Ferguson, NYC, Milwaukee: Protests Erupt After Officer Cleared in Killing of Unarmed Dontre Hamilton

http://democracynow.org - A Wisconsin prosecutor has decided not to bring charges against a white police officer who fatally shot a mentally ill African-American man. In April, Milwaukee Officer Christopher Manney responded to a call about a man sleeping in a park. Before Manney arrived, two other officers had already spoken to the man, Dontre Hamilton, and found he was not causing a problem. But Manney said Hamilton resisted when he tried to frisk him, sparking a confrontation, during which Hamilton grabbed Manney's baton and hit him. Manney opened fire, shooting Hamilton 14 times. The shooting led to Manney's firing for violating policy on handling people with mental illnesses. But on Monday, the Milwaukee County district attorney said Manney acted in self-defense. The shooting of Hamilton has sparked mass protests in Milwaukee including a highway shutdown Friday which resulted in 74 arrests. One day later, Milwaukee Gov. Scott Walker called up the state's National Guard to be on standby. The Justice Department has announced a federal review of the case. We speak with Democratic State Representative Mandela Barnes in Milwaukee. Watch all Democracy Now! coverage of police killings and protests in our archive: http://www.democracynow.org/topics/police_brutality Democracy Now!, is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on 1,300+ TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9am ET at http://democracynow.org. Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today: http://owl.li/ruJ5Q FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE: Facebook: http://facebook.com/democracynow Twitter: https://twitter.com/democracynow YouTube: http://youtube.com/democracynow SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/democracynow Daily Email: http://democracynow.org/subscribe Google+: https://plus.google.com/+DemocracyNow Instagram: http://instagram.com/democracynow Tumblr: http://democracynow.tumblr Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/democracynow iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/democracy-now!-audio/id73802554