Tension still simmering in Kenosha
Pastors organize prayers for peace in ‘evil age’
As Kenosha tried to focus on unity and healing Thursday, tensions still simmered over the police shooting that paralyzed a man, setting off several nights of violent unrest, and a separate shooting that killed two people and wounded another.
“We’re still in the thick of many challenges but there will be a coming together around a table in coming days,” Kenosha County Executive Jim Kreuser said.
He thanked those who had volunteered to clean up, donated to rebuilding efforts and otherwise helped Kenosha recover from several nights of arson and vandalism.
Volunteers with the Kenosha Creative Space spent the day painting uplifting messages — “We are equal” and “Hometown strong” — on boarded windows and storefronts.
And Thursday evening, more than 200 people prayed at Harbor Park along Lake Michigan. The pastors who organized the event said they wanted the city to be known for its love of God, not the violence that has plagued its streets in the last week.
During the service, the Rev. Demetris Crum, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Kenosha, asked God for peace in a “dark and evil age.”
Earlier in the day, Kreuser and Mayor John Antaramian pledged to take on the challenges of racial inequality at the
root of the protests.
“Unity becomes one of the main aspects of what has to happen in this community, and that unity is only going to happen if all of us work together,” Antaramian said.
The mayor and county executive spoke Thursday afternoon with Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis and Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth.
They did not take any questions, nor did they offer any updates on the case of Jacob Blake, who police shot in the back at close range after responding to a domestic situation Sunday, or that of Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused of fatally shooting two people and wounding a third Tuesday night.
The investigation into Blake’s shooting is being led by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which had released more information a day earlier. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul identified the officer who shot Blake as Rusten Sheskey. He said police used a Taser on Blake before the shooting and Blake had a knife on the driver’s side floorboard. He did not address what kind of knife, or whether officers saw it or saw Blake reaching for it.
The U.S. Department of Justice also has opened a parallel civil rights investigation.
Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old wanted in the fatal shootings, is expected to make his first court appearance Friday in Lake County, Illinois, for an extradition hearing to Wisconsin, where he faces six charges, the most serious of which is first-degree intentional homicide. He told a reporter before the shooting he had come to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Illinois, with his AR-15 to defend property during the unrest.
Rittenhouse, whose case already has become a conservative rallying point, is being represented by the same law firm that represented a high school student whose interaction with a Native American elder at the Lincoln Memorial ricocheted across the internet.
A woman sings during an ecumenical prayer service put on by multiple congregations Thursday in Kenosha. About 1,000 people attended. The pastors, who meet regularly for private prayer, decided to hold a public event to encourage residents to pray for the city. MARK HOFFMAN / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL
Differences in treatment
The difference in how authorities responded to Blake and how they responded to Rittenhouse after the shooting were widely debated online and at news conferences Thursday.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, appearing at a news conference in Kenosha, said the different treatment fits a pattern.
“We demand justice in the country,” the civil rights icon said.
Attorneys representing Blake and his family also drew a sharp distinction between the two cases.
“They shot him seven times in the back in front of his children,” the attorneys statement read, referring to Blake.
But when it came to Rittenhouse, “local law enforcement and National Guardsmen allowed him to walk down the street with his assault weapon,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump and cocounsels Patrick Salvi and B’Ivory Lamarr.
Video of the scene showed the shooter with a gun running toward an intersection in Kenosha where two squad cars and three armored police vehicles are approaching. On the video, someone can be heard yelling, “Hey, he just shot them! Hey, dude right here just shot them!”
The shooter slowed to a walk and raised his hands as he got close to the police vehicles. He waved at one, and it drove by. A second police vehicle also passed him. The shooter approached the passenger side of a parked squad car and then backed away. The video ended there.
Rittenhouse was arrested hours later in Antioch, about 20 miles southwest of Kenosha.
“This is the grossly unfair picture that Black Americans and all Americans who seek racial justice, including the Milwaukee Bucks, see and passionately object to,” Blake’s attorneys said.
Jackson and others also highlighted comments made by Beth, the sheriff, in 2018, after five shoplifting suspects crashed into another car during a highspeed chase. Jackson played a recording of Beth’s remarks about the suspects, three Black men and two Black women from Milwaukee.
“I’m to the point where I think society has to come to a threshold where there are some people that aren’t worth saving,” Beth said at the time. “We need to build warehouses to put these people into it and lock them away for the rest of their lives.”
Backlash to his comments came swiftly then, and Beth wrote an apology and met with the Kenosha NAACP president who said it was a good start. Other leaders felt it didn’t go far enough.
On Thursday, Beth again made remarks that gave some pause. At a news conference, he described the “small” crowds on Wednesday.
“Last night was very peaceful,” Beth said. “Tuesday night, not quite so peaceful but it wasn’t too bad. Monday night was our big night.”
Tuesday was the night two protesters were fatally shot and a third wounded.
National Guard troops coming
The police shooting in Kenosha and subsequent fallout continue to reverberate nationally.
The situation has the attention of the White House, which authorized deploying up to 2,000 National Guard troops from other states to Wisconsin. President Donald Trump said earlier this week “federal law enforcement and the National Guard” will be sent to Kenosha to restore law and order.
On Thursday, Gov. Tony Evers announced National Guard troops from Arizona, Michigan and Alabama will arrive to assist Wisconsin’s troops at his request. Evers already had sent more than 500 Wisconsin guard members to Kenosha this week.
The troops from other states are in State Active Duty status — not in a federal status — meaning they fall under the operational control of Wisconsin’s adjutant general during their mobilization. Wisconsin National Guard troops have been on duty in Kenosha since Monday.
Evers said he turned down Homeland Security agents and told White House officials earlier this week that Wisconsin Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp already was coordinating with other states for more troops. On Thursday, Evers and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes spoke with Blake’s family, met with Kenosha officials and visited local businesses there.
The shooting and racial injustice remained the focus of professional sports athletes. The Green Bay Packers canceled Thursday practice, one day after the Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Brewers players elected not to play their games.
The Brewers resumed play in a doubleheader Thursday to make up Wednesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. It was unclear if or when the NBA season would resume after all three playoff games on the docket Wednesday were called off.
Sophie Carson, Molly Beck, Alison Dirr, JR Radcliffe, Bruce Vielmetti, Jim Owczarski and Sarah Hauer of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
Contact Ashley Luthern at ashley.luthern@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @aluthern.