the guard. Evidence may prove he wasn’t a threat at all.
D’Vontaye Mitchell, 37, was seen on bystander video being tackled to the ground by four security guards at the Hyatt Regency on June 30. In the video, he’s seen being pressed into the ground on his stomach while each guard restrains his limbs on all sides.
“This is what happens when you go into the ladies room!” one guard yelled.
Milwaukee police originally alleged Mitchell caused a disturbance inside the hotel and was aggressive toward officers. However, after reviewing the surveillance camera footage, Mitchell’s family insists he wasn’t posing a threat to the guards.
In a press conference Wednesday, they said the video caught him running through the lobby into the women’s bathroom until he was ultimately chased out of the building, being beaten and kicked on the way out.
“To see them beat him repeatedly over and over and over again - they didn’t stop,” said Mitchell’s wife, DeAsia Harmon, through tears in a press conference Thursday. “They could’ve stopped. They could’ve let him go and they didn’t.”
Harmon also said, in the video, she saw the guards drag him outside while already bloodied from the beatings. Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Mitchell’s family, said in the conference he obtained a signed affidavit from a hotel employee who witnessed Mitchell being beaten with a baton while not posing a threat. The surveillance footage also showed one guard take a picture of Mitchell as he lay unconscious on the ground, another attorney alleged.
The medical examiner’s officer ruled the preliminary cause of death as a homicide. The report also says Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office announced Wednesday the case is being investigated as such even as they await the complete autopsy results.
As the investigation continues, protests have erupted in Milwaukee ahead of the upcoming Republican National Convention — which will be held in the city starting July 15 — leading Mitchell’s family to wonder if his death is going to go mute amidst the political noise.
“Just because they have a big event coming up in Milwaukee, the killing of D’Vontaye Mitchell is just as important as anything else that’s going to happen in Milwaukee this month,” said Crump via The AP. “We will demand justice every day this week, every day next week and every day after that.”