Police officers and angry citizens wait to speak Thursday night at a meeting of the city’s Fire and Police Commission about the shooting of Dontre Hamilton in Red Arrow Park. The meeting was held at the Washington Park Senior Center. Credit: Michael Sears

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Tensions ran high Thursday night as hundreds of supporters of Dontre Hamilton and fired Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney spoke out at a meeting of the city's Fire and Police Commission.

Police Chief Edward Flynn fired Manney last month in connection with the death of Hamilton, 31, who was shot 14 times by Manney at Red Arrow Park in April. Manney has appealed his firing to the commission.

"Do the right thing and uphold the termination of officer Christopher Manney," said Curtis Sails III, a member of the Coalition for Justice. As he spoke, half the audience held signs reading "Can Dontre appeal?"

Those who supported Manney wore black shirts reading "We Stand Together." Several officers who spoke described the pride they feel as a member of the department and the risks they take daily as part of their duty.

"I am also here to show support for Chris Manney," officer Roy Meinzer told the board. "I and every officer have conducted the same exact investigation as Christopher Manney did multiple times in a work shift. So for this I assume we should all be terminated."

Milwaukee Police Association President Mike Crivello told the commission that Manney's firing was "unprecedented."

As he continued, some in the crowd shouted and tried to drown him out. The meeting eventually came back to order. During public comment, commissioners only take notes and do not respond. Commission Chairwoman Sarah Morgan said she had no comment after the meeting.

Since Manney was fired on Oct. 15, demonstrators in support of Hamilton's family have continued calls for the former officer to face criminal charges, while the Milwaukee Police Association has taken a no-confidence vote on Flynn.

"He should not be appealing the job, he should be locked up," Hamilton's mother, Maria Hamilton, said during the meeting. "We're asking you all to do your job. If any other community individual had shot another man 14 times, he would be in jail."

According to police, the incident involving Hamilton began when workers at the nearby Starbucks called police to complain about him sleeping in Red Arrow Park. A pair of officers checked on Hamilton and found he was doing nothing wrong.

Manney was not aware the other officers already had been to the park when he retrieved a voice mail regarding Hamilton's presence there and responded to the call, the chief has said.

As Manney patted down Hamilton, Hamilton fought him. Manney tried to use his baton to subdue Hamilton, but Hamilton got control of it and hit Manney on the side of the neck, according to a Milwaukee police internal affairs investigation. Manney then shot Hamilton repeatedly.

Flynn said he fired Manney not for using excessive force, but because he did not follow department rules.

"Certainly there are some folks in this community that are legitimately grieving, and we've heard from them," Flynn said Thursday. "We heard a lot of folks who believe the First Amendment only applies to them and took great pains to shout down anybody that disagreed with them.

"Despite my ongoing disagreements with the police union, I have to say that their members tonight conducted themselves, I thought, with great restraint."

At one point during the meeting, members of the audience criticized Flynn for looking at his phone. Flynn said he was trying to keep up with developments concerning a 5-year-old girl who was fatally shot Thursday inside a city home.

Flynn was incensed as he spoke to reporters later.

"There's a bunch of cops processing a scene of a dead kid, and they're the ones who are going to be out there patrolling and stopping suspects that may have guns under the front seats," Flynn said. "They're the ones that are going to take the risks to their lives to try to clean this thing up."