Wisconsin: National Guard deployed after Kenosha shooting, suspect arrested
Police in the neighboring US state of Illinois arrested a 17-year-old on Wednesday after two people were fatally shot and a third was wounded during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, authorities said.
Kenosha County officials charged the teenager with first-degree intentional homicide, Illinois police said.
“The suspect in this incident … is currently in custody of the Lake County Judicial System pending an extradition hearing to transfer custody from Illinois to Wisconsin,” they added.
Daily protests have rocked Kenosha since the police shooting of Black man Jacob Blake, 29, on the weekend.
On Tuesday night, two people were shot dead amid clashes between protesters and apparent vigilantes. Video footage posted online shows a young white man with a semi-automatic rifle appearing to shoot at protesters. The recording also shows the shooter walking down the street as police vehicles drive past him.
Officials said early Wednesday that there were multiple shots fired before midnight, and that an investigation was underway.
National Guard deployed
The Kenosha demonstrations have mostly drawn peaceful protesters, but some groups have clashed with police and vandalized buildings and businesses at night.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that Wisconsin had accepted offers of federal assistance to restore order.
“TODAY, I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, WI to restore LAW and ORDER!” Trump wrote, again leaning on the 52-year-old campaign slogans of Richard Nixon from 1968.
Democratic Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, who had already declared an emergency over the unrest, said he had authorized the deployment of 500 members of the National Guard.
“A senseless tragedy like this cannot happen again,” Evers said. “I again ask those who choose to exercise their First Amendment rights please do so peacefully and safely, as so many did last night. I also ask the individuals who are not there to exercise those rights to please stay home and let local first responders, law enforcement and members of the Wisconsin National Guard do their jobs.”
Police shot Jacob Blake multiple times in the back at close range on Sunday, leaving him paralyzed, his lawyers said. The incident, captured on video, sparked renewed protests over racial injustice and police brutality in the US.
Anti-racism demonstrators also took to the streets in Portland, Oregon and Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday night, a continuation of the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests ignited by the police killing of Black man George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
nm/msh (Reuters, AP)
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