“We made it work”
Keiarra Travis came to Milwaukee as a child because her mother couldn’t support all six of her children. Now a teenager, she’s learning to care for herself and her family. Continue reading “We made it work”
Tag: Shooting
“I kept getting stronger”
Growing up on Chicago’s west side, Patricia Williams lived in almost-constant fear. When she became a mother, she decided it was time for a change. Continue reading “I kept getting stronger”
“I’ve had a rough life”
Lorne Payne sits on a porch in Sherman Park, surrounded by his children. Payne attempts a smile but it’s more a look of fear that comes through — the pain in his eyes is the only thing that’s clear.
“My kids keep me alive,” he says. “I love on my kids, make sure they’re happy. I [can] be sad as hell [as] long as my kids happy.”
Demonstrators encourage gas station boycott after employee discharges shotgun
Days after another incident in Sherman Park, demonstrators are holding strong on their call for a boycott of a local gas station.
In the evening hours of Tuesday, July 19, an employee and son of the owner of the BP station at 3114 N. Sherman Blvd. discharged a shotgun twice outside of the business, according to accounts. About 40 Black youth, including young children were assembled in the parking lot on the corner of Sherman Boulevard and Burleigh Street when the shots were fired.
“I can’t leave here until my people tell me I can leave here, until my people feel … like they got justice,” said Frank Sensabaugh, one of the protest leaders also known as Frank “Nitty,” who hasn’t left the spot since Tuesday night.
Continue reading “Demonstrators encourage gas station boycott after employee discharges shotgun”
“Ain’t nothin’ change around here”
Corey Nash doesn’t have much faith in Milwaukee. The 17-year-old and a friend walk down a partially-snow-covered sidewalk on 16th Street in Borchert Field but they grew up on the South Side, he says.
“[You] couldn’t go to sleep without hearing a gunshot,” says Nash. “They say the South Side is supposed to be safer than the North Side — it’s all the same.”
No charges brought in Dontre Hamilton shooting, federal review to come
Early Monday morning, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced, in a press conference, that his office will not bring any charges against ex-Milwaukee Police Officer Christopher Manney in the April shooting death of Dontre Hamilton. Chisholm also released the official report — an independent investigation months in the making — on the shooting that occurred in Milwaukee’s Red Arrow Park downtown.
According to accounts, Hamilton, a 31-year-old black man with a history of mental illness, was sleeping on a park bench — after already having been deemed no danger by two officers who responded to a call — when Manney approached and began a patdown of Hamilton. Manney was fired in October after Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn determined that Manney’s conduct — the unprovoked patdown, in particular — violated department procedures. A scuffle ensued and, in the process, Hamilton relieved Manney of his baton, striking the officer in the neck. The extent of both Manney’s and Hamilton’s injuries stemming from the initial confrontation continue to remain in question. Multiple eyewitness accounts leave no question what ensued: Manney drew his weapon and fired “multiple shots” — 14, in all — killing Hamilton. According to the autopsy results, half of the bullets that hit Hamilton came from a downward direction and one hit him in the back.
Continue reading “No charges brought in Dontre Hamilton shooting, federal review to come”