In July, two black men were shot dead by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, which sparked angry protests by African Americans across the nation against police brutality and racial discrimination.
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The United States has been on edge for weeks following shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Police said in a tweet that officers were moving into an intersection and asking the crowd to disperse peacefully, but rocks were being thrown at officers.
“Our city is in turmoil tonight”, said Alderman Ashanti Hamilton, president of the Milwaukee Common Council.
Authorities said officers shot and killed the man after he fled from a auto on Milwaukee’s North Side, when stopped by police in traffic at about 3.30pm on 13 August. One of the officials claimed local officials have neglected the area of the city where the shooting took place, turning a blind eye to murders and shootings.
“We have to have calm”, Barrett said. We’ll move quickly to correct the record and we’ll only point to the best information we have at the time. “Please allow the process to work”, he said. Several businesses were set alight during the unrest.
Protesters also began throwing objects at a business a half-block from the intersection.
Protesters also appeared to vandalize traffic lights and a bus shelter. In that incident a man was shot dead and another was fatally stabbed, police said. They said the man was armed with a gun but it wasn’t clear whether he was pointing it at or shot at police.
Shortly after the police shooting, dozens of residents took to the streets of Milwaukee to march in protest.
Simmering anger over the fatal shooting of a man by police erupted in violence on Milwaukee’s predominantly black north side, with protesters skirmishing with officers over several hours and setting fire to at least four businesses in an outburst the mayor says was fed by social media. 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.
Police later tweeted that an officer was hit in the head with a brick that was thrown through a squad vehicle window. Police say the man was armed and was shot during a foot chase that followed a traffic stop.
“If you love your son, if you love your daughter, text them, call them, pull them by the ears and get ’em home”, he said.
The officer, who was not injured, is a 24-year-old male with six years of service with the MPD, three years as an officer, MPD said. At least three people were arrested, Mayor Tom Barrett said.
At times, those gathered pushed against a line of 20 to 30 officers, some of whom wore riot gear. He says the handgun was determined to be stolen.
The 24-year-old officer who shot him has been placed on administrative duty during the investigation. The officer’s name wasn’t immediately released.
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“Our police officers are doing everything they can to restore order”, he said.
