Sandy MaloneKenosha, WI – Rioters started fires, smashed windows, and looted businesses in Kenosha Sunday night into Monday morning, leaving at least one police officer seriously injured after he was hit in the head with a brick.
Rioters began setting fires in the street and attacking police vehicles while officers were still investigating at the scene of the officer-involved shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake on Aug. 23, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
They jumped on top of police cars and smashed out windows as officers looked on.
Videos of the chaos showed rioters threw rocks, bottles, and Molotov cocktails at police.
One video showed a police officer dropping to the pavement after he was struck in the head with a brick.
Rioters yelled “He got bricked!” and “F—k the police” as officers rushed to his aid after he dropped to the ground, FOX News reported.
Officials have not said which law enforcement agency the wounded officer belonged to or released any details on his condition.
Video credits: @RundownLive
— Nick 🚩🏴 (@BotchlaUS) August 24, 2020
Marched downtown from the shooting scene to the Kenosha County Public Safety Building chanting “No Justice, No Peace.”
Police surrounded the buildings and pushed the violent protesters back, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The County of Kenosha declared an emergency curfew that began at 10:15 p.m. and said “the public needs to be off the streets for their safety.”
Police deployed teargas to disperse the crowd from around the building at about 11:05 p.m., the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Rioters set fire to at least three Kenosha garbage trucks that had been positioned to block traffic from reaching the police department.
The crowd scattered when tires began exploding on the trucks at about 11:45 p.m., the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The aftermath of BLM rioters vandalism of a public library here in #kenosha Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/CRNwoHAN23
— Drew Hernandez (@livesmattershow) August 24, 2020
The roving mob vandalized the public library, the Dinosaur Discovery Museum, the Harborside Academy charter school, the U.S. Postal Service building, the county register of deeds, and a law firm.
Rioters also smashed windows and doors to gain entry to numerous local businesses so they could loot and burn them.
BLM rioters are breaking into and looting stores one-by-one in #Kenosha, Wisc. Video by @livesmattershow. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/rI1njNkp4u
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 24, 2020
BLM rioters have completely torched this local small business building in Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/bPIcjXbi0G
— Drew Hernandez (@livesmattershow) August 24, 2020
Shortly after midnight, a group attacked the courthouse with spray paint and smashed the windows of an administration building nearby so police deployed another round of teargas, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Police formed a riot line and pushed the rioters back and away from the courthouse but rioters responded by setting off fireworks in the direction of the police officers.
Livestreamed video showed rioters set cars on fire at a car dealership on Sheridan Road, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Up close look at an entire car dealership set ablaze by BLM arsonists in Kenosha, Wisconsin overnight. pic.twitter.com/w6kz717VAG
Video via @livesmattershow
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 24, 2020
The car fires spread to the Bradford Community Church just after 3 a.m., which had a Black Lives Matter sign out front until it was burned up in the fire.
BLM arson attacks overnight in Kenosha, Wisc. spread to the Bradford Community Church, a far-left universalist religious organization. The church’s sign in support of #BlackLivesMatter was consumed in flames. pic.twitter.com/u02CIwsnIm
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 24, 2020
Numerous Kenosha County buildings were closed on Monday morning because of the damage from the riots, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
The incident that sparked the riots began just after 5 p.m. on Aug. 23 when officers responded to a call about a domestic incident at a home in the 2800-block of 40th Street in Kenosha, WTMJ reported.
This is what it looks like at the scene of @KenoshaPolice officer-involved shooting where a large crowd formed with some people getting on top of squads and breaking the windows. #Kenosha @tmj4 pic.twitter.com/NElRFG0vDY
— Lauren Linder (@lauren_linder) August 24, 2020
UPDATE: The vehicle believed to be involved in this incident has been towed away.
There’s a few dozen people protesting. Some have stomped atop at least one cop car. Some tires slashed.
Officers are inside the tape. Some talking w/ crowd.
Watch @CBS58 tonight at 10 p.m. pic.twitter.com/kSGSvCkO7g
— Kim Shine (@KimShineCBS58) August 24, 2020
A witness filmed part of the encounter between Kenosha police and Blake on his cell phone from across the street.
Raysean White, 22, told NBC News that he saw Blake arrived and tell his son to get into his truck.
White said the next time he looked out the window, he saw “police out there wrestling” with the man who was later identified as Blake and a female officer deploying a Taser at him.
That’s when White said he began filming the confrontation, NBC News reported.
The video showed two police officers, with their weapons drawn, following Blake around a gray SUV as the suspect made his way to the driver’s door.
“They were also yelling drop the knife,” White told NBC News. “I didn’t see any weapons in his hands, he wasn’t being violent.”
The video showed that Blake disregarded the officers’ commands and kept going until he reached the driver’s door.
A crowd of bystanders was screaming and yelling as officers tried to catch up with the suspect, the video showed.
Then Blake opened the door of the SUV and leaned inside with an officer right behind him, yelling at him to stop.
The video showed that a split-second after Blake reached inside the SUV, the officer directly behind him opened fire.
The officer fired seven shots at Blake at close range, the video showed.
He was airlifted to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee where he underwent surgery for his gunshot wounds and was in stable condition on Monday morning, NBC News reported.
Blake’s partner, Laquisha Booker, told WTMJ that she and Blake have three children together and that all three of the kids were inside the SUV when their father was shot.
“That man just literally grabbed him by his shirt and looked the other way and was just shooting him. With the kids in the back screaming. Screaming,” she said.
Booker claimed that Blake wasn’t armed, WTMJ reported.
Kenosha police have not yet released a statement with any details about the incident.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is leading the investigation into the incident with the help of the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office, according to a press release.
The officers who were involved in the incident were placed on paid administrative leave as is protocol for all officer-involved shootings.
Holly Matkin
