Officers are restoring order to the area of Sherman and Burleigh.
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Seventh District Alderman Khalif Rainey, left, hugs a community member after rioters clashed with the Milwaukee Police Department protesting an officer involved killing, August 14, 2016, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That individual was taken to the hospital by Milwaukee police in an armored vehicle, the Associated Press reports. The victim’s condition is unknown.
A police officer was taken to hospital to be treated for an injury after protesters threw a rock that broke the windshield of a squad auto. Another officer was “saved from projectile by protective helmet”, police tweeted. Some cars were set on fire, but there was no repeat of the widespread destruction of property that occurred Saturday night. As night fell, a crowd of about 150 people gathered outside a police station to protest. The officer who fired the deadly shot was also black.
A Milwaukee teenager was recovering from a serious gunshot wound Monday morning following a second night of chaotic protests in the city over the police shooting of an armed black man.
The tensions in Milwaukee over the police shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith only escalated Sunday night, even after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker activated the National Guard and local officials pleaded for peace. Smith’s father, Patrick Smith, said he blames himself for his son’s actions.
One police officer was hospitalized after a rock smashed a patrol auto windshield, the department said. His name hasn’t been released.
What comes next? Barrett says that the state of Wisconsin will run the investigation into the shooting, and that they have jurisdiction over its release. Smith’s autopsy results should create a clearer picture of where Smith was shot and how many times, he said. Five officers were slain by a sniper in Dallas last month as they guarded an otherwise peaceful protest against police killings.
A witness intimidation case against Smith was also dismissed. The Journal Sentinel reports that Smith “was accused of pressuring the victim in a shooting to recant a statement identifying him as the suspect, according to the criminal complaint”.
About two dozen officers in riot gear confronted protesters who were throwing rocks and other objects at police near where Sylville Smith was killed Saturday.
“People are afraid of each other”, resident Reginald Jackson said past year.
Several police officers have suffered injuries.
Critics said the police department should have been subjected to a full Justice Department investigation like the one done in Ferguson, Missouri, after the killing of Black 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014 touched off violence there.
Police had more trouble Sunday night dispersing crowds angry over the death of an armed man who was shot by an officer on Saturday.
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City leaders have called on members of Milwaukee’s faith community to continue to help to calm the unrest that’s damaged a north side neighborhood following the police shooting of a black man. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said the DOJ will work expeditiously to ensure a thorough and transparent gathering of the facts. The National Guard has been placed on standby if Milwaukee authorities need assistance.
