Rev. Al Sharpton delivers eulogy for Dvontaye Mitchell; Attorney Ben Crump delivers ‘National Call for Justice’

Rev. Al Sharpton, President and Founder of the National Action Network (NAN), delivered the eulogy for Dvontaye Mitchell in Milwaukee on Thursday, July 11, 2024, as thousands descend upon the city for the start of the Republican National Convention (RNC). Mitchell’s case has sparked outrage in Wisconsin’s largest city after the 43-year-old was detained by several Hyatt Regency Milwaukee hotel security guards during what his mother called a mental health episode.

Mitchell died at the Hyatt Regency on June 30, 2024, shortly after entering the hotel during a mental health crisis. Security guards claimed Mitchell started an altercation when they tried to escort him out, which ended with four of the guards pinning him down. Witness accounts corroborated with video from the scene indicated several of the guards kneeled on Mitchell’s back and neck as another struck his head with an object. Mitchell also pleaded with the security guards to stop constraining him and said “I’m sorry” at least twice. “We cannot watch Dvontaye Mitchell’s murder be washed out by the RNC coming to town, where they will solidify a nominee whose view of justice is pure brute force,” said Rev. Sharpton. “You cannot answer a black man’s cries for help during a clear mental crisis with a knee on his back or his neck. People from all over the country descended upon Milwaukee this week, and it’s our mission to see the state of black American and why Dvontaye’s family deserves justice.”