Police shooting of Black man stirs fury in Wisconsin.
KENOSHA, Wis. — Police in Wisconsin deployed tear gas in an attempt to disperse protesters who converged on the county courthouse during a second night of clashes after the police shooting of a Black man turned Kenosha into the nation’s latest flashpoint city in a summer of racial unrest.
Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers activated 125 members of the National Guard to assist local law enforcement.
Protesters chanted, “No justice, no peace” minutes before the 8 p.m. curfew. Some threw water bottles and other objects and confronted members of law enforcement who wore protective gear and stood shouldertoshoulder in front of the courthouse entrance.
The latest confrontation came after protesters set cars on fire, smashed windows and clashed with officers in riot gear Sunday night over the wounding of 29yearold Jacob Blake, who was hospitalized in serious condition. In a widely seen cellphone video made by an onlooker, Blake was shot, apparently in the back, as he leaned into his SUV while his three children sat in the vehicle.
Tensions flared anew earlier Monday after a news conference with Kenosha Mayor John Antarmian, originally to be held in a park, was moved inside the city’s public safety building. Hundreds of protesters rushed to the building and a door was snapped off its hinges before police in riot gear peppersprayed the crowd.
Police in the former auto manufacturing center of 100,000 people midway between Milwaukee and Chicago said they were responding to a call about a domestic dispute. They did not say whether Blake was armed or why police opened fire.
The man who claimed to have made the video, 22yearold Raysean White, said that he saw Blake scuffling with three officers and heard them yell, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!“before the gunfire erupted. He said he didn’t see a knife in Blake’s hands.
The governor said that he has seen no information to suggest Blake had a knife or other weapon, but that the case is still being investigated by the state Justice Department.
The officers were placed on administrative leave, standard practice in a shooting by police.
In the footage, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of his SUV to his driverside door as officers follow him with their guns pointed and shout at him. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire while Blake has his back turned.
Seven shots can be heard, though it isn’t clear how many struck Blake or how many officers fired.