Outrage Grows After Police Kill Unhoused Black Man Near RNC, Firing 27 Bullets

People’s Tribune originally published the following article on July 22, 2024. 

The following article has excerpts from the voices of family members, friends, and activists, gathered from news reports and social media on the police killing of Samuel Sharpe, Jr., near the Republican National Convention

Outrage is growing in Milwaukee, WI, after a fatal police shooting on July 15 of Samuel Sharpe, Jr., an unhoused 43-year-old Black man. Sharpe was killed by Ohio police who were brought in to Milwaukee as part of security, along with other state’s police for the Republican National Convention. Five Ohio police officers fired 27 bullets at Samuel. Police claim an argument between two men was taking place, and that Samuel had a knife and was ready to attack the other man. Police were 30 feet away when the five officers fired, killing Samuel. A group of teenagers who were playing basketball at the park said the police started firing within 20 seconds of arriving at the scene, (sourcenm.com). Many people question why Ohio police were allowed into a Milwaukee community not in the RNC security zone.

“The Milwaukee police chief at a press conference made it seem like Columbus [Ohio] police were saving someone’s life,” said Alan Chaya, Chair of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR). There was a load of lies coming out of Chief Jeffrey Norman’s mouth today. We demand justice for Samuel Sharp.”

Sharpe’s death came only weeks after security guards at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Milwaukee pinned down, beat and killed D’Vontaye Mitchell, a 43-year-old Black father. Mitchell was crying out that he could not breathe, begging for them to stop. No one has been charged. Mitchell’s death continues to be protested widely, now along with Sharpe’s.

Family members speak

Samuel Sharpe’s sister, Angelique Sharpe, told the Washington Post that Sam lived in a tent with his dog Ices. She said, “Until November, Sam had lived at his mother’s home in Milwaukee. He had always been a mama’s boy and he had advanced multiple sclerosis,” she said. “But Sam felt called on a mission to spread scripture to people living on the margins of society. He said it was the example Jesus had set. And so he left and made the tent his home.”

“Sam wanted to be on his own with his multiple sclerosis,” said Katrina Games, Sam’s aunt, speaking on behalf of his mother. “He didn’t want us to feel like we had to take care of him or burden us. For the police to just shoot him like that, 27 bullets, come on! You shot my nephew like that! It didn’t take all of that. If he was someone else — if he was a different race — and I hate to bring race in this, because I have all races in my family — but you wouldn’t have killed him like that, you wouldn’t have shot him like that. Twenty-seven bullets. And all that he was doing was trying to protect himself. He went to the police, and they did nothing. And now my nephew is dead, and it is just horrible.”

Angelique Sharpe said that shortly before his death, her brother told their mother he feared for his life. Angelique told democracynow.org that, “Someone told Sam that they were going to kill him, his dog, and burn his tent down. He was afraid. And my mother was hysterical. She called me and said, ‘Angelique! Call Sam.’ I called Sam. He said, ‘Angelique, I really don’t want you involved down here because you don’t know anything about this community.’ I would go visit and give him money or ask him was he OK, or whatever he might need. But I didn’t hang out down there or anything like that. And so, he didn’t want me to just be immersed in the community like that. So, he basically said that if this person tries to come for him, he’s going to have to protect himself, and to not go down there. That was Saturday.

“Tuesday, the day this happened, he came home in the morning,” continued Angelique. “Sam said that whoever this was chased him out of the encampment to the house. So he left his dog Ices down there. And he complained again to my mother that this person was trying to make good on what they said. You know, premeditated murder. And so, ultimately, they got into a standoff. And what we’re seeing in the [Ohio Police] bodycam, is a video without context. So, he does have, we believe, paring knives [in his hands]. A lot of the shelter-less community may not have the tools you have in a kitchen. They will open cans and eat out of whatever. And so, maybe he already had this around. We live in a country where everyone is toting around guns, supposedly to protect themselves, but Sam can’t carry a knife when someone is threatening his life?” fumed Angelique.

Angelique said the family is baffled. “One, Sam has MS; that affects your hearing. Two, this happened on one of the busiest thoroughfare streets in the city. We’re talking about lunchtime traffic in the middle of a workday, and loud vehicles. So, on top of him not being able to hear and the traffic, how are you supposed to hear police from that far away [30 feet] giving you any commands? And the video backs this up because neither one of the men responded to the police — they couldn’t hear. Otherwise, there’s no way that both of them didn’t turn around and respond.”

Those who knew Samuel Sharpe say his death could have been prevented, that the situation could have been deescalated, and question the worth the community places on its unhoused residents. Angelique told the Journal Sentinel, “If the police had known [he had MS], they would have known he wasn’t lunging forward. He was stumbling.”

Community vigil for Samuel Sharp, Jr.

On July 16, the day after the killing, a community vigil for Samuel Sharpe, Jr., took place. Alan Chaya, Chair of MAARPR, the group that organized the vigil, opened the memorial with these words:

“So we’re gathered here today to honor Samuel Sharpe, Jr. You can only imagine what [the family] is going through. But we’re here with them. We’re here with Samuel Sharp, Jr. And we’re here with the people of Milwaukee, [and] the long list of victims of police crimes. In 2014 Dr. Hamilton was killed. Jay Anderson, Jr., was killed. Alvin Cole was killed in 2020. George Floyd, Roberto Zielinski, and Brian Green were killed. Samuel Sharp was killed. But today’s a bit different . . .The previous names were people killed by Milwaukee Police and they died in the Milwaukee County Jail. And I could go on and on. All the other names were killed by Wisconsin police too. But today you got Samuel Sharp killed not by Milwaukee Police, but by police from Columbus, Ohio. Body cam footage [shows] officers with their guns drawn over 30 feet away from where Samuel Sharp was.

