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KENOSHA, Wisconsin: US President Donald Trump defied requests to stay away and visited Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday (September 1), not to urge racial healing after a white officer shot a black man on the back, but to express support for law enforcement in a city rocked by civil unrest.
With the United States polarized on issues of racial injustice and police use of force, Trump is appealing to his white supporters base with a message of “law and order” as opinion polls show him cutting off his lead. Democratic rival, the former vice president. Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, Trump has largely overlooked racial wounds caused by police use of force and has downplayed the more than 180,000 deaths in the United States from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Republican president also threatened to send more federal officials to cities run by Democratic mayors, even if local officials objected, saying, “At some point … we will have to do it ourselves.”
A mix of protesters and supporters line the road as United States President Donald Trump’s caravan passes by on its way to Kenosha Wisconsin after arriving in Waukegan, Illinois on September 1, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Leah Millis).
Trump did not visit Jacob Blake, who was paralyzed from the waist down after a white police officer shot him in the back seven times on August 23. He also did not meet Blake’s family, but he did meet his mother’s shepherds.
Instead, he vowed to rebuild Kenosha and provide more federal spending to Wisconsin, a political battleground state that Trump narrowly won in 2016 and that he urgently needs to keep in his column as he seeks reelection on Nov. 3.
United States President Donald Trump speaks while observing property damage during a visit in the wake of recent protests against police brutality and racial injustice following the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin , September 1, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Leah Millis) lyrics
The president visited a burned furniture store that was destroyed by the riots and then a makeshift command center to praise the National Guard troops who were called in to reinforce the local police after several nights of peaceful protests gave way to looting, burning and shooting.
“These are not acts of peaceful protest, but internal terror,” Trump told local business leaders in a high school gym.
READ: Biden accuses ‘toxic’ Trump of stoking the unrest in the US.
Peaceful protesters have complained that violent, often white, agitators have hijacked their protests with property damage. But many have also harshly criticized the police, saying the United States needs to completely rethink its law enforcement practices.
“To stop political violence, we must also confront radical ideology … We have to condemn dangerous anti-police rhetoric,” Trump said, adding that without his help Kenosha would have been “burned to the ground.”
CALL TO ‘CHANGE HEARTS’
The visit was not completely free of empathy. While Trump sidestepped questions about systemic racism and surveillance issues, he said he felt “terribly for anyone who goes through it,” referring to the police shooting, and that he was honored to meet with the co-pastors of the Blake’s mother. the only two blacks at Trump’s round table.
US President Donald Trump observes property damage during a visit in the wake of recent protests against police brutality and racial injustice in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on September 1, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Leah Millis ).
Pastor James Ward called for greater efforts to “change people’s hearts” and bring healing and peace to the community, while his wife and co-pastor Sharon Ward said, “I think it is important to have black people at the table to help to solve the problem. “
The Democratic governor of the state and the Democratic mayor of the city urged Trump not to visit him to avoid escalating tensions and allow citizens to recover. But when it was introduced, the president pledged $ 1 million in federal support to Kenosha law enforcement, $ 4 million to small businesses, and $ 42 million to public safety statewide, in contrast to the appeals. leftists to “defund the police.”
READ: Oregon State Police called Portland as officials warn of escalating violence
Much of the country has joined in civil rights since George Floyd, a black man, died on May 25 after a white police officer knelt on his neck. The country was considering that case when Blake was shot while entering his car on August 23.
US President Donald Trump exits his caravan to observe property damage in the wake of recent protests against police brutality and racial injustice and riots after the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on September 1, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Leah Millis)
Kenosha has become one of the cities of conflict where anti-racist protesters have clashed with Trump supporters who have converged on protest sites, sometimes openly carrying weapons while vowing to protect property from looters.
A 17-year-old Trump supporter was charged with killing two people and wounding another with a semi-automatic rifle in Kenosha. Trump defended the white teenager, who faces six criminal charges, and refused to condemn the violence by his supporters.
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But in Portland, Oregon, the site of three months of late-night protests that often turned violent, a Trump supporter was shot to death on Saturday and the president lamented that “a man was executed on the street.”
The president took credit for restoring peace to Kenosha since reinforcements were sent from the National Guard and federal law enforcement agencies. Although Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers summoned more National Guard troops at his own expense, Trump dispatched about 200 federal law enforcement officers.
