BLAKE MOM’S PLEA: END RIOTS
'It doesn't reflect my son or family as gunmen taunt Wisconsin cops
The mother of Kenosha policeshooting victim Jacob Blake called for peace on Tuesday — as she described how her heart sank on seeing the city’s black business district torn apart by protesters.
“As I was riding through here, through this city, I noticed a lot of damage,” Julia Jackson said at a press conference outside the Kenosha County Courthouse.
“It doesn’t reflect my son or my family. If Jacob knew what was going on as far as that goes, the violence and the destruction, he would be very unpleased.
“So, I’m really asking and encouraging everyone in Wisconsin and abroad to take a moment and examine your hearts. Citizens, police officers, firefighters, clergy, politicians, do Jacob justice on this level and examine your hearts.”
Meanwhile, the Wisconsin National Guard had to step in to quell riots that consumed the business district following the racially charged shooting.
Gov. Tony Evers deployed 125 Guard members to the city of 100,000 on Monday night after a second night of violent clashes between protesters and police in riot gear turned the community into a war zone.
The chaos led to looting, 34 separate fires and damage to 30 businesses, Fire Chief Charles Leipzig told the Kenosha News.
In one of several violent scenes caught on camera from Monday night, a group of heavily armed protesters in the city were filmed during a tense standoff with lawenforcement officers in an armored police truck.
The clip, filmed by a reporter, shows several men carrying semiautomatic weapons joining others as they squared off with the officers in the vehicle, taunting them from the street.
A small but heavily armed militia has stepped in to protect a local gas station. The men, who maintained they were not affiliated with an established militia, said they wanted to prevent disaster if the station were to be set on fire.
“Go f--k up the government that just killed your man,” one militia member says on footage posted online. “Don’t f--k up your neighbors.”
Blake, in fact, was not killed when he was shot some seven times in the back on Sunday.
The formal and informal responses came as demonstrators torched vehicles and buildings, smashed windows and hurled bricks at police during the second night of unrest .
A clip from the scene posted online Monday night showed protesters indiscriminately smashing car windows; in another, a man torches a garbage truck.
Vehicles in a local car dealership have also been set on fire, as have several commercial buildings.
On Sunday, one cop was hit with a brick thrown by a protester, knocking him to the ground, according to authorities. Police responded by firing tear gas, rubber bullets and smoke bombs.
Some residents have reacted angrily to the rioting, which has largely damaged Kenosha’s black business district — with some complaining that the protesters have only managed to trash their community.
“It’s people from out of town doing this,” resident Porche Bennett told Reuters. “We’ve been shopping there since we were kids and
they set it on fire.”
Bracing for the worst, Evers, A Democrat, declared a state of emergency Tuesday. President Trump later urged him to quickly put an end to the violence.
“Governor should call in the National Guard in Wisconsin,” Trump tweeted, apparently unaware that had already happened. “It is ready, willing, and more than able. End problem FAST!”