A gas station and a vehicle were set on fire in Milwaukee city of the state when about 100 protesters gathered at a predominately African-American part of the city where two police officers on Saturday pulled over a auto with two suspects inside, Xinhua news agency reported.
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Milwaukee was on edge Sunday after angry crowds took to the streets of the midwestern U.S. city to protest a deadly police shooting, throwing rocks at officers and torching buildings.
The police officer “ordered that individual to drop his gun, the individual did not drop his gun”, Barrett said during a news conference later in the day.
The anger at shootings by Milwaukee police is not new, and comes as tension between black communities and law enforcement has ramped up across the nation, resulting in protests and the recent killings of officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Dallas. One police officer was hit in the head by a brick while sitting inside one of the police squad cars and is now undergoing treatment at a local hospital. The officer involved in the shooting of the armed suspect is a 24-year-old had been with the force for six years and an officer for three years.
They said yesterday there is an investigation underway and the officer is being placed on administrative duty. “We have lots and lots of police officers there”.
“Now we understand the frustration that many people feel with the police community relations situation that’s happening nationally”.
Local official Khalif Rainey, who represents the area where the disturbances took place, called the violence a “warning cry”.
“The black people of Milwaukee are exhausted, they are exhausted of living under this oppression”, he said.
Gas station at Sherman and Burleigh set on fire. At 12:20 a.m., police tweeted that they were restoring order to the area and were reducing deployments.
Police with shields and helmets moved slowly into an intersection after 11 p.m., telling a crowd of about 50 people to disperse. Some threw rocks and debris at police, who held up their shields.
A gas station and a vehicle were set on fire after some 100 protestors gathered near the scene of the shooting and confronted with the police for about an hour earlier in the evening. They also threw objects at a business a half-block from the intersection.
A traffic signal was also bent and bus shelters overturned. The Journal-Sentinel reported that one of its journalists was thrown to the ground and punched. They said firefighters couldn’t extinguish the blaze because gunshots were being fired. Police provided no further details on the identities of the officer or the occupants of the vehicle.
Police said the suspect had a “lengthy arrest record”, though the specific crimes were not detailed.
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Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and other city leaders are asking community members to do their part in helping to restore calm after Saturday night’s violent demonstrations. The officers pursued the suspects, and during the foot pursuit one officer shot one suspect, armed with a semiautomatic handgun, in a yard also in the 3200 block of N. 44th Street.
