

Mothers for Justice
7/12/2021 | 16m 4sVideo has Closed Captions
Mom of son killed by police rallies mothers to demand justice on behalf of their sons.
After her son, Dontre Hamilton, is shot 14 times and killed by a Milwaukee Police Officer in a popular downtown park, Maria rallies grieving mothers from across the country to join her in a cross country trip to demand justice on behalf of their sons.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback

Mothers for Justice
7/12/2021 | 16m 4sVideo has Closed Captions
After her son, Dontre Hamilton, is shot 14 times and killed by a Milwaukee Police Officer in a popular downtown park, Maria rallies grieving mothers from across the country to join her in a cross country trip to demand justice on behalf of their sons.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Dispatcher] Hey Chris, I just got a call from the Starbucks by Red Arrow Park, they say there's a homeless guys that's sleeping there, if you wanna check on him.
Black male, 30 or 40 years old.
- [Chris] Bye.
(keys clicking) 12-46, 12-46, shots fired, shots fired.
Officer involved.
Give me medical too.
He's gonna need medical.
Shot multiple times to the chest.
- [News Anchor] We have breaking news from downtown Milwaukee, an officer shoots and kills a man.
- [News Anchor] It happened at Red Arrow Park.
That's right by city hall, the performing arts center.
(indistinct chatter) (crowd chanting) (woman wailing) (somber music) - Dontre was my youngest son.
Dontre had a kind spirit.
He was very popular in school, always with the girls.
- Thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff.
They comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me.
- [Maria] On April 30th, Dontre went to Red Arrow park.
Something that he frequently did throughout his life.
He was sitting in the park, and the manager at Starbucks called the police to have Dontre removed.
Because she thought he was a homeless man.
The first call, the police officers answered her call and they came out and they had a discussion with Dontre.
And they went and told her, they found that he wasn't doing anything wrong.
He had every right to be in that park, and they wasn't going to make him leave.
It was 45 minutes later when the altercation started, because when the call came through dispatch, it went to Christopher Manny, the beat cop.
And at that time, Christopher Manney decided he wanted to do a illegal pat down.
- Dontre, being at the park, which is a public park.
He wasn't doing nothing illegal.
He wasn't pedaling.
He wasn't asking people for money.
This officer began to pat him down.
They kind of got into back and forth words, to the point where the officer grabbed his baton out, and shrugged Dontre a couple of times with the baton, Dontre took the baton.
And from there, you have the officer saying that Dontre struck him.
You have witnesses saying that Dontre never hit the officer.
- [Maria] We were told that Christopher Manney jumped to try to retrieve the baton from Dontre.
And he missed, and he pulled his gun out and he shot my baby, 14 times.
I sat on a couch for two months, and I believe the whole two months I was in shock.
I felt like I had nothing and I felt alone.
I don't know what this gone look like when I'm done.
(laughter) David, could you hand me my dress?
I can't reach it.
I used to keep my tablet with me.
Practically slept with the tablet, doing research about police violence.
I decided that I wanted to do something for those moms and them families because I knew how I felt.
- Hi.
- So, I reached out to 'em.
- [Dameion] So, from my understanding, there's a tea party.
I'm foreign to tea parties.
- [Maria] Ah, these are cute.
These little forks.
So, for now I'll just put it there.
Okay.
- Hi, sweetheart.
(indistinct chatter) - [Mother] Only by the grace of God.
God brung me through it.
God is still bringing me through it.
I still got my days.
I still have my nights.
And it's been 15 years.
- Right.
- You know.
- [Alicia] My son, Brandon walked into the mental health.
His neck was broke.
His back was broken three places.
He laid in a diaper for three days, begging for his life.
So, I'm still, I still don't know what happened.
- [Debra] Her son was shot 14 times, mine was shot seven.
Your husband was shot six.
See somebody is worse than we, than me.
- [Maria] Right.
Right.
- So, that's why I'm here.
And I thank God that I'm here, you know.
- [Maria] And that's why, I want to hold the city accountable for us sitting in this room.
We all can put them on notice and let them know that our pain isn't gone go away.
Until we have justice.
(soft piano music) - [Mother] You have such a, a strength.
See my life stood still.
- [Maria] Right.
- [Mother] It took me to realize, I knew I wasn't the same.
But when my father looked at me, earlier this year and he said, "I want my daughter back.".
And he said, "I haven't seen my daughter since Max left.".
And I haven't been, and I just, I appreciate your strength.
'Cause God blessed me to meet you.
I hate that this happened to you, but it's a strength to me, because I kept saying, "Lord, somebody got to hear me.".
"Somebody has to care."
And 11 years and it's still hurt like it happened yesterday.
So, thank you.
- [Maria] We need each other, because nobody know what this feel like, except for us.
And I love each and every one of y'all.
- I love you too.
Love all of you.
(indistinct chatter) - [Maria] That's my mommy.
(indistinct chatter) - That's my mommy.
Yeah.
Dontre was my brilliant child.
Him and Nate, for the most part, had the same friends because they're around the same age.
They did everything together.
- [Nate] This is my son, and we love him so much.
Say I got my middle name from Dontre.
Dontre Dion Hamilton.
- Dontre never showed any signs of any kind of paranoid, or schizophrenic.
He was normal, he played football.
He had a driver's license.
He paid his own bills.
So, we start seeing signs.
When he would say things like, "Did you hear that?"
"You don't hear that?".
