Kenosha divided on value of Trump visit
Some residents in Kenosha fear a planned visit by President Donald Trump after unrest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake might stir more emotions and cause more violence and destruction in the divided southeastern Wisconsin city after several days of peace.
Others, though, welcome the president’s trip, scheduled for Tuesday, when he is tour areas that were damaged and meet with law enforcement. His visit comes as demonstrators are calling for the officer who shot Blake to be fired and face an attempted murder charge, and more than a week after, authorities say, a 17-year-old from northern Illinois shot and killed two protesters.
The tension began Aug. 23 after a video showed a Kenosha police officer shooting Blake, a Black man, in the back while responding to a call about a domestic dispute. All last week, Black Lives Matter protesters held events to call for changes to policing, and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers called a special session of the Legislature for Monday to take up a host of police reform measures. The Republicans who control the legislature took no immediate action.
In Portland, Oregon, meanwhile, state police will patrol the city’s nightly protests with help from officers from neighboring communities, seeking to deter vandalism and violence following the fatal shooting of a rightwing Trump supporter as the city approaches 100 consecutive nights of Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
The plan, announced late Sunday by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown, also creates a group including Mayor Ted Wheeler and local Black leaders to help chart the path forward for Portland, a liberal city struggling to regain its footing under a national spotlight.
Trump has made Portland and its Democratic leadership a frequent target and the centerpiece of his “law and order” re-election campaign theme. He demanded that local and state leaders call in the National Guard after Saturday’s fatal shooting.
A supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer was killed amid skirmishes between Trump supporters who led a car caravan through the city and Black Lives Matter protesters who had gathered for another night of demonstrations.
Police have not made an arrest in the case. The victim was identified by the founder of Patriot Prayer as Aaron “Jay” Danielson of Portland.
“Portland is a mess, and it has been for many years. If this joke of a mayor doesn’t clean it up, we will go in and do it for them!” Trump tweeted Monday, a day after tweeting that the mayor was a “fool” and a “weak and pathetic Democrat mayor.”
Brown has declined to send the National Guard to Portland but instead announced a coalition of law enforcement agencies to handle the short-term crisis. In a statement, she said taht right-wing groups like Patriot Prayer had come to Portland “looking for a fight,” and she vowed to stop more bloodshed on the city’s streets.
In Kenosha, police said Sunday that they had arrested 175 people since the protests began in the bedroom community between Chicago and Milwaukee. Of those, 102 were from outside Kenosha, hailing from 44 cities.
Family members say Blake, 29, is paralyzed, and a lawyer said that most of his colon and small intestines were removed.
On Sunday, Evers sent Trump a letter urging him not to come, saying the visit “will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.”
But Kenosha County Board supervisors also wrote to Trump urging him not to cancel.
“Kenoshans are hurting and looking for leadership, and your leadership in this time of crisis is greatly appreciated by those devastated by the violence in Kenosha,” the letter from seven supervisors said.
Trump showed no signs of backing down, tweeting about the unrest in Kenosha and saying, “I will see you on Tuesday!”