Multiple Hyatt employees fired after Dvontaye Mitchell’s death at Milwaukee hotel

A hotel management company laid off several employees on Wednesday after a black man died at a Hyatt hotel in Milwaukee last month.

Dvontaye Mitchell, 43, died after he was pushed to the ground by security guards at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee hotel on June 30 as he screamed for help, in an incident captured on video by a witness and shared on social media. It was not immediately clear what happened before or after the video.

Aimbridge Hospitality operates the hotel and manages the employees, including any disciplinary actions, according to a statement Wednesday from Hyatt.

“Hyatt joins the family of Dvontaye Mitchell in calling for transparency, accountability and justice for this senseless tragedy,” Connie McCauslin, senior manager for Hyatt Hotels Corporation, wrote in the statement. “We believe the Aimbridge Hospitality employees involved should be terminated and criminal charges should be filed.”

Supported by family members holding signs reading “Charge the Killers,” civil rights attorney Ben Crump demanded justice for Mitchell at a press conference followed by a demonstration outside the Milwaukee County Safety Building on Wednesday afternoon.

Mitchell’s widow, DeAsia Harmon, said at the news conference that she was sickened by watching more videos of the state in which her husband was held.

“Because there’s nothing I can do but try to be a voice for him,” she said. “They killed him and the Hyatt is responsible.”

Mitchell had two children, ages 8 and 6, his mother Brenda Giles said Tuesday. She added that Mitchell had struggled with his mental health since his father died in 2016, and that she did not know why he was at the hotel.

Crump previously represented the family of George Floyd, who was pinned to the ground by police officers when he died.

The Milwaukee County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating Mitchell’s death as a homicide and is awaiting a final autopsy from the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office before making a decision, a statement Wednesday said.

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