The U.S. Attorney’s office says it will not file any federal charges against three Milwaukee police officers in the death of Derek Williams, who collapsed in a squad car after being arrested for a 2011 robbery. Federal officials on Tuesday said there was not enough evidence to show that the officers violated Williams’ civil rights.
A police video showed the 22-year-old Williams gasping for air and pleading for help in the back seat of the squad car, before he passed out and died. The video was not released until last summer, prompting the Milwaukee County medical examiner to change the cause of Williams’ death from natural causes to homicide.
An inquest was held earlier this year, where the jury recommended misdemeanor counts against Milwaukee officers Jason Bleichwehl, Jeffrey Cline, and Richard Ticcioni. The retired judge who presided over the inquest, John Franke, refused to issue charges, saying there was “no reasonable likelihood of convictions.”
