CBS News
Black man’s death after Milwaukee hotel security guards pinned him to ground prompts family to call for charges
The family of a Black man who died after security guards pinned him to the ground outside a Milwaukee hotel is calling for criminal charges to be filed against the guards. Authorities are investigating the death of 43-year-old Dvontaye Mitchell outside the Hyatt Regency in downtown Milwaukee.
Cellphone video of the incident shows four guards holding Mitchell down on the hotel’s driveway on June 30.
CBS affiliate WDJT-TV reported the video also shows the guards hitting Mitchell in the head. The guards are heard in the video telling Mitchell to “stay down” and “stop fighting.”
“This is what happens when you go into the ladies’ room,” one guard yells while facing the camera.
“I’m sorry,” someone in the video says. It wasn’t clear if Mitchell was speaking.
Milwaukee police told CBS News that an individual caused a disturbance inside a business and fought with security guards while being led outside.
“Security detained the individual until police arrived,” police said in a statement. “Upon arrival, the individual was unresponsive and despite lifesaving measures, the 43-year-old individual was pronounced deceased.”
The medical examiner’s office made a preliminary determination that Mitchell’s death was a homicide but more tests were being conducted, according to WDJT-TV. The Milwaukee County district attorney’s office told CBS News the incident was referred to prosecutors and was pending further investigation.
Mitchell’s mother Brenda Giles believes her son was suffering from a “mental health episode,” according to a statement from the law firm of attorney Ben Crump, who’s representing the family.
“They took his life,” Mitchell’s wife DeAsia Harmon told reporters Monday during a news conference. “They murdered my husband.”
Crump compared the guards’ actions to the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers.
“When you look at what happens on this video, it screams out for there to be accountability, for there to be charges brought against the killers of Dvontaye Mitchell,” Crump told reporters.
A Hyatt spokesperson told CBS News the hotel is franchised by Aimbridge Hospitality and that the company suspended its employees involved in the incident. The spokesperson called the incident a tragedy.
“As the investigation continues, Hyatt is fully committed to supporting efforts to help ensure accountability for the circumstances that led to the death of Dvontaye Mitchell,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
An Aimbridge spokesperson offered their condolences to Mitchell’s family and loved ones in a statement to CBS News.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
CBS News
Biden says Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s killing a “measure of justice” for his many victims
Washington, D.C., – President Biden said on Saturday the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the overall leader of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, in a Friday airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon was a “measure of justice,” for his many victims.
In a statement released by the White House, Mr. Biden said “Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror,” including thousands of Israelis and Lebanese civilians. Nasrallah’s killing, which the statement said took place in the broader context of the conflict that began with Hamas’s massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, happened after the Hezbollah leader “made the fateful decision to join hands with Hamas and open what he called a “northern front” against Israel.”
Hezbollah has been firing rockets and drones across Lebanon’s southern border into Israel for almost a year amid the country’s war with Hamas.
Nasrallah was killed in a series of massive explosions targeting leaders of the militant group, which started with numerous pagers exploding across Lebanon on Sept. 18 killing at least 12 people — including members of the militant group Hezbollah and two children — and wounding several thousand, according to Lebanon’s public health minister.
Strikes escalated in recent days, with one senior U.S. administration official calling the situation between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon “delicate and dangerous.” More than 500 people were killed in Lebanon on Monday, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, as missiles slammed into residential buildings. Israel said it was targeting Hezbollah weapons hidden in the building.
Tensions in the Middle East have engulfed Mr. Biden’s last – and his final – year of presidency. His administration has said the U.S. “fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups,” and he has directed the Secretary of Defense “to further enhance” the defense posture of U.S. military forces in the Middle East.
Mr. Biden said in the statement ultimately his administration aims to de-escalate the ongoing conflicts through diplomatic means.
During his final speech to the United Nations General Assembly as president on Thursday Mr. Biden said, “full scale war is not in anyone’s interest.”
CBS News
9/28: Saturday Morning – CBS News
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From the archives: Maggie Smith
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