President Trump’s visit to Kenosha raises fears of protests and killings

Listen to this article

A burst of anger following the police shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake has given way in recent days to an uneasy calm in this small city on the shores of Lake Michigan. But, Kenosha is still showing the scars from the battles of the last week. Most downtown buildings are boarded up. Graffiti covers the pavements and walls. Dozens of burnt-out cars sit in a parking lot not far from the courthouse. A curfew largely quieted the streets at night. It was a fragile peace that was disturbed by the arrival of Donald Trump on Tuesday. A 26-year-old Black Lives Matter supporter, Adam Gadzala said, “It’s going to cause more of a problem. He just wants to claim credit for something that he really didn’t help solve. What we have now is somebody who is orchestrating division and playing on fears of white people. He knows his audience and he knows how to play them well”.

Point to be noted that Kenosha has been transformed in the week since the shooting and the protests that followed the 23 August incident. Businesses and buildings were burnt and destroyed by demonstrators. A 17-year-old Trump supporter from Illinois is alleged of shooting 2 protesters dead and wounding another– an event that has raised fears of civil strife in America’s cities. He has been charged with 6 criminal counts, including 1^st -degree intentional homicide. The shooting and the chaos that followed has placed this city at the center of that nationwide debate over police violence and the response to it. President Trump said, “These are not acts of peaceful protest but, really, domestic terror. To stop the political violence, we must also confront the radical ideology. We have to condemn the dangerous anti-police rhetoric”.

President Donald Trump met with police and business owners affected by the rioting. He also announced that the federal government would make $1 million available to Kenosha law enforcement, and $4 million for small businesses. President was accompanied by crowds of his supporters who came to Kenosha in a show of support. A 56-year-old from nearby Libertyville, Dan Cox said, “I think he can bring attention to what is going on. Currently, there seems to be a lot of downplaying of what’s happening in places like Kenosha. What I’m seeing here is not protesting. It is violence, it is mayhem. It is burning and looting”. A 34-year-old Kenosha resident, Jamarcus Blaze said, “This is not about politics right now. This is about people who want to change”.