[ad_1]
US President Donald Trump will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday (Wednesday NZT), amid fury over the police shooting of Jacob Blake in the back, which left the 29-year-old black man paralyzed.
White House spokesman Judd Deere told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday that Trump will meet with law enforcement officers and “examine” some of the damage from recent protests that has turned destructive.
The visit is sure to exacerbate tensions in the city, where a crowd of about 1,000 protesters gathered in front of a court on Saturday (Sunday NZT) to denounce police violence.
READ MORE:
* ‘How dare we not vote?’ Black voters rally after the DC march
* ‘People are a little upset’: Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s battle for black voters
* The US police officer who shot Jacob Blake, as Joe Biden leads, calls for justice.
* Kenosha protests: Shots, two people killed in third night of riots after Jacob Blake police shooting
Trump has been conducting his re-election campaign in a cloak of law and order, denouncing protesters as “thugs” while expressing his support for the police.
In his acceptance speech during the virtual Republican National Convention, Trump described the election in hyperbolic terms as a stark choice between peaceful streets and anarchy.
Trump’s opponent of re-election, former US Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate, Kamala Harris, have accused Trump of encouraging violence amid riots in Wisconsin.
Alex Brandon / AP
US President Donald Trump plans to travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to “examine” some of the damage from the recent protests.
“He sees this as a political benefit,” Biden said in an interview on MSNBC. “He is supporting more violence, not less. And that is clear. “
Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey and two other officers were responding to a domestic abuse call last Sunday when Sheskey shot Blake in the back seven times.
Morry Gash / AP
Jacob Blake’s sister, Letetra Widman, center, and Uncle Justin Blake, left, march in a rally for him in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Video footage from a phone captured the shooting, which sparked renewed protests against racial injustice and police brutality months after George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis officer triggered a broader trial on race.
