Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett held a news conference, where he commended the work of the city’s first responders, the amazing restraint police have had while dealing with the unrest, and the saying that a curfew will be imposed until order is restored. The state’s National Guard has been activated, though they will not be deployed unless Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn deems it necessary.
They city has been thrown into turmoil over the officer-involved shooting of Sylville Smith. Barrett said that the officer was wearing a body-cam at the time of the shooting. He didn’t see the full video, but a still that clearly shows Smith was armed. He also had a firearm with an extended magazine; 23 rounds were found in it. Over at Hot Air, Ed mentioned how Gov. Scott Walker wants that video to be released as soon as possible. For now, it remains in the possession of the state of Wisconsin pending an investigation.
MORE: Milwaukee mayor, police chief impose curfew amid unrest https://t.co/MiAvAupDW9 pic.twitter.com/lYn9vXeEX2
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 15, 2016
The rioting has led to six businesses either being totally destroyed or heavily damaged, with disturbing reports that blacks are targeting whites in racially motivated violence. One independent journalist, Tim Pool, decided to withdraw from covering the story due to the violence.
“I think it’s safe to say it’s become a particularly dangerous racial issue and I’m going to be leaving Milwaukee,” he said.
Chief Flynn said that some Chicago-based activists have stirred up trouble, alone with Smith’s sister who was seen urging protestors to take their rioting to the white suburbs. Smith was also shot in the chest and arm, and not the back, according to a preliminary autopsy (via Chicago Tribune):
Flynn cast blame on some Chicago-based activists representing the Revolutionary Communist Party, who apparently organized young people to take to the streets and march on the then-barricaded District 7 police station, which received a number of threats."The (group) showed up, and actually they’re the ones who started to cause problems leading into evening by marching and trying to take over Sherman and Burleigh," Flynn said. "That was about 11:30 at night. We made it to 11:30 in the evening, and we had these characters show up …"
In addressing the police shooting of Sylville Smith, Flynn said Smith, 23, was shot about 20 seconds after a traffic stop for a “suspicious vehicle.” Flynn announced that an autopsy report confirmed the police’s preliminary information that indicated Smith was shot in the chest and arm, refuting rumors that he could have been shot in the back.
Over at the Daily Wire, they have a video where someone can be heard yelling at Milwaukee police saying, “We do not want justice or peace anymore. We done with that shit. We want blood. We want blood. We want the same shit ya'll want. Eye for an eye. No more peace. F--k all that. Ain't no more peace. Ain't no more peace. We done. We cannot co-habitate with white people, one of us have to go, black or white. All ya'll have to go!"
Again, this is probably not the majority of the protestors, but there are certainly enough of them to cause some in the media to leave and even more officers on edge.