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MILWAUKEE The Rev. Al Sharpton is scheduled deliver a eulogy for a Black man who died last month after being pinned to the ground by hotel security guards in Milwaukee, his office said Tuesday.

The death of D'Vontaye Mitchell has drawn comparisons to themurder of George Floyd, a Black man killed in 2020 after a white police officer in Minneapolis knelt on his neck.

It has been nearly a week since DvontayeMitchell died after security guards tried to restrain him outside a downtown Milwaukee hotel.

Sharpton, a longtime activist and leader who serves on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said in a news release that he'll speak at Mitchell's funeral Thursday. TheRepublican National Conventionopens just days later, on July 15, and law enforcement agencies arebracing for political protestsaround the convention arena in Wisconsins biggest city.

Sharpton said convention-goers need to know about Mitchells death.

We cannot watch D'Vontaye Mitchells murder be washed out by the RNC coming to town, where they will solidify a nominee whose view of justice is pure brute force, Sharpton said, referring to former President Donald Trump.

Mitchell, 43, died on June 30 at the Hyatt Regency after four security guards held him down on his stomach, media outlets have reported. Police have said Mitchell entered the hotel, caused a disturbance and fought with the guards as they were escorting him out.

Mitchells family has hired civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented Floyd's family. His death spurred worldwide protests against racial violence and police brutality.

It's unclear why Mitchell was at the hotel or what happened before the guards pinned him down. The Milwaukee County medical examiner's initial report said Mitchell was homeless, but his familytold the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelthat's not correct. Sharpton said in a news release announcing his Milwaukee visit that Mitchell's mother said her son was suffering a "mental health episode."

Al Sharpton waits for Vice President Kamala Harris to speak before walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge commemorating the 59th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday voting rights march in 1965, March 3, 2024, in Selma, Alabama.

Police officials were still investigating Mitchell's death on Tuesday, the Journal Sentinel reported. The police department responded to an Associated Press request for an update by emailing a statement saying that an unidentified individual had fought with security guards at the hotel on June 30 and was unresponsive when officers arrived.

The medical examiner's office has said the preliminary cause of death was homicide but the cause remains under investigation. No one had been charged criminally as of Tuesday.

A spokesperson for Aimbridge Hospitality, which runs the Hyatt Regency in Milwaukee,told the Washington Postthat the company extends its condolences to Mitchell's family and supports the ongoing investigation.

This story corrects the spelling of the first name of a Black man who died after being pinned to the ground by hotel security guards. He is DVontaye Mitchell, not Dvontaye.

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Al Sharpton to deliver eulogy for Black man who died after being held down by Milwaukee hotel guards - Madison.com