Black man dies, crying for help, after Milwaukee hotel guards pin him down, video shows

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 calls for help.

Witness video shows Dvontaye Mitchell, 43, lying on the ground and crying for help outside the Hyatt Regency hotel as security guards pin him down with their hands and knees. Mitchell can be heard grunting and yelling apologies.

Mitchell’s mother said her son had mental health issues, and Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer representing Mitchell’s family, said 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 claims.

More witnesses have since come forward, according to Crump, who told The Washington Post that the security guards must be held accountable. Two witnesses will describe what they saw happen at the hotel during a news conference on Wednesday, he said.

Milwaukee police did not immediately respond to questions about whether they’re still collecting witness accounts.

“Dvontaye was pleading for his life. It’s just heartbreaking,” Crump said, calling for the hotel to release its video footage and to identify the security personnel involved. “It’s even more egregious that they are treating these private citizens with a cloak of immunity.”

A spokesperson for Hyatt extended condolences to Mitchell’s loved ones and to the city of Milwaukee. Aimbridge Hospitality, a Texas-based company, operates the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee and manages its employees, according to the Hyatt spokesperson. Aimbridge’s investigation into Mitchell’s death is ongoing and the employees involved have been suspended, the Hyatt spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Aimbridge Hospitality said the company is supporting the ongoing law enforcement investigation and remains committed to providing a welcoming and safe environment for all hotel guests and employees.

“We offer our sincere condolences to Mr. Mitchell’s family and loved ones,” the spokesperson added.

Crump, in comparing Mitchell’s death to that of Floyd’s, said stopping people from using excessive force against unarmed Black people requires action from authorities.

“Then they won’t be prone to treat unarmed Black men with such inhumanity,” said Crump, who represented Floyd’s family in a lawsuit against Minneapolis.

Floyd, who was Black, died there 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.

No one has been charged in connection to Mitchell’s death. The Milwaukee district attorney’s office told The Post on Tuesday that 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,” an office spokesperson added.

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.”

It is not clear what happened immediately before or after the witness videos were recorded. In one video broadcast by local media, a guard appears to address the person recording the video, shouting, “This is what happens when you go into the ladies’ room.” Aimbridge Hospitality did not immediately respond to a question about whether Mitchell had entered a women’s restroom.

If Mitchell had entered the women’s restroom, that shouldn’t be a death sentence, Crump said.

Mitchell, who lived in Milwaukee, had two children: a 6-year-old and an 8-year old, said his mother, Brenda Giles. Mitchell struggled with his mental health in recent years and may have been suffering from a mental health episode when he was at the hotel, she said.

“He lost his dad in June 2016. After his dad passed, it did something to him,” Giles said, adding that she didn’t know why her son was at the hotel.

Giles said she is seeking justice for her son, adding that the hotel should make its videos public.

“He didn’t harm anyone. He didn’t hurt anyone,” Giles said of Mitchell.

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 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 Tuesday.