High emotion as supporters of man shot dead meet supporters of the officer who shot him

Emotions ran high Thursday night at the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission Meeting.

Public comments were cut short to avoid an escalation after several confrontations.

CBS 58's Sachelle Saunders reports that most of the angry outbursts came from supporters of Dontre Hamilton who was shot and killed by Police Officer Christopher Manney in Red Arrow Park in April.

They refused to let supporters of the fired officer speak uninterrupted through most of the meeting.

One man was repeatedly told that he would be kicked out. Friends tried calming him down.

People who spoke in support of Manney say that he was doing the best job he could, dealing with terrible circumstances. Namely, a struggle for his baton with Hamilton. Police union president Mike Crivello also spoke on behalf Manney calling for him to get his job back.

At one point people were yelling at Chief Ed Flynn because he was  texting on his phone. He then offered this explanation.

“Well I was on my phone, and yes, that's true, I was following developments with a 5-year-old little girl sitting in her dad's lap who just got shot in the head by a drive by shooting. And if some of the people here gave a good g**d about the victimization of people in this community by crime, I'd take some of their invective more seriously,” Flynn said.

More than 200 people attended.

This meeting was the first time supporters of Manney and Hamilton were in the same room. 

Both groups are very passionate and expressed anger over decisions made by Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn. Milwaukee's police union recently passed a vote of no confidence against Chief Flynn.