In July 2011, Derek Williams died in Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) custody. Read “Medical Examiner Changes Ruling” to learn how the Milwaukee County medical examiner recently changed his ruling regarding Mr. Williams’ death from “natural causes” to “homicide.” The ruling changed after the medical examiner reviewed all the police reports from the incident and saw the disturbing video which shows Mr. Williams in the back seat of an MPD squad car struggling to breathe and begging for help.
In light of this tragedy, the Milwaukee community is demanding changes to the MPD as well as a federal investigation into the actions of the MPD officers involved in Mr. Williams’ death.
On Wednesday, October 3, 2012, more than 100 protesters marched from the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue on Milwaukee’s north side to the MPD headquarters downtown, many demanding MPD Chief Ed Flynn’s resignation. Also on Wednesday, members of the clergy and civil rights leaders met privately with Chief Flynn to demand release of additional information regarding Mr. Williams’ arrest, to demand discipline of the police officers involved in Mr. Williams’ death, and to request a federal investigation generally into potential MPD civil rights abuses.
Our Milwaukee Personal Injury Lawyers to Represent Wrongful Death Case
The civil rights lawyers of Samster, Konkel & Safran express our gratitude to the citizens of Milwaukee for their concern following the death of Derek Williams. Our Milwaukee personal injury attorneys represent Mr. Williams’ three young children, and we will do our best to see that there is justice and accountability for Mr. Williams’ death. We also call for changes to the MPD and a federal investigation of the Derek Williams case and other documented MPD civil rights abuses, so that future civil rights violations can be prevented.
