People of Faith United for Justice

Wednesday, April 29, 2015
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Bethel Lutheran Church and First United Methodist Church
Near the Capital Square
312 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison

People of Faith United for Justice is a day-long gathering to learn, discuss, pray and advocate together for social justice issues of importance to all the people of Wisconsin. As a new legislature starts work on the next state budget, our representatives need to hear our values, priorities, and concerns. Together, we can ensure that our commitment to compassion and justice is reflected in that budget.

Keynote Speaker


Hannah Rosenthal, CEO and President of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, has spent her career as a change agent and successfully advocating for Jewish causes. Prior to her appointment with the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Hannah served as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the US State Department. She has also served in the Executive Director role for the Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW), the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), and the Wisconsin Women’s Council

Hannah is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studied for the rabbinate in Jerusalem and California. She has long been active in public policy in Wisconsin, serving in support roles to a Wisconsin State Representative and a Wisconsin Member of Congress, as well as heading a Wisconsin state agency and a regional federal agency.

Keynote Respondent


Rev. Everett Mitchell’s life focus has been examining the relationship of the church to social issues, such as poverty, war, incarceration and immigration. His favorite quote, “Do not follow the path that has been given, instead go to where there is no path and leave a trail” exemplifies his community leadership and passion for social justice.
Rev. Mitchell is Director of Community Relations, UW Madison and Pastor, Christ the Solid Rock Baptist Church, Madison and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Princeton Theological Seminary. He also received his J.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison and prior to his current position with the University worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Dane County. He has served congregations in the National Baptist, American Baptist, Full Gospel, Lutheran and United Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian traditions.

People of Faith United for Justice

Wednesday, April 29, 2015
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Bethel Lutheran Church and First United Methodist Church
Near the Capital Square
312 Wisconsin Avenue, Madison

People of Faith United for Justice is a day-long gathering to learn, discuss, pray and advocate together for social justice issues of importance to all the people of Wisconsin. As a new legislature starts work on the next state budget, our representatives need to hear our values, priorities, and concerns. Together, we can ensure that our commitment to compassion and justice is reflected in that budget.

Keynote Speaker


Hannah Rosenthal, CEO and President of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, has spent her career as a change agent and successfully advocating for Jewish causes. Prior to her appointment with the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Hannah served as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism at the US State Department. She has also served in the Executive Director role for the Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW), the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), and the Wisconsin Women’s Council

Hannah is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studied for the rabbinate in Jerusalem and California. She has long been active in public policy in Wisconsin, serving in support roles to a Wisconsin State Representative and a Wisconsin Member of Congress, as well as heading a Wisconsin state agency and a regional federal agency.

Keynote Respondent


Rev. Everett Mitchell’s life focus has been examining the relationship of the church to social issues, such as poverty, war, incarceration and immigration. His favorite quote, “Do not follow the path that has been given, instead go to where there is no path and leave a trail” exemplifies his community leadership and passion for social justice.
Rev. Mitchell is Director of Community Relations, UW Madison and Pastor, Christ the Solid Rock Baptist Church, Madison and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Princeton Theological Seminary. He also received his J.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison and prior to his current position with the University worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Dane County. He has served congregations in the National Baptist, American Baptist, Full Gospel, Lutheran and United Methodist, Presbyterian, and Episcopalian traditions.

Police in Clarkstown, New York have confiscated a cache of high-powered weapons and body armor from a man who was arrested for posting death threats against against many Democratic politicians and every liberal supporter of President Barack Obama. According to WCBS, 49-year-old Larry Mulqueen was arraigned on Thursday on charges of “making terroristic threats, illegally possessing weapons and harassment.”

Mulqueen’s landlady had tipped off police after she found a “hit list” posted on Facebook that threatened Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and all members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The Facebook posting said that all of the president’s follower were “traitor scum” and promised “death to them all.”

Nyack-Piermont Patch reported that police searched Mulqueen’s home and found two high-powered rifles, two bayonets, a sword, a knuckle knife, body armor and ammunition. Included in the 100 rounds of ammunition were 27 so-called “tank buster” .50 caliber armor-piercing shells. Previous criminal convictions meant that it was illegal for Mulqueen to possess the weapons.

On the heels of an announcement that U.S. Attorney James Santelle will review the shooting death of Dontre Hamilton at the hands of Milwaukee Police officer Christopher Manney, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore has called for a broader review of whether the Milwaukee Police Department systemically violates citizens’ civil rights.

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) has called on the U.S. Attorney’s Office to conduct a “pattern and practice” review of the Milwaukee Police Department in connection with the Dontre Hamilton case.

Moore made the request this week in a letter to the federal prosecutor’s office in Milwaukee.

