Madison: Statement from Young Gifted and Black on the Dontre Hamilton shooting and Non-indictment of Christopher Manney / Protest December 27, East Towne Mall

For Immediate Release:
Contact:
M Adams: 414-430-1321
Brandi Grayson: 608-213-0707

Justice for Dontre Hamilton!

Once again a white police officer who killed an unarmed Black man has been let free of any consideration of criminal charges.

On April 30th Dontre Hamilton was killed by officer Christopher Manney. Hamilton was shot 14 times after being woken up for sleeping in a public park. Today a grand jury decision has been announced that they will not be taking Manney to trial and he will be let free from any charges. Community members are currently gathering in Red Arrow Park to respond to the decision.

Protests have been happening since April in Milwaukee to call for justice for Dontre Hamilton. Young Gifted and Black was in Milwaukee to support local organizers with an action to stop traffic and to raise awareness of this issue this past Friday. This injustice has happened in Madison’s back yard and we have an obligation to show solidarity.

Rather than seek to support the peaceful protests of widespread outrage at this decision, Governor Walker has primed the national guard to intervene risking to create a Ferguson-like militarized response.

We do not rely on the criminal justice system and we do not believe it can bring justice in any situation. We are not surprised by the police killings of Dontre Hamilton, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and others; nor are we surprised that these officers were not indicted. These systems were not built for us, and we cannot rely on them to free us.

Though we are not surprised, we are still enraged by no indictment for the police officer coming amidst a sea of protests across the country for the non-indictment for the police who killed Mike Brown and Eric Garner. This shows us state violence is killing us and the systems in place are not protecting us. This also shows us that change must come from the people—we must take to the streets and see vast changes in the way we view policing, the criminal system, and the prison industrial complex.

We understand this moment in the context of 2 police officers being killed in NYC. While we don’t condone this kind of violence, black families face the injustice of having their children killed over and over and call for peaceful protests, however, the NYPD leaders have called for war against protesters, the Mayor of NYC and the ‪#‎Blacklivesmatter‬ movement. We remain vigilante in a peaceful effort for our demands to be met, and for the liberation of Black people.

We stand in solidarity with the Hamilton Family and the organizers in Milwaukee, and we will continue to push for an end to state violence against Black people here in Madison and across the country.

We will hold a rally and protest on Saturday December 27 in the East Towne Mall Parking lot near Culver’s at 3:30 pm.

No Justice No Peace!
#blacklivesmatter
Young Gifted and Black Coalition
fergusontomadison@gmail.com
Ferguson to Madison on Facebook