Christine has written about the awful riots occurring in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The violence erupted over the weekend after another police-involved shooting prompted many to show up at the crime scene via social media, which has spiraled out of control. A person was shot today, while an armored vehicle manned by law enforcement was ordered to fall back due to the deteriorating situations. The officer involved in the shooting is black, and now Gov. Scott Walker has activated the National Guard. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke made the request for the Guard when the violence intensified over the weekend.
.@ScottWalker activates national guard help after night of unrest following fatal police shooting of armed man. pic.twitter.com/3W8ghE8JI0
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) August 14, 2016
“We cannot allow for a repeat of what happened (Saturday) night. I am going to utilize all available resources to accomplish that,” said Clarke. Scores of shops were vandalized or destroyed. Gov. Walker said in his statement that the Guard could be used to restore order. He would not comment on the current shooting, but hopes “people will give law enforcement the respect they deserve for working so hard and keep safe.”
The man who was shot and killed by police, 23-year-old Sylville K. Smith, fled his vehicle after a traffic stop. He was reportedly armed and shot after he wouldn’t drop his weapon. The officer was wearing a body camera.
What doesn’t help is encouraging rioters to burn the “s**t out of the suburbs,” which is what Smith’s sister said over the weekend.
Video appears to show the sister of Sylville Smith telling rioters to "take that shit to the suburbs" pic.twitter.com/QtqD4O7a2L
— Justin Green (@JGreenDC) August 15, 2016
“Burning down sh*t ain’t going to help nothing. Y’all burning down sh*t we need in our community. Take that sh*t to the suburbs. Burn that sh*t down. We need our s**t. We need our weaves. I don’t wear it, but we need it.”
UPDATE: The shooting was lawful.
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