Hotel employees fired after Hyatt incident
D’Vontaye Mitchell, 43, died June 30 after being pushed to the ground on his stomach by four security guards outside a downtown Milwaukee hotel last month.
Attorney Ben Crump speaks about the death of D’Vontaye Mitchell in Milwaukee
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump speaks with attorney Will Sulton, attorney B’ivory Lamarr, local activists and Mitchell’s family members outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Monday afternoon about the death of D’Vontaye Mitchell.
MILWAUKEE – Hotel employees in Wisconsin have been fired following the death of D’Vontaye Mitchell, a Black man who was held facedown by security guards outside a downtown Milwaukee hotel last month.
Aimbridge Hospitality, operator of the Hyatt Regency in downtown Milwaukee, announced the decision in a statement late Wednesday. The move came hours after the Hyatt called for the firing and criminal prosecution of employees involved in Mitchell’s death.
Mitchell, 43, died on June 30 after four security guards pushed him onto his stomach outside the hotel. Milwaukee police claimed Mitchell was “causing a disturbance,” which led to an altercation with security guards as he was being escorted out, according to civil rights attorney Ben Crump.
Crump, who is representing the Mitchell family, said Mitchell was having a mental health crisis, but Milwaukee police have not released any information. Surveillance footage from the hotel shows Mitchell being tackled by security guards after he appears to be running from something and into the ladies’ room.
Mitchell had his hands raised but was dragged to the ground and beaten, pleading for the beating to stop, according to attorneys for the Mitchell family.
“The conduct of several employees on June 30 violated our policies and procedures and does not reflect our values as an organization or the behavior we expect from our employees. After reviewing their actions, their employment has been terminated,” Aimbridge Hospitality said in a statement. “We will continue our independent investigation and do everything we can to assist law enforcement in their investigation of this tragic incident.”
The incident, partially recorded by a witness and shared on social media, drew immediate comparisons to the death of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who was killed by police after an officer restrained him by kneeling on his back and neck.
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Milwaukee police have submitted four charges of first-degree murder to the district attorney, a police spokesman said Thursday.
Sergeant Efrain Cornejo told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the department has been consulting with the Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office since July 5 and that the office subsequently filed charges. The District Attorney’s Office has not yet made a decision on the matter, he said.
The four people are not in custody and police are not currently looking for them, Cornejo added.
The district attorney’s office said Wednesday that it is investigating Mitchell’s death as a homicide. The prosecutor is still waiting for a final autopsy from the Milwaukee County coroner’s office before making a decision.
On July 1, the medical examiner determined that Mitchell’s preliminary cause of death was homicide.
On Thursday morning, Mitchell’s family held a funeral for the 43-year-old. Well-known civil rights activist and pastor Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy, and hundreds attended the memorial service.
Crump spoke Mitchell’s final words aloud as he spoke at the funeral of the father of two. Mitchell’s last words were “please” – he said it while gasping for air six times – followed by “I’m sorry” and “please help me.”
The service alternated between enthusiastic singing and heartfelt prayer, Bible readings and memories from Mitchell’s family. Mitchell’s mother, Brenda Giles, said his death could not be “swept under the carpet.”
“We will fight. We will fight,” Giles said. “We must be united in this cause.”
Mitchell’s wife, DeAsia Harmon, described him as her best friend and protector. His brothers and other family members said they would miss how he danced, rapped and loved to cook, often turning simple dishes into elaborate meals. The family described Mitchell as someone who cared too much to say “no” when asked for help, making him a frequent go-to person for the family.
During the service, Sharpton presented a check for $5,000 to each mother of Mitchell’s two children, an 8-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son. His civil rights organization, the National Action Network, covered the funeral costs and he urged those in attendance to support the family through a GoFundMe campaign.
Mitchell was repeatedly beaten with an extendable baton by a security guard in the final minutes of his life because bystanders did not intervene, his family’s lawyers told prosecutors on Wednesday.
Members of Mitchell’s family told reporters they were “repulsed and shocked” by the video footage they watched with Crump and Milwaukee attorneys B’Ivory Lamarr and William Sulton.
The footage showed Mitchell running away from something or someone and seeking shelter in the hotel’s ladies’ restroom, lawyers said.
“D’Vontaye was trying to run for his life,” Sulton said. It’s not clear what Mitchell was running from, the lawyers added.
They joined dozens of supporters, many wearing T-shirts with Mitchell’s face, marching from the prosecutor’s office to the Hyatt Regency.
“Seeing them hit him over and over again … they could have stopped at any time,” Mitchell’s wife, DeAsia Harmon, said, her voice choked with tears. “They murdered him. They didn’t have to do that to him.”
Crump compared Mitchell’s death to that of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin and other black men and women who died in fatal encounters with police or authority figures.
Giles described her son as a harmless teddy bear and “a joy to his family.” She said she was “devastated” when she watched the videos on the eve of his funeral and pleaded with prosecutors to bring charges over Mitchell’s death.
“I always thought my son would bury me, not I him,” Giles said.
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