US president Donald Trump is to send federal troops to Kenosha, Wisconsin after violence racked the city following the shooting of a black man by police on Sunday.
As protests took place for a third consecutive night over the shooting of Jacob Blake, two people were killed and a third injured in the city after a heavily-armed gang gathered near a gas station in the city.
Police arrested a 17-year-old white man on Wednesday and charged him with homicide.
...TODAY, I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, WI to restore LAW and ORDER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2020
Tuesday night’s clashes, which were captured on mobile phones, unfolded near a gas station where protesters had congregated after defying an 8pm curfew. Facebook said it is investigating online activity around the events.
“TODAY, I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, WI to restore LAW and ORDER!,” Mr Trump tweeted. “We will NOT stand for looting, arson, violence, and lawlessness on American streets,” adding that Wisconsin governor Tony Evers had agreed to accept federal assistance.
Mr Blake (29) was shot multiple times in the back by police, who were responding to a domestic incident. Eyewitnesses said Mr Blake had tried to intervene in an altercation between two women.
Footage shows Mr Blake walking away from police and trying to enter his SUV before he was shot. His lawyer said that his client did not have a weapon in the vehicle.
The incident brought reminders of the death of African-American man George Floyd at the hands of white police officers in May, which sparked global protests about racial injustice and a national conversation in the United States about racial inequality.
Paralysed
Mr Blake survived Sunday’s shooting, which was witnessed by some of his children, but he is currently paralysed from the waist down.
His lawyer, Ben Crump, said he would need a “miracle” to walk again.
“His family believe in miracles, but the medical diagnosis right now is that he is paralysed and, because those bullets severed his spinal cord and shattered some of his vertebrae, it is going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake jnr to ever walk again,” Mr Crump said.
Mr Blake’s sister Letetra Widman delivered an emotional statement as she spoke to the media. “I am numb . . . I don’t want your pity. I want change.”
“This has been happening to my family for far too long. It happened to Emmett Till, Emmett Till is my family. Philando [Castille], Mike Brown, Sandra [Bland] – this has been happening to my family,” she said, referring to past victims of violence.
Wisconsin governor Mr Evers had already deployed the national guard to the city, doubling the number of officers sent to the area on Tuesday night to 250.
“We cannot allow the cycle of systemic racism and injustice to continue,” said Mr Evers, adding: “We also cannot continue going down this path of damage and destruction.”
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, said that Mr Evers, a Democrat, had rejected an offer of more national guard troops from the federal government. “It is out of control and it can’t be allowed to continue,” he said.
“You do not have a First Amendment right to loot and riot,” he said, referring to the constitutional right to freedom of speech.
A march is scheduled to take place in Washington DC on Friday, marking the anniversary of Martin Luther King jnr’s famous walk on Washington.
