Milwaukee police are looking into the death of a Black man in an incident that is drawing comparisons to the 2020 killing of George Floyd, after footage emerged that appears to show hotel guards pinning the man to the ground as he called for help.
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Black man dies, crying for help, after hotel guards pin him down, video shows
Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer representing Mitchell’s family, said in a statement that a witness to the June 30 incident had reported seeing one of the guards “striking him in the head with an object.” Police did not address those allegations.
“It is deeply troubling that we have lost another Black man in an encounter with security personnel, raising serious concerns about the use of force, lack of accountability, and absence of mental health considerations,” Crump added in the statement. “The circumstances surrounding Dvontaye’s death outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel are disturbing and as described by a witness, reminiscent of the killing of George Floyd.”
Floyd, who was Black, died in Minneapolis in 2020 after a White police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes — an incident that sparked a wave of global protests over racial inequality. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted and sent to federal prison.
Police said they were called to the Hyatt for a person causing a disturbance about 3:20 p.m. on June 30. They received a report that the person began fighting while being escorted out. When they arrived, officers found the person unresponsive and unsuccessfully tried “lifesaving measures.”
Crump’s statement identified the person as Mitchell and said his mother “believes he was suffering from a mental health episode.”
“Shocking cell phone video corroborates accounts of several witnesses,” the statement added. “Dvontaye’s family is now left searching for answers and justice in the face of this tragic loss.”
It is not clear what happened immediately before or after the videos were recorded. In one video broadcast by local media, a guard appears to address the person shooting the video, shouting: “This is what happens when you go into the ladies’ room.” The company that runs the hotel, Aimbridge Hospitality, did not immediately respond to a question about whether Mitchell had entered a women’s restroom.
Mitchell’s family and legal team should be given access to the full footage of what happened that day, his mother, Brenda Giles, said during a news conference near the hotel Monday, adding: “I want justice for my son.”
“From the time he got here, to the time he went in there, to the time he ran into this bathroom … we should be able to see all of that. Why haven’t they showed us?” asked Mitchell’s sister, Nayisha Mitchell.
Milwaukee police said they are looking into the incident and the cause of Mitchell’s death.
“The matter has been referred to our office and is currently pending further investigation. There’s no timeline for a charging decision at this time,” the Milwaukee district attorney’s office told The Post on Tuesday.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office said July 1 that the preliminary cause of Mitchell’s death was homicide, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The medical examiner’s office said in 2018 that it defines homicide as “death ‘at the hands of another’ regardless of intent,” purely based on “the medical evidence present at the time of the investigation,” and its determination does not necessarily mean that someone else is legally responsible for the death.
The office did not respond to a request for comment early Tuesday.
Giles told Milwaukee NBC affiliate WTMJ that Mitchell was “a loving son, brother, uncle, daddy.” But she said Mitchell changed after losing his father in 2016.
Nayisha Mitchell said her brother went into a depression after that and “was trying to also work on himself.”
She told WISN 12 News that the security team “should have been trained to deal with this type of situation. Mental illness is real.”
A spokesperson for Hyatt said: “We extend our heartfelt condolences to Dvontaye Mitchell’s family, all those who knew and loved him, and the Milwaukee community in light of this tragedy.”
The spokesperson said the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee is “operated by Aimbridge Hospitality, which is responsible for the management of hotel employees, including the disciplinary actions related to the individuals involved in this incident. We understand Aimbridge Hospitality is still completing its investigation, and to date, has suspended its employees involved in the incident.”
A spokesperson for Aimbridge Hospitality said: “We offer our sincere condolences to Mr. Mitchell’s family and loved ones. We continue to do everything we can to support law enforcement’s ongoing investigation into this incident and have no further comment at this time. We remain committed to maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for all hotel guests and associates.”
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Video: Behind the Supreme Court’s Push to Expand Presidential Power
new video loaded: Behind the Supreme Court’s Push to Expand Presidential Power
By Ann E. Marimow, Claire Hogan, Stephanie Swart and Pierre Kattar
December 12, 2025
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Europe’s rocky relations with Donald Trump
Gideon talks to Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s former secretary-general, about Ukraine and Europe’s strategic priorities after recent scathing criticism from US president Donald Trump over its failure to end the war: ‘They talk but they don’t produce.’ Clip: Politico
Free links to read more on this topic:
The White House’s rupture with the western alliance
Trump pushes for ‘free economic zone’ in Donbas, says Zelenskyy
Friedrich Merz offers to host Ukraine talks so deal not done ‘above Europe’s head’
Ukraine’s ‘fortress belt’ that Donald Trump wants to trade for peace
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Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.
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Trump announces pardon for Tina Peters, increasing pressure to free her though he can’t erase state charges | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump announced Thursday he is granting Tina Peters a full federal pardon, which is likely to increase the pressure campaign to free the former Colorado clerk from state prison even though he cannot erase her state charges.
“Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the ‘crime’ of demanding Honest Elections. Today I am granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Peters, the former Republican clerk of Mesa, Colorado, was found guilty last year on state charges of participating in a scheme to breach voting systems that hoped to prove Trump’s false claims of mass voter fraud in 2020. She was sentenced to nine years in prison and is serving her sentence at a women’s prison in Pueblo, Colorado.
Peters is currently the only Trump ally in prison for crimes related to the attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. She still believes that election was stolen, her lawyers recently told CNN. Her lawyers have also raised concerns about her physical safety and told a judge that her health is declining behind bars.
Trump’s pardon has no legal impact on her state conviction and incarceration. But the administration has been pressuring Colorado officials to set her free or at least transfer her into federal custody, where she could be moved into a more comfortable facility. The Justice Department even stepped in to support Peters’ unsuccessful attempt to convince a federal judge to release her from prison.
After months of hearings and legal filings, a federal judge in Denver rejected her federal lawsuit seeking release on Monday, concluding that state courts are the proper venue for her to challenger her conviction.
Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in a statement defended Peters’ conviction. “No President has jurisdiction over state law nor the power to pardon a person for state convictions. This is a matter for the courts to decide, and we will abide by court orders,” he said.
Polis has previously said he won’t pardon Peters as part of any quid-pro-quo deal.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat who is fighting to uphold Peters’ conviction and keep her behind bars, also dismissed the pardon in a statement.
“The idea that a president could pardon someone tried and convicted in state court has no precedent in American law, would be an outrageous departure from what our constitution requires, and will not hold up,” Weiser said.
One of her lawyers sent a letter to Trump earlier this month, making the case for a pardon. Those efforts were successful at securing a symbolic clemency action from Trump, however, only Polis has the power to pardon Peters for her state crimes and set her free.
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins contributed to this report.
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