Milwaukee has reached a tentative $2.3 million settlement with the family of Dontre Hamilton, who was shot and killed by a Milwaukee police officer three years ago in a park, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The settlement must be approved by the Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett. Last year, Hamilton’s family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city. Last month, a federal judge ruled in the family’s favor on its claim that now-fired officer Christopher Manney violated Hamilton’s constitutional rights when he conducted a pat-down after confronting him.
The proposed settlement comes three months after the council approved paying $2.5 million to a woman raped by a Milwaukee police officer in 2010 after the officer responded to her 911 call. The officer was fired and is serving a 24-year federal prison term. The incident that resulted in Hamilton’s death began when workers at a nearby Starbucks called police to complain that he was sleeping in the park. A pair of officers had twice checked on him earlier and found he was doing nothing wrong. Manney came up behind Hamilton, placing his hands under Hamilton’s arms and on his chest in what Police Chief Edward Flynn later described as an “out of policy pat-down.” In the confrontation that unfolded after the pat-down, Hamilton got control of Manney’s baton and Manney shot Hamilton 14 times. State and federal prosecutors did not charge Manney criminally.