Via The Federalist
Kenosha, Wisconsin is situated in the southern part of the state, about an hour and a half from Chicago, and has a population of approximately 100,000. Republican Rep. Bryan Steil, who represents Kenosha in Wisconsin’s First Congressional district, told The Federalist the city “is like a lot of cities in Wisconsin.” Steil says Kenosha is “family-centered” and “hard-working.”
Kenosha became a very different place after police shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times. Subsequent video footage showed that Blake was armed with a knife and had been wrestling with officers, threw off a Taser, and was disregarding police commands to stop after they were called to address a domestic violence complaint.
Following the shooting that left Blake paralyzed, rioting erupted in the city. Although the first night was relatively peaceful, after the second night, things were “spiraling out of control,” said Steil. Fire and looting consumed uptown and downtown Kenosha, and Steil said the city was no longer the “Kenosha we know.”
In uptown Kenosha, on Tuesday night, a woman, who said she has lived in Kenosha for more than 40 years, broke down in tears, saying her city felt like a “war zone” and she was “terrified.”
A woman, who said she has lived in Kenosha for over 40 years, broke down in tears saying that her city felt like a “war zone” and she was “terrified”. She requested that her face not be shown. pic.twitter.com/zi9KLQc2Xz
— The Federalist (@FDRLST) August 25, 2020Indeed, the scene on Tuesday night was something I had only seen in photos of war-torn countries. Men and women stood with baseball bats, hand-guns, semi-automatic rifles, and shotguns in front of their businesses and homes. Many Kenoshans explained to me that law enforcement lacked the necessary numbers of officers to control the situation, forcing them to focus on defending public buildings, such as the courthouse, leaving citizens to fend for themselves.
Chuck, who owns an uptown tire shop, said he has been spending every night on his roof guarding his shop “with guns.” Chuck, who said he is “for Trump all the way,” was exhausted from several sleepless nights and fed up with his livelihood and life being terrorized by Black Lives Matter rioters. Chuck glared into my iPhone camera and said to the rioters, “Come to my shop and I’ll blow your heads off.” “I’ll even tell you where I’m at,” he said, adding, “C’mon, boys, I got something for your -sses.”
Overwhelmed law enforcement protected the courthouse, but Sam’s business and many others were left at the mercy of the mob. “I’m a taxpayer,” said Sam, clearly distraught that law enforcement did nothing to protect his business. “This is not the America I came into,” the shattered man said. “What did we do to deserve all this?” he asked. “I’m a minority too. I’m a brown person. I have nothing to do with this.” Sam and his family set up a Go Fund Me page, which at this moment, has raised a little over $10,000, nowhere close to the over $2 million raised for Blake.
After it was clear that law enforcement did not have the resources to protect people like Sam, Steil “got to work.” On Tuesday morning he said he was able to get through to President Trump within “8 minutes.” Steil told the president that Kenosha was in desperate need of resources and reinforcements. President Trump then reached out to Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, extending him an offer for aid, which Evers refused.
For three nights, Kenosha experienced dangerous rioting. It wasn’t until three individuals were shot and two died that Evers accepted help from President Trump. “It’s pretty darn clear who demonstrated leadership and who did not,” said Steil. Since federal agents and national guardsmen were sent to Kenosha, there has been relative peace in the city.
The overwhelming consensus among Kenoshans is that violent rioters did not come from their city. “Kenosha locals did not do this to their town, man!” said Jason, who came to Kenosha to check on his family.
One woman, who was working in uptown Kenosha on Wednesday morning, confirmed, “Out of town-ers came in and rioted in our city… if you don’t live here you shouldn’t be here right now.” She refused to make further comments on the rioters, explaining, “I don’t want people mad at me.” She is not alone. Many people that I asked to speak with denied an interview out of fear of being targeted by Black Lives Matter.
This Has Been a truncated Summary Full Article @ The Federalist