D'Vontaye Mitchell remembered; justice vowed at funeral: 'We need to be united in this'

D'Vontaye Mitchell's final words were "please" ? he said it while gasping for breath six times ? followed by "I'm sorry" and "Please help me."

Mitchell's pleas for help went unanswered. He died June 30 in front of the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Milwaukee. The security guards who held him face down have been fired. They were employed by third-party operator, Aimbridge Hospitality. Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office is investigating his death as a homicide.

Prominent civil right attorney Ben Crump said Mitchell's last words out loud while speaking at the 43-year-old, father of two's funeral Thursday at Holy Redeemer Institutional Church of God in Christ in Milwaukee.

Crump said Mitchell's name along with George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Eric Garner, linking him to other high-profile deaths of Black men and women in the last decade and a half following encounters with police or people in positions of authority.

"We going to help you D'Vontaye," Crump said. "When they hit him, punch him and beat him with this metal baton, it was like they beating us all."

His death is garnering national attention because of its similarity to George Floyd's and comes at a time when the city is poised to be in the national spotlight as thousands arrive in Milwaukee next week for the Republican National Convention. The Hyatt, where frequent protests have been occurring in response to his death, is across from one of the RNC's three main venues.

Prominent civil right activist and minister Al Sharpton, a former Democratic political candidate for president and other offices, called out the political slogan of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump during his eulogy.

“I know y’all got a crowd coming to town talking about make America great again,” he said. “It wasn’t great when I had to sit in the back of the bus … and it wasn’t great that in 2024 you think you can put your knee on a man ... and choke his life out.”

The service oscillated between enthusiastic song and heartfelt prayer, Bible readings and remembrances from Mitchell’s family.

His mother, Brenda Giles, said his death couldn’t be “swept under the rug.”

“We going to fight. We going to fight,” Giles said. “We need to be united in this.”

Mitchell’s wife DeAsia Harmon described him as her best friend and protector.

His brothers and other family members said they would miss how he danced, rapped, and loved to cook, often turning modest dishes into fancy meals. The family described Mitchell as one who cared too much to say "no" to asks for help, making him a frequent go-to for family.

“I want to remember the best parts of him," Harmon said. "I want to make sure everybody here knows the best parts of him.

Mitchell’s cousin, Latrisa Giles, read Psalm 37 from the Old Testament during the service. She said that the family and community should believe that their faith would lead to justice.

“We shouldn’t worry about the evil and injustice that has been done to D’Vontaye, because quickly they will get their just due,” she said. “While we’re working here to get the justice for D’Vontaye, just know that we put our faith in God … God is going to make sure that it comes to pass.”

Crump, one of three attorneys representing the Mitchell family, brandished a security baton that he said was used to beat Mitchell while he was apprehended by security.

“We going to help D’Vontaye,” Crump said, before naming each member of the family and saying they would help them, while holding the baton. “Stand up and get justice, because when they hit him and they punch him and they beat him with this metal baton, it was like they beating us all.”

Will Sulton, another attorney family, succinctly put the legal team’s goals in a message directed to Mitchell’s two children.

“We’re going to get these bastards,” he said.

Attorneys for the Mitchell family have described Mitchell’s death as an example of racial injustice in the judicial system – describing it as the “two judicial systems.”

Sharpton wondered if a white man or woman would be killed following a “disturbance" and, in his eulogy, he said Mitchell was "the least of us" and it was why he was treated that way.

“You can do whatever you want to him because he was the least of them. Nobody going to care, because he’s the least of them,” Sharpton said. “You never thought folk like us would be coming to stand up for D’Vontaye. If you had known that these activists are going to stand up … you would have took your knee off.”

During the service, Sharpton handed a $5,000 check to each mother of Mitchell’s two children, an 8-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old son. His civil rights organization the National Action Network paid for the funeral's costs, and he called on those in attendance to support the family though a GoFundMe.

Mitchell mirrored a long history that of Black people in the country, when they were brought to America as enslaved people and "made us the least," Sharpton said.

“We want the people in this town and others, that who you consider the least, God consider the most,” he said. “We are no longer slaves. You can’t just beat us and act like we won’t take your weapon. You will be held accountable when you put your hands on us. Our lives are of value and our lives is significant.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: D'Vontaye Mitchell remembered in passionate funeral, Al Sharpton gives eulogy