I am white, don’t shoot!

“You don’t need a weather man
To know which way the wind blows”
Bob Dylan in Subterranean Homesick Blues Lyrics

Tonight the Coalition for Justice for Dontre Hamilton went to a police and fire commission meeting to insist on a day for the hearing of the police officer fired on procedure issue when he beat and killed Dontre who was unarmed, sleeping on a park bench.

The District Attorney, after an eight month investigation said the police officer did not break the law when he shot Dontre 14 times, once in the back and many shots fired as Dontre lay dying on the ground. But getting his job back he needs the hearing.

Last time we stopped the meeting since, after seven months, they would not give us a date for the Police and Fire Commission hearing on firing of Dontre Hamilton. So in the beginning of this meeting, once they announced the date, we stood up saying “Dontre” and left. Nonviolent direct action works again.

There is an ongoing Federal Investigation into Milwaukee Police department and the shooting of Dontre. Earlier in the day it came to me the saga of the death of Dontre Hamilton would make for a good folk song. I do not think I can get Bob Dylan to write it but I have a friend who might.

The refrain could be something like this. The white cop shot Dontre 14 times for sleeping on a park bench in a county park. That is not 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 times, nor 6, 7, 8 or 9 times nor 10, 11, 12, or 13 time but 14 times he shot him dead for sleeping in the park.

This story has not made the national news like the shooting of black males in Ferguson, NYC or the 12 year child in Ohio. There is no video available like there was the other day in police shooting of unarmed black man in L.A. (He was shot and killed five times by five police officers.) There were three video cameras capturing activities in the park but the D.A. never produced the videos but just said they were not useful. The family lawyer is still seeking the videos.

So the lesson to be learned is that if you are a black man in an area where you should not be make sure you have someone following you with a camera. When it gets warmer I hope to do some sleeping, or pretend sleeping on park benches in public areas. I will cover myself up from head to toe so no one can know if I am white or black. If police wake me up they will see a sign saying “I am Dontre Hamilton”. I will be cooperative just like Dontre was when two times earlier in the afternoon police came to the park to check on him, due to calls from nearby Starbucks employees. However, just in case a police officer like the one that shot Dontre fourteen times comes by, I will have the video running and just raise my hands and say “I am white, Don’t Shoot”.

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