Category Archives: Wisconsin

Donald Trump appears to defend Kenosha gunman – video

Posted on by

Donald Trump appeared to defend the teenage gunman charged with killing two people and injuring another with an AR-15-style rifle during protests against the police shooting of an African American man in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

At a White House press briefing Trump said Kyle Rittenhouse, 17,  'probably would have been killed but it’s under investigation'.

Trump also defended his supporters in Portland who fired paintball guns and pepper spray on Saturday

Continue reading...

Trump fails to denounce an accused killer – which comes as little surprise

Posted on by

Analysis: For the president, loyalty is paramount – those on his team will not be chastened, even for alleged murder

Donald Trump has the blind devotion of a rabid sports fan. His team can do no wrong. The opposition are liars and cheats.

So maybe no one was surprised on Monday when he appeared to defend an accused murderer.

Continue reading...

‘It’s a coin toss here’: will swing voters in this Wisconsin county stick by Trump?

Posted on by

In Forest county, Wisconsin – which backed Obama before Trump – voters voice doubts about both major candidates

Joe Biden has blown his chance to win over Kristen, to be found selling home-baked cakes and pies at a farmer’s market in Forest county, northern Wisconsin.

The 46-year-old was once a fan of Barack Obama, voting for him twice before switching her allegiance to Donald Trump four years ago. Kristen, who doesn’t want her last name used, was minded to back Trump again in November but was holding off to see who Biden chose as his vice-presidential running mate.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by
  • 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.

Continue reading...

Michelle Obama: ‘I’m just devastated by the shootings in Kenosha’

Posted on by

The former first lady condemned the shooting of Jacob Blake by police as well as killings of Wisconsin protesters

Michelle Obama said she was “devastated” by the shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, this week and is “exhausted and frustrated” at the trauma of Black and brown people in the US.

In a lengthy statement released on Friday, the former first lady condemned the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Wisconsin man shot seven times in the back by police in front of his children, as well as the shooting of three protesters by an alleged 17-year-old rightwing militant in the protests that followed.

Continue reading...

Jacob Blake shackled to hospital bed despite being paralyzed, father says

Posted on by

Jacob Blake Sr said in TV interview he did not know why his son was under restraint after being shot by police in Kenosha

Jacob Blake, the 29-year-old who was shot seven times by a Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer on Sunday, has spent the week shackled to his hospital bed despite being unable to walk and being heavily medicated, his father revealed on Friday.

“There was the cold steel on his ankle. He is shackled to the bed, but he cannot get up, he could not get up, he is paralyzed,” Jacob Blake Sr, father of Jacob Blake Jr, told CNN, describing a hospital visit with his son two days ago.

Continue reading...

Donald Trump portrays Biden as threat to America in RNC speech packed with falsehoods – live

Posted on by

That’s it from us tonight. Here are the key takeaways of the final night of the Republican convention:

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reportedly plans to resign due to his health.

The Japanese outlet NHK reports:

Abe Shinzo is scheduled to hold a news conference later in the day to explain his decision.

Abe has visited a hospital twice over the past two weeks, fuelling speculation that his health has deteriorated.

Continue reading...

Trump attacks Biden as eager to ‘tear down’ America in RNC speech

Posted on by

President accepts Republican presidential nomination in event staged at White House, raising ethical concerns

Against a backdrop of a global pandemic, heightened racial tensions, and widespread unemployment, Donald Trump framed his Democratic rival Joe Biden as the real danger to the country’s safety and economic welfare in his address to the Republican convention on Thursday.

Accepting the party’s presidential nomination ahead of November’s elections, Trump argued for more than an hour that his administration had accomplished everything it had set out to do and warned that a Biden presidency could be ruinous.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake named as Rusten Sheskey

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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

Continue reading...

Wisconsin governor promises police reforms after Jacob Blake shooting

Posted on by
  • 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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

* 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 

Continue reading...

‘This is unstoppable’: America’s midwest braces itself for a Covid-19 surge

Posted on by

Experts predict an increase in deaths across the region, made significantly worse by lawmakers who question the value of face coverings

Three months ago, the Republican governor of Missouri chose not to wear a mask in a shop, because he said he wasn’t going to let the government tell him what to do. Mike Parson visited a hardware store to celebrate its reopening after he lifted Missouri’s coronavirus lockdown over the objections of health professionals and mayors of major cities.

Parson said the worst of the pandemic was past and the economic impact of the shutdown was worse than the virus. As for masks, the governor dismissively claimed “there was a lot of information on both sides” over whether to wear one so he wasn’t going to require people to do so.

Continue reading...

‘He’s in trouble here’: can Trump win this critical swing state again?

Posted on by

If he’s to stay in power, Trump needs to repeat his victory in Wisconsin. But the landscape is very different now – and support is shrinking

Donald Trump claimed to have done so much for African Americans that his campaign decided to open the first ever Republican office in a black neighbourhood of Milwaukee.

Related: White House attacks Fauci as states see record new coronavirus cases – live updates

Continue reading...

Jay-Z’s Team Roc call for prosecution of police officer who shot and killed 3 men

Posted on by

Officer Joseph Mensah was found to have acted in self-defence in two of the shootings, with another currently under review

Jay-Z’s social justice initiative Team Roc has called for a Wisconsin police officer to be fired and prosecuted, after he shot and killed three people while on duty.

Joseph Mensah, of Milwaukee suburb Wauwatosa, killed Alvin Cole, Antonio Gonzales and Jay Anderson in three separate incidents between 2015 and 2020. He is under review for the most recent killing, of Cole, but the earlier two were deemed self-defence and he did not face charges.

Continue reading...