Justice for Milton Hall: Mentally ill homeless man unjustifiably gunned down by 5 police officers.

Milton Hall was a mentally ill homeless man that was shot and killed by six police officers in Saginaw, Michigan on July 1, 2012. He was shot 46 times in broad daylight at a local shopping center in front of children. Turns out, he only had a 2 inch knife. I sent a letter to the editor of The Saginaw News. It was printed in the newspaper: This is what I wrote:

It’s a shame that an obviously troubled mentally ill man, Mr. Hall, had to die because of his mental illness. I, too, feel that this shooting was not justified. It was definitely over kill. Come on, he was shot 46 times. The actual shooters are not men, they're cowards! They knew that Mr. Hall was mentally disturbed. He had probably run out of his meds with The Department of Mental Health cutting so many programs now-a-days. Besides, Mr. Hall was the least dangerous person out there that day. He had a 2 inch knife; and was 36 feet away from the officers. What did the officers have?

There was no need to kill this man. That's what tasers, pepper sprays, hand cuffs, and other non lethal weapons are for; to subdue those like Mr. Hall, who disconnect from reality. Those cops used unnecessary deadly force--unjustifiably. We do not control mental illness by murder, that’s why police have non lethal weapons. What's the point of giving officers the option of having bullet proof/stab proof vests, tasers, dogs, batons, mase, and hand cuffs?

In the poor neighborhoods, police are shooting and mistreating mentally ill people more and more often when it isn't warranted. Had Mr. Hall been a wealthy mentally ill person, I doubt if he would have been shot or even tasered. They would have simply talked with him and subdued him.

Those police lives were not in danger; so, I see no justification for using deadly force. Just being combative is not justification to shoot someone. Police are supposed to be trained on how to deal with the mentally disturbed. Mr. Hall was over 25 feet from the officers; witnesses say 36 feet away.

I feel that these police officers were not properly trained in nonviolent methods of interacting with the mentally ill. I feel a non-lethal response to the situation would have had better results. A person with a tiny 2 inch hand-held weapon, 30 feet away from officers, should have left no one dead. Bottom line, those police officers were not properly trained. The City failed to properly train those police officers regarding mental health issues. The City must educate police officers on how to handle the mentally ill. Training in deescalating or calming the distraught should be top priority when it comes to dealing with the mentally disturbed.