Following the death of a Wisconsin man who was restrained outside a hotel by several security officers amid a mental health crisis, prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump has united with the man's family in urging authorities to ensure justice is served, The Guardian reports. D’vontaye Mitchell, 43, was killed on 30 June during an encounter with security personnel at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Milwaukee, NBC News reported. No one has been charged in connection with the case, and police reportedly indicated that they were not even conducting a criminal investigation for the time being. The hotel is one of the three main venues for the Republican National Convention, which is taking place in Milwaukee from 15 to 18 July. “I know the national media is going to be coming and covering a lot of stuff related to the convention,” Crump said during Monday’s press conference about Mitchell’s killing. “A major part of the narrative needs to be justice and … justice in Milwaukee for D’Vontaye Mitchell.”
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office has since determined that Mitchell’s preliminary manner of death was a homicide, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. In a statement, representatives of Hyatt said the hotel had suspended the employees involved in Mitchell’s killing while it conducted an internal investigation. Lawyers representing Mitchell’s family said his death was reminiscent of the killing of George Floyd, a Black man who was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on his neck for nine and a half minutes in 2020. On Monday, Crump and Mitchell’s family demanded that the killing not be “swept under the rug” with the convention set to bring thousands to Milwaukee. “Everybody in America after George Floyd should have trained their employees and security personnel to not put knees on people’s backs and necks,” Crump said to demonstrators outside the hotel. “And when people are having problems breathing, don’t keep them in a prone position.” Mitchell’s mother, Brenda Giles, said that she wants “justice” for her son and is asking hotel authorities to release video of the incident.
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