Second Night of Unrest in Wisconsin City After Police Shooting of Black Man

A small group of Black Lives Matter protesters hold a rally on the steps of the Kenosha County courthouse Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis.

A small group of Black Lives Matter protesters hold a rally on the steps of the Kenosha County courthouse Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. AP Photo

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

STATE AND LOCAL NEWS ROUNDUP | A look at local and state government ties to Idaho militias … Colorado interstate reopens after two-week wildfire closure … Connecticut city to name sewer plant after John Oliver.

The Wisconsin National Guard was deployed to Kenosha on Monday after Sunday night protests following the police shooting of a Black man in the back. For the second night on Monday and into Tuesday morning, peaceful demonstrations about the shooting of Jacob Blake grew destructive, with fires set and police clashing with protesters. A group of businesses in a residential neighborhood was set ablaze and others were looted. Video of the shooting showed two officers pointing guns at Blake as he walked to an SUV. An officer fired multiple times at close range toward Blake's back as he tried to get into the driver’s seat. Blake is in the hospital and listed in serious condition. The two officers were placed on administrative leave pending a state investigation. The video was quickly disseminated on social media, spurring the protests that began Sunday night in Kenosha, a city of around 100,000 near Lake Michigan. On Monday, Gov. Tony Evers emphasized that the National Guard deployment, which was requested by local leaders, was for limited purposes of protecting critical infrastructure. “While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country,” Evers said in a statement on Sunday night. 

A statement by the Kenosha Professional Police Association criticized the governor, saying "As always, the video currently circulating does not capture all the intricacies of a highly dynamic incident. We ask that you withhold from passing judgement until all the facts are known and released.” Police have said they were at the location where Blake was shot in response to a domestic incident, but have not explained why officers used potentially deadly force. One neighbor told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that before the shooting Blake had been barbecuing outside with his kids and was seen trying to break up a fight between adults. Three of Blake's children were in the vehicle where he was shot, said attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the family. Kenosha Alderman Anthony Kennedy described local residents as understandably angry over the shooting. “They're very frustrated and very vocal in their frustration," he said. Evers said he would call the Wisconsin legislature into session on Aug. 31 in order to consider legislation meant to reduce police brutality. But Republican lawmakers, who control both the House and Senate, indicated they want to move more slowly. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Kenosha News; Chicago Tribune]

MILITIA GOVERNMENT | A number of local and state elected officials in Idaho have ties to the state’s burgeoning militia movement or have “liked” groups like Oath Keepers or Three Percenters on Facebook. [Idaho Statesman]

REOPENED INTERSTATE | Colorado officials have reopened Interstate 70, a major east-west corridor in the state. The road had been closed in both directions between Glenwood Springs and Gypsum—a stretch in the middle of Colorado—for two weeks because of a raging wildfire. The Grizzly Peak fire is one of four major wildfires burning in Colorado. [Denver Post]

PROTEST FELONY | Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a law that will make camping on state property, like the Capitol grounds, a felony crime punishable by one to six years in prison. The measure was drawn up in response to protests against police brutality. Camping on government property was previously a misdemeanor. [The Tennessean]

RENAMED SEWER PLANT | In a tongue-in-cheek video, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton announced the Connecticut city renamed its sewer plant for John Oliver after the comedian lashed out at its jury selection process on a recent episode of his HBO show. “We are going to rename it the John Oliver Memorial Sewer Plant. Why? Because it's full of crap just like you, John,” Boughton said in a video. On a recent “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” show, Oliver took aim at a number of Connecticut municipalities for racial disparities during jury selection. But Oliver had some remarks specifically for Danbury, located about 50 miles outside of New York City. “I know exactly three things about Danbury,” he said. “USA Today ranked it the second-best city to live in in 2015, it was once the center of the American hat industry and if you’re from there, you have a standing invite to come get a thrashing from John Oliver—children included—(expletive) you.” [Associated Press]

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.