Manney was fired from the police force in October for not following the department’s procedures for dealing with the mentally ill 31-year-old during the incident.

“I understand there are deep concerns any time an officer employs force. That’s correct, that’s reasonable, that’s understandable,” Chisholm said at a news conference Monday. “My obligation is simply analyze all [the information] and come to a decision that I think is fair, that is consistent with my ethical obligation not to charge unless I believe that I can demonstrate a crime occurring beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin James Santelle announced his office will investigate the case for possible civil rights prosecution, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Chisholm’s decision was announced following weeks of national protests over police brutality. Over the past month, separate grand juries in Missouri and New York declined to indict white police officers in the deaths of unarmed black men Michael Brown and Eric Garner. In late November, a white police officer in Cleveland fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was holding a BB gun at the time of their encounter.

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“We cannot allow all police officers in this nation, all police officers in this city, to be demonized,” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Monday. “This is the time for peace.”

Barrett praised the majority of officers as “hard-working public servants who are doing this job because they want to protect the public” but noted that there are exceptions “for us to weed out.”

Attorneys for Hamilton’s relatives said in a statement that the family was “extremely disappointed” in Chisholm’s decision, which came after an eight-month investigation, and called for a federal probe.

“This is a case which cries out for justice, criminal charges against Christopher Manney, and accountability to Dontre Hamilton’s family,” the attorneys said.

Employees at a nearby Starbucks had called to complain about Hamilton sleeping in the Red Arrow Park on April 30.

Manney said in a statement to investigators that he found Hamilton lying on the ground, and that after asking him to stand up and answer questions, Hamilton attacked Manney, grabbing his baton and striking the officer with it. Manney said he then drew his weapon, but Hamilton continued to advance.

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“Manney states that he feared Hamilton would attack him with the baton and that he ‘would be dead’ as a result,” Chisholm’s report reads. Manney then shot Hamilton, and “it did not seem to have any effect,” according to the statement. Manney kept firing until Hamilton fell to the ground.

Chisholm said Monday that officers can use force to stop a threat and aren’t required to stop shooting to reassess after a specific number of shots.

“As long as the threat is present, they are authorized to keep firing,” Chisholm said.

Hamilton had a history of paranoid schizophrenia, and Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said in October that Manney violated policy in dealing with the mentally ill by instigating a physical confrontation with Hamilton and coming up behind him. But Manney did not use excessive force in the incident, the department said.

Following the incident, the city has increased mental health training for its police force.

Speaking on the steps of a federal courthouse Monday, Dontre Hamilton’s brother Nate Hamilton said, “My family, we cried too long. As a people, we’re done crying when injustice comes,” he said. “I loved my brother. So this is a fight that we’re going to endure.”