Kenosha activists exercising caution
Concerned for safety after U.S. Capitol riot
KENOSHA, Wis. — Chaotic protests haven’t returned to Kenosha after a prosecutor declined charges against the police officer who shot Jacob Blake, and some who backed demonstrations following the
August shooting say they are concerned about safety in a week when extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol.
There was widespread unrest in Kenosha when officer Rusten Sheskey, who is white, shot Blake — a Black man — in the back Aug. 23 while responding to a domestic disturbance, leaving Blake paralyzed. The street protests went on for several nights, sometimes turning violent as self-styled militia heeded social media messages to protect businesses. Hundreds were arrested, and multiple businesses were looted and burned. Prosecutors say Illinois teen Kyle Rittenhouse opened fire during one of the protests, killing two people and wounding a third.
Law enforcement and the National Guard prepared for a possible repeat of the August protests after Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced Tuesday he would not charge Sheskey, who said he feared Blake was going to stab him.
Blake’s family and activists reacted with anger and disappointment, but initial protests were subdued. Several dozen people gathered downtown that evening, and protesters took Wednesday off.
One activist, Nick Larsen, said the group was considering safety implications in light of Wednesday’s riots by supporters of President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol that delayed the official count of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.
“We’re trying to keep the city relatively quiet,” activist Isaac Wallner said Thursday. “We want to keep everybody safe and don’t want to fit into a narrative that we’re destructive.”
Leaders of Kenosha, a civil rights group that has repeatedly called for peaceful demonstration, later announced a plan to march Monday afternoon to demand Sheskey be fired.
A state of emergency remains in effect for the city of 100,000 people on the Wisconsin-illinois border about 65 miles north of Chicago. National Guard troops remain in the city, and most downtown businesses were boarded up Thursday.