The family of Dontre Hamilton—the 31-year-old African-American man who was fatally shot by a white police officer in Milwaukee in April—is now looking to the Justice Department to bring about justice since the Milwaukee County district attorney announced Monday that no criminal charges would be brought against Officer Christopher Manney for the shooting, Al-Jazeera reports.
The Justice Department revealed this week that it would be conducting an investigation into the incident to determine if it will pursue civil rights violations.
According to reports, Hamilton was shot 14 times by Manney during a scuffle after the officer approached and awoke Hamilton, who was sleeping on a park bench. Manney was fired in October because, according to reports, the officer was aware that Hamilton was mentally ill and frisked him—a procedure that is against his police department’s policy. Even still, the district attorney found no evidence that Manney’s use of force was excessive.
Hamilton’s brother, Nate, said he believes that the Justice Department will take a more balanced approach toward investigating his brother’s death. But Nate Hamilton is leery about the department’s ability to remain “impartial” because he believes it has been working “too closely with Milwaukee police” and that will influence any biases it will bring into the federal investigation, the Al-Jazeera report explains.
“I think we’ll get a better look,” Nate Hamilton said, before casting doubt on the process. “I want to be confident in it, but right now, I cannot put my trust in the system.”
According to the Al-Jazeera report, Manney’s attorney has not responded to inquiries about the Justice Department conducting a review of the shooting.
Read more at Al-Jazeera.