Calls for justice grow louder after death of black man in hotel

The death of D’Vontaye Mitchell on June 30 has become the latest flashpoint in the United States’ response to racism and what some perceive as systematic brutality against black people by police officers or other authority figures – four years after the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020.

The outcry comes at a time when Milwaukee is already facing increased security concerns related to political protests just days before the start of the party convention on July 15.

“Just because Milwaukee has a big event coming up soon, the killing of D’Vontaye Mitchell is as important as anything else that will happen in Milwaukee this month,” prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump told reporters Monday.

“We will demand justice every day this week, every day next week and every day after that,” said Crump, who is part of a legal team representing Mitchell’s family. His relatives demanded that charges be brought against those responsible for the 43-year-old’s death.

Crump also represented the Floyd family, whose death sparked worldwide protests against racist violence and police brutality.

“After the George Floyd case, everyone in America should have trained their employees, especially security personnel, not to knee people on the back and neck,” Crump added.

A spokesman for Aimbridge Hospitality, which operates the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee, said in a statement that they extend their condolences to Mitchell’s family and support the investigation.

Mitchell died at the Hyatt Regency after four security guards pinned him down on his stomach, media reported. Police said Mitchell entered the hotel, caused a disturbance and fought with security guards as they escorted him out.

The medical examiner has ruled the cause of death as homicide, but the cause of death is still under investigation. No charges have been filed against anyone so far.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday that it and police investigators were awaiting the results of a full autopsy and that the case was being investigated as a homicide.

Surveillance video from inside the hotel, which Mitchell’s family and their lawyers viewed at the prosecutor’s office on Wednesday, showed an unarmed man running for his life while being beaten and kicked, they said during an afternoon news conference.

“What I saw today was disgusting. It makes me sick,” said Mitchell’s widow, DeAsia Harmon. “He was running for his life. He wanted to get away. He said, ‘I’m leaving,’ and they wouldn’t let him go.”

Harmon said the video shows Mitchell being dragged out of the hotel, bleeding. “They didn’t stop. They could have let him go, but they didn’t,” she said.

Crump said the family’s legal team also has an affidavit from a hotel employee who testified that a security guard struck Mitchell with a baton and that Mitchell posed no threat while he was on the ground. The employee said a security guard ordered him and a bellman to restrain Mitchell, Crump said.

Another attorney, William Sulton, said the hotel video shows a hotel security guard on duty taking a photo of Mitchell’s lifeless body while the guard was being questioned by police. “Absolutely disgusting,” Sulton said.

It’s unclear why Mitchell was at the hotel or what happened before guards detained him. The Milwaukee County coroner had initially reported he was homeless, but a cousin told The Associated Press on Wednesday that was incorrect.

Crump said a video recorded by a bystander and circulating on social media also shows that security forces used excessive force to subdue Mitchell.

“In the video you can see them holding their knees on his back and neck,” Crump said, and the security guard appears to hit Mitchell on the head with an object. “You can see them pulling his shirt over his head, not only preventing him from speaking, but we believe also preventing him from breathing.”

Mitchell was born and raised in Milwaukee, according to his cousin Samantha Mitchell, 37. He has not been diagnosed with any possible mental illness.

“D’Vontaye loved to cook,” she said. “He was overprotective of his family, especially his younger cousins. He was a jokester. He really clung to many of our male cousins ​​while growing up and enjoyed life together.”

She said the family postponed his funeral from Saturday to Thursday so its significance would not be overshadowed by the Republican National Convention.

“We need to bring the issue to light and not sweep it under the rug,” Mitchell said. “Regardless of whether the convention happens, this is still an issue that requires everyone’s attention, no matter what party you belong to. I want people to talk about it while they’re here for the convention. That will say a lot.”

The AP sent an email to Republican National Convention officials on Wednesday seeking comment on Mitchell’s death.