"The anxiety is increasing:" Dontre Hamilton protesters continue to call for justice

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Signs lit up the night as protesters continue calling for justice in the shooting death of Dontre Hamilton. They started in Red Arrow Park and marched to I-43 where they shut down the interstate in both directions. 73 adults and 1 juvenile were arrested and taken to the Criminal Justice Facility to be processed.

"I don't think that we can do that as a family or a community, we cannot allow the police to continuously kill people and not face due process in a prompt way," said Nate Hamilton, Dontre Hamilton's brother.

Dontre Hamilton died in April, after a Milwaukee police officer shot him 14 times following an altercation in Red Arrow Park. The officer has been fired for his handling of the events that led to the shooting.

The Hamilton family wants to see him criminally charged, but they're still waiting to hear if the district attorney will file charges.

"I would anticipate the decision is going to be soon and I've been given the promise by the DA's office that it's coming soon," said Jonathan Safran, the Hamilton family's attorney.

Safran thinks the anticipation is pushing people to protest.

"The anxiety is increasing now because everyone believes a decision is going to be soon, and as soon as you can see that anxiety is spilling over and you have much more numbers of people here involved," said Safran.

Nate Hamilton says his cousin was among those arrested Friday evening.

"She was standing right next to me. I could have been arrested myself but they grabbed her, slammed her to the ground and about 4 officers detained her," said Nate.

Those who weren't arrested demonstrated in front of the Police Administration Building, where they called for donations to help bail out those who were. They then marched around the corner to the Criminal Justice Facility to wait for the release of those who were arrested.

"We're not going to tear up nothing. We're not going to result to violent manner -- but we will stay here until they let the people they arrested out," said Nate.

One spokeswoman for the group told FOX6 News they were expecting it to be somewhere in the 6-8 hour range before those protesters were released. If that proves accurate, that would be sometime in the early morning hours of Saturday, December 20th.