Smith’s mother says he had a 2-year-old son. It was unclear how many rounds the officer fired.
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Milwaukee’s mayor says a 10 p.m. curfew on teenagers will from now on be strictly enforced. He did not say what would happen to teens who are found outside in Milwaukee past the curfew deadline.
“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.
Police move in on people throwing rocks at police in Milwaukee, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016.
Crowds ebbed and flowed at the station throughout Sunday; as night fell, community and church leaders led a prayer circle and spoke of a community that needs healing from ongoing “racism, injustices and oppression”. Authorities also said that their ShotSpotter system – which tracks gunshots – was activated 30 times.
“He should have been tased, if anything”, she said.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Smith was subsequently accused of pressuring the victim to recant statements that identified him as the gunman and was charged with trying to intimidate a witness. Seventeen people were arrested, Flynn said, and four officers were hurt from flying concrete and glass, although all of them have been released from hospital.
MILWAUKEE (WISN/WKOW) – Milwaukee County Sheriff has requested the mobilization of the National Guard following the unrest in Milwaukee overnight.
The trouble on Sunday night flared after initially peaceful vigils by small groups of demonstrators in the city’s Sherman Park neighborhood, where Sylville K. Smith, 23, was killed by a black officer after fleeing a traffic stop on Saturday.
Police said multiple arrests had been made, but the National Guard was not called to the areas of the latest disturbances. Both Flynn and Barrett stressed that police didn’t fire a single shot during the events that took place. The men fled the vehicle and the officers followed, shooting Smith in the arm and chest when he failed to put his gun down.
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.
The curfew is in response to two nights of violence in the Sherman Park neighborhood.
The suspect, who has a “lengthy police record”, fled a auto on North 44th Street at around 3:30 pm and was armed with a semi-automatic handgun, according to the Milwaukee Police Department. There has been no update on his condition.
An 18-year-old man was shot and wounded during Sunday night’s unrest, which was milder and far less destructive than Saturday night’s confrontation but still left the city tense. A still image pulled from the officer’s body camera shows “without question” that Smith had a gun in his hand when he was shot, Mayor Barrett said.
“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. After the shooting, which occurred in a predominately African-American section of Milwaukee, protesters fired shots and hurled rocks as police attempted to disperse the crowd, which local media reported numbered more than 100. Another squad vehicle was damaged, and officers made multiple arrests.
When police identified Sylville Smith as the Milwaukee man shot by an officer Saturday, triggering a violent uprising on the city’s mostly black north side, Chief Edward Flynn cited Smith’s “lengthy criminal record”. But the there was no widespread destruction of property.
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There were reports of shots fired in parts of the city throughout the night, police said, and video footage from the scene showed crowds facing off with police officers clad in riot gear.
