The Blood Is at the Doorstep is being presented as part of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York City. Visit the official site for other cities and dates.
In his debut as a documentary film director, Erik Ljung weaves together a profoundly disturbing portrait of the shooting and death of another unarmed black man by a cop; the valiant efforts of his mother and brother to speak out against the racism in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and the protests in a city polarized over the one-sided criminal justice system.
On April 30, 2014, Dontre Hamilton, a schizophrenic, was sleeping in a public park when Officer Christopher Manney tried to remove him from the spot. He claims that the young black man took his baton and started beating him. Manney then shot Hamilton 14 times. To make things even worse, the family was not notified of the death for at least nine hours. When pushed why this happened, the police say that the department figured the Hamilton family would have seen news about Dontre's death on TV.
It is depressing to witness Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn give a biased and untrue depiction of the slain youth as a homeless man and an armed robber. Following Dontre's death, his brother Nate transforms himself into an activist and co-founder of the Coalition for Justice. His mother also decides to speak out against the use of lethal force by policemen and their ignorance about proper ways to relate to mentally ill people in so many communities.
Ljung follows the efforts of the black community to have Officer Manney face trial for the shooting. The police union comes out in support of him despite his deadly use of force and his poor record in dealing with blacks. Then, much to the shock and dismay of Nate and his fellow activists, we learn that Manney is dropped from the police force but receives a hefty monthly pension.