A nighttime curfew for teenagers appeared to be maintaining calm in the USA city of Milwaukee on early Tuesday (Aug 16), following two nights of violence over the fatal police shooting of a black man.
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Some two dozen officers in riot gear confronted a group who were throwing rocks and other objects at police near where the black man was fatally shot a day earlier. Smith and another man fled in different directions from the vehicle, which turned out to be a rental auto, and the officer chased Smith.
Mayor Tom Barrett also renewed his call for state officials to release a video of the Saturday night shooting in hopes it convinces angry protesters that deadly force against Sylville K Smith, 23, was justified.
During a news conference around midnight calling for calm, Barrett said people were gathering at the scene when he left at 5 p.m. Saturday, but they were peaceful and he thought everything was under control.
Police are pelted with rocks and shots rang out in Milwaukee, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016.
“Most people in the position of those police would be chasing after the rioters, arresting as many people as they can”, says Mr. Bueermann, who says he experienced similar situations early in his career as a patrol officer in Redlands, Calif. Another vehicle was also set aflame during Monday’s fracas.
Smith was the 16th person shot and killed by police so far this year in Wisconsin, according to a Washington Post database tracking such shootings.
The turbulent weekend prompted Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to declare a state of emergency on Sunday. “It is not the place you go to take pictures”. Officials have said Smith was armed with a gun as he fled a traffic stop. He said boycotts, recall votes and insurrection are in the city’s future unless something is done to help the north side with issues of unemployment and poverty.
Flynn said that while police came under fire Sunday night, “none of our officers returned fire”. Before he was killed, Smith refused to drop an illegal handgun he was carrying, police said. It was not clear whether he had pointed the gun at the officers.
Online court records showed multiple charges against the 23-year-old Smith dating back to 2013. The officer who shot Smith has been placed on administrative leave. “Why not go out with a big bang”, she said. “We want everybody to feel our pain”.
Milwaukee’s police chief has said Smith was shot and killed by an officer Saturday afternoon after he turned toward the officer with a gun in his hand. The US Justice Department found that Ferguson police “violated citizens’ rights” during protests there in 2014, while a reputable law enforcement think tank found “major shortcomings” in how Baltimore police responded to the Freddie Gray riots previous year.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating Mr Smith’s death, as required by state law for police-involved shootings. At one point, the crowd chanted “ready for war”, followed by a a chant of “peace, peace, peace”.
Smith’s sister, Kimberly Neal, said she was in “pain” over her brother’s death, but called for calm on Sunday before more violence took place.
Demonstrators torched at least six businesses, including a gas station.
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Local official Khalif Rainey, who represents the area where the disturbances took place, suggested further unrest could take place if the underlying problems affecting Milwaukee’s black residents, such as poverty and joblessness, are not resolved.
