Category Archives: US policing

Kenosha marches on as protesters describe ‘kidnap’ by federal agents

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  • Residents take to streets to patch up damage
  • Activists report being held for hours without charge

For many Kenosha residents, Saturday morning was starting like the five mornings before them since Jacob Blake’s shooting by the police last Sunday, after a night of large, peaceful protests demanding justice and equality.

Hundreds took to the streets, some working to patch damage and doll up the blistered city, 40 miles south of Milwaukee in Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Michigan, by painting rainbows and hearts on boarded-up businesses.

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‘We’re not taking it any more’: Jacob Blake’s family lead Washington rally – video

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The family of Wisconsin shooting victim Jacob Blake condemned racism and demanded criminal justice reform as they spoke in front of thousands at the Commitment March in Washington DC. Earlier this week Blake was shot multiple times in the back by police, leaving him paralysed. The protest, announced in early June following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, marked the anniversary of the demonstration at which Martin Luther King gave his historic 'I Have a Dream' speech.

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‘We’ve all had enough’: Kenosha in anguish over Jacob Blake shooting

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Communities have been left to come to terms with the setback for race relations, a frayed relationship with police and the damage that has upended daily life

Antwainnetta Edwards is a new mom. Just weeks ago she had a baby girl and worked hard preparing herself to raise a child during a coronavirus pandemic and the related economic crisis.

Now, as she stood on the porch of her home in Kenosha, rocking her newborn back and forth, she reflected on the last four days and nights that have shaken the small Wisconsin city since, once again in America, a white police officer shot a Black man during an interaction that went out of control, severely wounding Jacob Blake on Sunday.

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Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake named as Rusten Sheskey

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Officer was caught on video firing seven times into Blake’s back at almost point-blank range

Police in Kenosha, the Wisconsin city rocked by protests and deadly violence since the shooting of Jacob Blake, have named the officer who fired multiple bullets into Blake’s back.

Rusten Sheskey, who has been employed by the Kenosha police department for seven years, was named as the officer caught on video firing seven times into Blake’s back at almost point-blank range as he held him by his shirt.

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‘Unite and heal’: Democratic nominee Joe Biden speaks about Jacob Blake shooting – video

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Democratic nominee Joe Biden says he has spoken to the family of Jacob Blake, the African American man who was repeatedly shot in the back by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

'What I saw in that video makes me sick,' Biden said of the footage of Blake being shot while three of his children looked on in a nearby car.

The Democratic nominee went on to urge protesters to remain peaceful and avoid 'needless violence'. Biden repeated the words of Blake’s mother, Julia Jackson, who said yesterday that her son would not want to see violence and destruction carried out in his name.

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Chaotic scenes as gunfire rings out during unrest after Jacob Blake shooting – video

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Footage taken from the third night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, appears to show an armed civilian fire at a person before running towards police officers. The protests began after the police shooting of Jacob Blake three days ago. Video posted on social media showed chaotic scenes as gunfire rang out, scattering people in the street. Two people have been killed, and another injured

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Two dead in Kenosha after at least one gunman opens fire on BLM protesters

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Three shot as Wisconsin city rocked by further violence on streets following shooting of Jacob Blake

Two people were shot dead and another injured when at least one gunman opened fire on protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, amid demonstrations against the police shooting of Jacob Blake three days ago.

David Beth, the county sheriff, said one person was shot in the head and another in the chest shortly before midnight on Tuesday. Another person was shot in the arm. The victims have not been identified.

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‘I don’t want pity, I want change’: Jacob Blake’s sister gives powerful testimony – video

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Letetra Widman, the sister of Jacob Blake, who was shot in the back by police on Sunday, gives an impassioned plea saying that above all the other labels given to her brother, he is human.

Letetra said she had been inundated with messages of support but that all she really wanted was change.

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Family of Jacob Blake say he is paralysed after police shooting – video

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The family of Jacob Blake, the black man shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has revealed the 29-year-old has been paralysed. Speaking alongside attorney Benjamin Crump, Blake's father, Jacob Blake Sr said, 'They shot my son seven times. Seven times. Like he didn't matter. But my son matters.' Blake's mother, Julia Jackson, called for unity after damage to the city from protests following the shooting

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Wisconsin governor promises police reforms after Jacob Blake shooting

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  • Tony Evers calls special session of state legislature
  • Lawmakers had delayed ordering body cameras for years

In the wake of protests over the shooting of a Black man by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, the state governor, Tony Evers, has promised to move forward with reforms to curb law enforcement misconduct.