While the Hamilton case has not received as much media attention as the Michael Brown shooting, it may very well out-Ferguson Ferguson. Hamilton, an unarmed 31-year-old African-American man, was shot 14 times by white police officer Christopher Manney on the afternoon of April 30, 2014. Hamilton, who had a history of schizophrenia (which he had received treatment for), had been sleeping in downtown Red Arrow Park; two officers had checked on him earlier in the day and concluded that he was not a threat to himself or others. Toxicology reports found no drugs or alcohol in Hamilton’s system at the time of his death. Half of the bullets that hit Hamilton traveled in a downward direction before striking their target, with one shot hitting him in the back. According to Jonathan Safran, an attorney for the Hamilton family, no gunpowder residue was found near Hamilton’s 21 gunshot wounds – a finding that Safran suggests shows Manney fired from some distance when he discharged his weapon that day.

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On the one hand, the Hamilton case tragically illustrates that what happened in Ferguson is far from exceptional. What many pundits still try to pawn off as an isolated incident is in fact part of what can best be described as a national epidemic. Yet what is particularly instructive about these events in Milwaukee is their broader context. The history of Milwaukee – and more specifically the history of police misconduct in Milwaukee – provides the perfect vehicle through which to understand how the culture that leads to events like Ferguson (and Staten Island and Cleveland) is created. Sadly, this history is all too familiar in cities across America, and appears to have one common goal: to demean and dehumanize African-American men.

Often, this history is surprisingly fresh. On the very same day of the Michael Brown non-indictment, a group of 12 plaintiffs filed civil cases against the city of Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Police Department for a series of approximately 70 illegal strip searches that police officers carried out between 2007 and 2012 — all of African-American men. While the ringleader of the officers who conducted these searches – Michael Vagnini – is now serving a 26-month prison term after pleading no contest to a series of four felonies and four misdemeanors, these civil cases implicate close to 15 officers as having participated and/or witnessed these searches. One of the officers named in a civil case filed on Nov. 24, Zachary Thoms, has already admitted in a disposition that he and Officer Vagnini forced a suspect to defecate into a cardboard box to retrieve drugs they believed he had placed in his anal cavity. No drugs were found. Other details found throughout the pages of these civil cases are equally as disturbing. Victim after victim describes how these searches were often done in public places and resulted in such harrowing physical conditions as anal bleeding.

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Soon, Ferguson became a sort of blank slate, one on which anyone could project anything. As the site where Officer Wilson took the young man’s life came to attract pilgrims from around the country, the discussion surrounding Brown’s death quickly transcended geography and focused instead on the realities of a broader systemic racism. The vacuum of the unknown was soon filled by a chorus of voices sharing similar stories of heartbreak – and demanding action. Such a process has begun to galvanize a new generation of activists across America, including those that police chief Flynn is so quick to dismiss here in Milwaukee. Within the city, such activists, including the Hamilton family, have already pushed political leaders to act.

Baer: I don’t trust American intelligence. You look at the torture report from the Senate: People inside the CIA are saying that it doesn’t work, and we’re getting the information not from torture, but simply from questioning people.

The effectiveness of the program was exaggerated in the Senate, House and White House, as well, so as an organization I don’t think you should trust the CIA on this. And when [CIA Director John] Brennan comes out and gives that lukewarm endorsement of torture it told me the whole story––he didn’t flat-out say it saved lives. That’s how it was presented around [Washington].

And I don’t trust them on drones. When they say it’s broken the back of Al-Qaeda, I really doubt that. We’ve probably sown chaos with drones, killed lots of innocent people. But we certainly didn’t bring an end to war. The intent of assassination is to avoid war and preserve force, neither of which we have done. We are deeper into the Middle East than when we started.

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Our armed presence in the Middle East hasn’t made us safer. It’s our armed presence in the Middle East that has led to 9/11. When we get involved in the Middle East we always make things worse. . . On 9/11 Sweden wasn’t attacked, we were, because we intervened. Our intervention in Iraq and Syria is making Israel less safe.

Eight Milwaukee aldermen — a Common Council majority — say they will support buying body cameras for all city police officers at an accelerated pace over the next few years, among other policing reforms announced Tuesday.

Ald. Willie Wade said equipping the entire force of 1,880 with body cameras would cost as much as $1 million and that funds were available through the Police Department's asset forfeiture account. Wade spoke at a Tuesday news conference at City Hall. Value of cash and assets taken in drug arrests and other crimes amounts to more than $1 million a year, said Ald. Nik Kovac, chairman of the council's finance committee.

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Wade and four Milwaukee aldermen on Tuesday announced a series of Police Department reforms in response to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm's decision not to charge a former police officer in the fatal shooting of Dontre Hamilton at Red Arrow Park. The Hamilton family had called for former Milwaukee police officer Christopher Manney to face criminal charges. Manney shot Dontre Hamilton 14 times on April 30 during a confrontation at the park.

The five council members pledged to support the Hamilton family in its quest for justice while working to enact reforms "that will ensure every life is protected by the men and women of the Milwaukee Police Department," they said in a statement.