Jeff Schrier | Mlive.com Jeff Schrier | The Saginaw News In a video from a camera mounted in a Saginaw Police car, officers approach Milton Hall with their weapons drawn. Saginaw County Prosecutor Michael D. Thomas showed the video during a press conference regarding the July 1, 2012 shooting of Milton Hall where he announced that he cleared Saginaw Police officers of criminal charges.

SAGINAW, MI — Saginaw police officers who shot and killed homeless Saginaw resident Milton Hall during a confrontation in a shopping plaza parking lot won't face federal charges.

The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan and the FBI announced their joint decision on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

“After a thorough investigation, federal authorities have determined that this tragic event does not present sufficient evidence of willful misconduct to lead to a federal criminal prosecution of the police officers involved,” a news release stated.

Hall died from police gunfire during a Sunday afternoon standoff July 1, 2012. Police were responding to reports that a man had stolen a cup of coffee from a convenience store and encountered Hall, who was armed with a knife and had a known history of mental illness.

Six officers shot at Hall 47 times; 11 bullets struck him. Several civilians witnessed the incident and recorded portions of it on their cellular phones.

After an investigation, Saginaw County's prosecutor did not seek state charges against the officers.

Hall's mother has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the city and nine police officers in U.S. District Court in Bay City seeking "full and fair compensation" as well as punitive damages.

The Justice Department said prosecutors “thoroughly reviewed the criminal investigation previously conducted by the Michigan State Police in conjunction with the Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office and the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.”

Milton Hall

The aftermath of the shooting sparked outrage among many citizens, caused Saginaw city leaders, the Saginaw Police Department and a citizens group to form a police advisory board.

The incident also garnered national attention bringing Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton to Saginaw to visit the site where Hall was killed.



The federal news release said that state authorities collected the physical evidence at the scene; photographed the scene; interviewed the two non-shooting Saginaw officers and dozens of eyewitnesses; acquired the patrol car dashcam and civilian videos of the incident; gathered the dispatch logs, 911 calls and other investigative materials related to the incident; obtained the involved officers’ police reports; and conducted a ballistics and autopsy examination.

In addition to reviewing that evidence, FBI agents interviewed a number of witnesses who had not been interviewed during the state's investigation, including individuals whose names were provided to prosecutors by Hall’s family.

Two Saginaw patrol car dashcams captured a video recording, with no audio, of much of the encounter between Hall and the officers. The dashcams on the other Saginaw patrol cars were either not operational or not activated during this incident.

Saginaw Police Department implemented a new video equipment policy in wake of the Hall shooting.

After the shooting, all of the officers at the scene wrote reports, the release stated.

“In these reports, the officers who discharged their weapons explained that they did so because they believed Hall posed an imminent threat to the officers’ safety.

“After a careful review of all of the evidence, experienced prosecutors from the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan have determined that the evidence in this case is insufficient to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the SPD officers willfully shot Hall for an unlawful purpose, rather than for their stated purpose of preventing Hall from harming SPD staff.

“Even if the officers were mistaken in their assessment of the threat posed by Hall, this would not establish that the officers acted willfully, or with an unlawful intent, when using deadly force against Hall.”

Bob Johnson is a public safety reporter for MLive/The Saginaw News. Contact him at 989-395-3295, by email at

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