“The city nonstop had told us that it was going to be the people like us that caused issues during the Republican National Convention. And we warned them for years that it would be out-of-state police that would cause issues. We were over eight blocks away from the barricade of the RNC. How does the Milwaukee police allow officers from Columbus, Ohio to be unattended, unguarded, off their leash so far into Milwaukee? We told them this would happen. They try to spin it on the people of Milwaukee. The people of Milwaukee has shown how we control ourselves and how we keep us safe. But it’s on the city. Blood is on the city’s hands.”

“I’m so tired of thoughts and prayers after each police killing. This is so predictable,” said Louryn Cross, co-chair of the MAARPR. She told mourners at the vigil, “4,500 outside law enforcement officers [are here]. Those are the outside agitators that police should be worried about. This did not have to happen. The city spends millions paving the way for the RNC. Meanwhile, it’s constituents are living without access to basic necessities, living without access to shelter. The mayor and local leadership talked extensively over two years about how the RNC was bringing business and how this wasn’t a political decision and how it was bringing productivity to the city. But the Black and Brown people in this city are paying for it with their lives. Yes he had a knife, but he put his hands up. They could have tased him. Two tasers would’ve pulled down Samuel Sharpe. I was right there. The man went to the police. He said I got a knife. He lives in a tent out here. The knife was nothing but this little [holds up hands]. He couldn’t kill nobody. He put his hands up, he turned his back and they shot him. See what’s going on in African American communities. The police killed this man for no mother-fucking reason.

This was about complications with one of [Samuel’s] friends that live in this community. That stuff is normally deescalated. The police department does not deescalate. The first thing they want to do is take our lives, which are important to us. They have no business in our community if they do not respect the people that live here. They came here for these politicians. Milwaukee should have had a space for them to meet not in our community.”

Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton, a young man who was killed by Milwaukee police 10 years ago while sleeping in a park, said, “If you do not know what policies and procedures are in the city of Milwaukee, we do not want you here. I know we still got another 72 hours of this invasion. Please be safe. Nobody is exempt. Dontre wasn’t exempt in a park. I just celebrated the 10th anniversary of his legacy because he was important to us and he was important to people in this community. We do not condone the invasion [of police]. Do what you came to do and get the hell out of our town. We take care of our people here. We police the police here. No justice, no peace.” (From Democracy Now! video)

“Hey listen everybody, I just want everyone to know that over this hill, there’s an entire community of human beings living in tents. They don’t have addresses, they don’t have food, water, they don’t have the basics. And I don’t want nobody to leave here without taking a ride around that corner and seeing those tents. So tonight when we go home to our warm houses and meals, I want everybody out here to remember that there are people living in tents in this community in what they call an encampment, and know it’s a trap. One-tenth of what was spent one day at the RNC today could have changed their lives.  I want to make sure we call attention to that so that Samuel Sharpe’s life was not in vain [and] for all of the other homeless people out here. I want you to make sure you come back to touch these people and do something to help them. You might not be able to do everything, but you can do a little something. And I want to make sure that we declare justice.” (From recording by democracynow.org)

“I’m from Philadelphia, a national organizer of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights campaign. And I travel to city, states, countries all around the planet to try to ensure that justice falls. And the way we do that is based on uniting people from all different walks of life. I’m here to bear witness that the Republicans don’t give a damn about us. And your elected officials allow them to come in here to take all the resources and have a party for about four days while people suffer day in and day out here in this area. And it’s got to change. We got to look at what we all have in common and make that our one stand because it’s hard out here. But people be thinking, oh, I’m a Democrat or Republican. And so they got us out here fighting each other. And they live in other neighborhoods where, you know, they got good water, they got solar, you know what I mean? They got everything. They got us thinking of scarcity out here. But we live in one of the richest countries in the world. Nobody should be living on the streets or in tents. Nobody should be born without basic necessities in one of the richest countries in the world. We got 42 billionaires from this country.  — Galen Tyler

Witnesses from the community where the homeless encampment is located and where the police killing took place:

“You shot him right in front of the Martin Luther King Center. Are y’all going crazy? They’re trying to make themselves look good because of the RNC going on. You know what I’m saying?

“I know him. He lived in that tent right there. His [nick] name is Jehovah. He is quiet. He might sometimes drink or whatever, but he don’t bother nobody. He’s a quiet dude. He takes care of his little dog. So for Jehovah to be upset like that, that even surprised us. I’ve never seen him so upset. There had to have been something really wrong. Other than that, he was a quiet guy. Kind of stayed to himself. But he was a nice guy.

To have to see one of my friends taken out like this, especially by police, was truly senseless. They didn’t have to do what they did. There was an altercation between two gentlemen. One had a knife. He turned around and looked at the police when he didn’t realize they were there. And they shot him, multiple times. There’s no way you can say that was anything but murder with a badge. And that’s how I feel about it and everybody else out here too. They start CPR five minutes later, after you shoot the guy. I mean, they didn’t even think nothing about it. To me, I’ve had college degrees, and in any book that’s just murder. And if they get away with it, then that lets us know they can do anything they want and we got to do what they say, and they can get away with murder. There was no reason for that. And not that many times. Taser I can understand. He had a little knife. They’re trained police officers.  And, I’ve never seen such force in no shooting scene in my life.” (From Video/Freedomnews.com)

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