- Mom?
Dad?
Do you hear that?
Is this a conspiracy?
- [Maria] They're saying that Dontre was homeless, and he just crazy schizophrenic.
And that's why he was shot.
God gave me a child, that was uniquely made.
It's nothing that anybody should die for.
(audience applauds) Christopher Manney said he'd seen a bulge in his right pants pocket.
So, he assumed that Dontre had some type of weapon on him.
We're try'na get it out of the DA's hands, and have them do the investigation in Washington.
Dontre had no weapons.
Dontre had, had ID, and maybe I think some candy or something, a baggie that had some candy in it, penny candy in it.
- [Andrea] You know first, - [Maria] Right.
- He said my son pushed him.
Now, he hit him in his head.
I was like, "We don't know if that's true."
There's only two people know that's true, and of them is dead.
- (in unison) Right, right.
(indistinct chatter) - [Maria] They're killing people that don't have weapons.
Dontre had 21 holes in his body... And all they have to say is, "I feared for my life.
", after they murder people.
These are the ones that died this year.
- Wow.
(soft music) - [Maria] All right, Thank you, sweetheart.
It was good hearing from you.
And I'm praying for you, and be strong.
And I'm the founder of Mothers for Justice United.
I decided to name this march, A Million Moms March.
Not really expecting it to get as big as it has.
Let me tell you a little bit about the trip, we're leaving here.
We're going to Washington, DC.
May 9th.
May 9th is my birthday.
And, Dontre was buried on May 9th.
- [Radio Host] Maria Hamilton, is the main organizer and will lead a Mother's Day march.
That will take place Saturday, of this week.
And they're going to be meeting with people in the White House.
You have been incredible, calling people to accountability, organizing other mothers.
- Meeting these moms and doing the research.
Brought me to this place that I'm at.
- [Caller 1] I'm not sure if I lost a child in such a terrible, violent way, if I would have the courage or the strength.
- [Caller 2] And I just want to praise you ladies, for having the courage to speak up, to initiate these talks and these changes, and to... (bright music) - [Andrea] I also personally believe that there should be some form of a, of a civilian panel.
- [Maria] Yes.
- That is involved as well.
- [Maria] Yes.
We're headed to the White House to talk to staffers, about police brutality and vigilante killings.
- So nervous.
- [Maria] We're going to give them our demands.
- Hi, nice to... (cheering) - [Dameion] This is a 5K walk that's honoring police officers so, it's kind of, you know, crazy that we're having a march about police brutality.
- [Maria] It was amazing.
We, we wasn't on script.
We didn't do the script that was proposed.
I knew it wasn't gone play out like that.
Yeah, this isn't a script, this is life.
This is reality.
- [Sonya] The voice that we gave today, it might've been quiet, but I think they heard us though.
'Cause everybody seemed like they just wanted to break down at any given second.
And then, I think once we left, I think they gone to cry.
'Cause I think one stepped out the room to cry.
We came on all this way and they actually listened.
'Cause we suppose to be gone in an hour.
- Right.
- Do you feel me?
We was only there almost two hours.
(gas hissing) (laughter) - [Comfort] My son was shot (indistinct) Silver Spring, by Officer Jordan.
- I had post traumatic stress disorder.
I take medication to keep the flashbacks away, that my son was shot and killed in my home, in my face, in front of me and my daughter.
- They broke the door, they tase him, they shoot him 10 time.
- And I've been trying to piece together, exactly what happened.
- [Protestor] Fist up, fight back!
- (in unison) Fist up, fight back!
- [Protestor] Fight back!
- (in unison) Fight back!
- [Protestor] Fight back!
- (in unison) Fight back!
- [Protestor] What do you want?
- (in unison) Justice!
- [Protestor] When do you want it?
- (in unison) Now!
- [Protestor] Now!
- (in unison) Now!
- [Protestor] Now!
- (in unison) Now!
- [Protestor] Right now.
- [Maria] It is so many moms that didn't feel anybody cared.
That have joined forces with us.
And there's no stopping now.
- (in unison) Justice!
- When do we want it?
- (in unison) Now!
- What do we want?
- (in unison) Justice!
- When do we want it?
- (in unison) Now!
- What do we want?
- (in unison) Justice!
- [Maria] No-one deserves to die, the way Dontre died.
I was broken.
Until I learned how to fight.
I will be back here every year, to make sure that these police officers that are taking human life, go to jail.
- [Protestor] We with you.
- It could have been, it could have been mine.
I think that's the sentiment of the President.
That's the feeling of our Attorney General.
And, I'm not your son.
- Right.
- But mom, Happy Birthday.
- Thank you.
- Happy Mother's Day.
(soft music) - Pat Lewis, nice to meet you.
- Hi Maria, nice to meet you.
I'm Corey.
- [Mother] That's my son, Johannes.
- Dontre was bigger than life.
I hear him rapping.
I see him puttin' the crease in his t-shirt.
I see him with his gray Jordans, but what I enjoyed most is his smile.
(indistinct chatter) (applause) - [Member] Speech, speech, speech.
(laughter) - [Member] Don't make her do it.
- We are, considering, starting some Mothers for Justice chapters, all over the United States.
(shouting and laughing) I want to have a national organization.
- (in unison) Surprise!
(laughter) - I'm determined to get change.
I may want it a little faster than it's actually gonna come, but, I'm in it to win it.
It's a lifelong journey.
(somber music) (somber music continues)
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