Evers has demanded state legislators meet on 31 August in a special session to consider a set of nine police reform bills which were floated more than two months ago. The proposals – which followed the 25 May killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police – include banning chokeholds and limiting other use-of-force methods.

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Wisconsin police fire teargas during second night of protest over shooting of Black man

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Kenosha police confront demonstrators shouting ‘no justice, no peace’ over the shooting of Jacob Blake on Sunday

Anger over the shooting of a Black man by police spilled into the streets of Kenosha for a second night Monday, with police again firing teargas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at law enforcement guarding the courthouse.

The south-eastern Wisconsin city became the latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest in the US after footage of police shooting Jacob Blake apparently in the back, as he leaned into his SUV with his three children inside, circulated widely on social media Sunday. The 29-year-old was hospitalised in a serious condition.

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Video appears to show black man shot in back by police in Wisconsin

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* Some viewers may find the following footage distressing* 

Footage posted on social media appears to show police shooting at a man seven times as he leaned into a vehicle in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The man, identified by the Wisconsin governor as Jacob Blake, is in a serious condition in hospital after the shooting at about 5pm on Sunday.  Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump said Blake’s three young sons were in the car. A police officer is being investigated by the Wisconsin justice department 

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George Floyd protests: police declare a riot outside precinct in Portland

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Federal agents clashed with protesters, accusing them of damaging vehicles and throwing projectiles

Smoke filled the air outside a police precinct in Portland, Oregon early on Saturday, as authorities worked to clear a crowd accused of damaging patrol vehicles, throwing projectiles and pointing lasers at officers.

Related: The Department of Homeland Security is a rogue agency. Democrats must take action | Trevor Timm

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Chicago erupts with violence and looting after police shooting

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More than 100 arrested after overnight looting on shopping district as mayor decries ‘an assault on our city’

Unrest and violence erupted in the center of Chicago early on Monday after weeks of bubbling tension in a number of neighborhoods across the city and protests on Sunday after a man was shot by police on the south side.

Related: US treasury secretary says Congress could reach deal if Democrats are 'willing to be reasonable' – live

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Notorious former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio loses bid to win back seat

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Known for launching immigration crackdowns, the former sheriff lost the Republican primary to his former aide Jerry Sheridan

Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona sheriff notorious for his abusive policing and hardline anti-immigration tactics, has lost his bid to win back the post he held for 24 years.

An early Donald Trump supporter and proponent of the racist theory that Barack Obama was not born in the US, Arpaio lost the Republican primary for Maricopa county sheriff to a former aide, Jerry Sheridan. Sheridan will face off against Democrat Paul Penzone in the November elections.

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Portland: 1,000 peacefully protest amid withdrawal of federal agents

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Overnight protest matches Thursday’s, with no major confrontations, as US government draws down forces

More than a thousand people showed up in downtown Portland early on Saturday to peacefully protest, about three days after the announcement that the presence of US agents there would be reduced – a deal that Oregon officials hope will continue to ease tensions as the city tries to move on from months of chaotic nightly protests.

Friday’s overnight protest mimicked Thursday’s, which was the first time in weeks that demonstrations ended without any major confrontations, violence or arrests.

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New York protester forced into unmarked van by plainclothes police – video

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Footage showing police officers in New York forcing a female protester into an unmarked minivan in east Manhattan has provoked an outcry.

Video shows plainclothes officers carrying the woman away while uniformed police stand guard, actions criticised as ‘abusive and indefensible’ by the American Civil Liberties Union.

In a statement, the New York Police Department said the protester was wanted for damaging police cameras during five separate criminal incidents in and around City Hall Park

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‘These are his people’: inside the elite border patrol unit Trump sent to Portland

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Bortac, a quasi-militarised outfit equivalent to the Navy Seals, has been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan

In January 2011, James Tomsheck, then a top internal affairs investigator inside US Customs and Border Protection, attended a meeting of about 100 senior CBP leaders in a hotel in Irvington, Virginia.

Amid the sanitized splendor of the hotel ballroom, he vividly recalls hearing the nation’s then highest-ranking border patrol agent, David Aguilar, laying out his vision for the future. Border patrol, the former CBP deputy commissioner said, was to become the “marine corps of the US federal law enforcement community”.

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Portland: protesters bring down fence as confrontation with Trump agents rises

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The confrontation between protesters and federal paramilitaries in Portland escalated early on Sunday morning, when demonstrators finally broke down a steel fence around the courthouse after days of trying.

Related: What is happening in Portland and what does Trump hope to gain?

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