TWO KILLED IN WISCONSIN VIOLENCE
Possible vigilante attack on protesters on the third night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, over police shooting
Two people were shot to death and another was wounded during a third night of protests in Kenosha over the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake.
KENOSHA,WISCONSIN: US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday the deployment of additional federal forces to the protest-hit city of Kenosha, after two people were shot dead in violence overnight.
“We will not stand for looting, arson, violence, and lawlessness on American streets,” Trump tweeted, a day after demonstrations over the police shooting of a black man gave way to clashes between protesters and armed vigilantes.
“Today, I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha to restore law and order.”
Trump made the announcement after speaking with Wisconsin governor Tony Evers, who a day earlier announced he was authorising increased National Guard support for the county to 250 members.
Two people were shot to death during a night of anti-racism protests in Kenosha in a possible vigilante attack carried out apparently by a young white man who was caught on video opening fire in the middle of the street with a semi-automatic rifle. The assailant was arrested.
The gunfire erupted late on
Tuesday, just before midnight, during the third straight night of unrest in Kenosha over the police shooting of a Black man,
Jacob Blake.
The Lake Michigan city of about 100,000 has been rocked by civil unrest since Sunday, when police shot Blake, 29, in the back at point-blank range.
The third night of protests, which coincided with the second night of the Republican National Convention, had appeared to turn calm after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters who defied a curfew.
But with a combustible mix of demonstrators still roaming the streets - including self-appointed militias armed with rifles - tensions boiled over shortly before midnight, leading to chaotic scenes of people running and screaming amid a volley of gunfire and others tending to gunshot wounds.
It remained uncertain what prompted the initial gunfire, though it involved a white man with a rifle who wrangled with and fired on other civilians, then walked past several police cars without being arrested, video on social media showed.
The Kenosha protests have drawn mostly peaceful demonstrators under the Black Lives Matter banner, but a range of white and Black people have caused trouble late at night, setting fires, vandalising public property and bashing vehicles with baseball bats.
The Kenosha Guard, a group identifying itself as a local militia on Facebook, posted a message warning authorities ahead of time they would be present on city streets.
“We are unaware if the armed citizen was answering the Kenosha Guard Militia’s call to arms,” the group later posted on Facebook. “Just like with the shooting of Jacob Blake, we need all the facts and evidence to come out before we make a judgement. God Bless and stay safe Kenosha!”
Wisconsin governor Evers deployed 250 members the National Guard to help restore order after the first night of unrest. But US Representative Bryan Steil, a Republican whose district includes Kenosha, said more force was needed.
Anti-racism protesters also clashed with police in Portland, Oregon, and Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday night, part of a wave of national protests that have continued since the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck.