Milwaukee’s curfew on teenagers and community leaders’ calls for restraint calmed the city somewhat overnight after two nights of riots sparked by the fatal police shooting of a black man.
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But Monday night, August 15, was much quieter after a citywide curfew for teenagers took effect at 10 p.m. Police said there were six arrests and no reports of major property damage.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett joined Chief Flynn in the news conference.
Walker sought to tamp down tension in the city as the curfew approached, told Milwaukeeans at a late-afternoon news conference that the troops are “not out on the streets. but rather here as a resource”.
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke has also ordered that Sherman Park, near the center of the violence, be closed at 6 p.m. rather than its usual 10 p.m.
Sylville K. Smith, 23, was shot and killed on Saturday by a Milwaukee police officer, who was wearing a body camera, according to police.
The death angered residents, as it echoes a series of deadly police incidents involving mainly African American suspects.
Protests over the shooting turned violent over the weekend as at least six businesses were torched, cars were burned and four officers injured in the clashes.
One injured officer was taken to the hospital after a rock broke the windshield of his squad vehicle, according to the force. Three police squad cars were damaged and 14 people were arrested, authorities said.
“People are afraid of each other”, resident Reginald Jackson said previous year.
Police said the man was armed, but it wasn’t clear whether he was pointing the gun or aiming it at officers.
Flynn activated the department’s 150-member crowd-control team on Sunday night, and Gov. Scott Walker put the National Guard on standby if needed.
Buck Phillips was at the park Monday evening and said law enforcement might have limited the demonstrations, but community concerns about police shootings remain.
Officials said police body camera video, not yet released to the public, clearly shows that Smith had a gun and had turned around to face the officer when he was shot. A lighter night of protests followed Sunday.
Milwaukee’s police department was also the subject of protests in 2014 after an officer killed a mentally ill, unarmed black man.
“We are not ignorant and stupid people”, one pastor told the crowd, echoing a feeling among numerous city’s African-Americans that they are systematically mistreated.
Officer Dominique Heaggan-Brown, 24, a two-year veteran of the department, shot Smith, according to the NY Daily News. “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.
Smith, 23, was fatally shot by a black officer following a chase on foot by police when he refused to drop the stolen handgun he was carrying.
The police officer and Smith reportedly knew each other from the Sherman Park neighborhood.
Six business were set on fire, including a gas station that was burned to the ground.
‘There is ample opportunity for second-guessing, I’m sure, ‘ Flynn said.
The police, in riot gear, were targeted by stones and gunfire.
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The leader of the Black Panthers in Milwaukee met with the city’s Common Council president to press for changes to economic and social issues he says underlie recent violence in a predominantly minority neighborhood.
