The city, long marred by racial tensions, instituted a curfew for teenagers Monday night in an effort to restore the peace after Saturday’s shooting death of an armed African-American man, Sylville Smith, by a black police officer.
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Sgt. Timothy Gauerke, a Milwaukee police spokesman, said he was familiar with reports that the men attended the same high school and knew each other but could not confirm them.
In an emailed statement to Mic, the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s division of criminal investigation confirmed Monday that it would make the body camera video available after the investigation is completed and after the local prosecutor makes a decision on whether to criminally charge the officer in Smith’s shooting.
Police Chief Edward Flynn told reporters Sunday that 23-year-old Sylville Smith had been pulled over around 3:30 p.m. while driving a auto that drew an officer’s suspicion.
The unnamed officer who fired on Smith was black, according to Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn. State law requires all police shootings to be investigated by an independent state agency, giving the state control over such evidence.
The damage was not as extensive the following night, but shots rang out in three locations, and an 18-year-old man who was struck in the neck was hospitalized, police said.
Police say they arrested 10 people overnight but that Milwaukee’s north side was much calmer than over the weekend when violent protests over the Smith’s shooting rocked the area.
A lighter night of protests followed on Sunday.
The city police, which beginning Monday night is expected to aggressively enforce a curfew for teenagers, said that 14 people had been arrested and that four officers had been injured overnight.
A auto burns as a crowd of more than 100 people gathers following the fatal shooting of a man in Milwaukee, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016. “You all want to hurt somebody, take that further out”.
Barrett renewed his call for state officials to release a video of the Saturday night shooting in hopes it would convince angry protesters that deadly force against Sylville K. Smith, 23, was justified.
Gov. Scott Walker traveled to Milwaukee on Monday to meet with 123 Wisconsin National Guard members who were sent to the city at the request of local officials, but have not been deployed to city streets.
Police rush a man into a vehicle after getting pelted by rocks in Milwaukee on Sunday. “You are going to encounter people in the very worst moments of their lives and what we are asking you, is to do that without losing your cool, without losing your honor and doing it with respect”, Barrett says. Violence erupted as the night went on; six businesses were burned, and seven squad cars were damaged, Flynn said.
A pair of officers had stopped Smith and another man in a vehicle Saturday afternoon when the men bolted on foot. At least, that is what the officer’s family is telling the FOX6 Investigators.
“We are not ignorant and stupid people”, a pastor told the crowd, echoing a feeling among numerous city’s African-Americans that they are systematically mistreated.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some concern in your own minds, but I want to tell you that you have chosen an incredible path for your life”, Barrett says.
Barrett has repeatedly asked parents and guardians to keep their children away from the Sherman Park neighborhood.
An officer was also injured during Sunday night’s riots. Demonstrations also unfolded after 32-year-old Philando Castile was shot and killed in suburban St. Paul, Minnesota, during a traffic stop by a Latino police officer. The unidentified officer who shot the fatal rounds is 24 and has six years of service with the Milwaukee police – three as an officer.
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However, the curfew banning teens from being on the streets past 10 p.m.is still in full effect.
