A city roiled by multi-day rioting. Bricks conveniently appear which are used to injure a police officer. Shots fired in self-defense. Casualties. In Wisconsin. When they said it was coming to a city near you, they weren't lying.
The question CDMedia asked yesterday has become an online chorus: where is the latest information from the Kenosha Police Department? The more the public knows, the less they are likely to assume. The less they have to assume, the less likely they are to riot.
In this regard, the blood of the two protesters killed and another injured would appear to rest on the hands of Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, a Democrat. Antaramian looks lost during the scant press conferences in which he has appeared, and overwhelmed by the activists in his city.
The focus today has turned to the activities of last night. A 17 year-old, Kyle Rittenhouse, showed up to provide medical assistance and protection from rioters. In his own words, "So, people are getting injured...if somebody's hurt, I'm running into harm's way, that's why I have my rifle, to protect myself, but I also have my med kit."
Rittenhouse was attacked after assisting an injured man, first knocked down by a skateboard-wielding rioter. One of the protesters yelled, "Get his ass!" and then Rittenhouse was leapt upon by another, who was apparently trying to stomp his head into the pavement.
At that point Rittenhouse recovered himself and fired several shots, striking three men, one of whom was holding a handgun, poised to shoot Rittenhouse.
Rittenhouse then approached four police vehicles that had advanced on the scene with his hands in the air. Self-defense, followed by surrender to authorities. So it was upsetting, though not entirely unexpected, to hear today that Rittenhouse had been arrested, and charged with intentional homicide. He is being held by federal authorities currently.
How does this happen? In the era of Antifa and BLM, it isn't unusual to see individuals who may possibly be innocent arrested and/or fired in order to placate the mob. In Minneapolis, we saw Derek Chauvin and his three fellow officers fired immediately, even though the technique Chauvin used was department-approved and legal by Minnesota law, regardless of the duration with which he employed it.
{For a gallery of images from the scene, click here for a photo essay from the Daily Mail.}
Writ much, much smaller, think back to "Central Park Amy," the woman with an off-leash dog in Central Park, who, within 48 hours of a cell phone video that started in the middle of a situation, lost her job, her dog, and her personal safety. For letting her small dog run in a public park, and phoning the police when threatened by a black man.
Since the situation is clearly beyond the grasp of Kenosha authorities, calls for the National Guard have been issued from various corners of the community for the past two days. Yesterday, Gov. Tony Evers (D) turned down offers for assistance, so he shares the blame with Mayor Antaramian for what transpired last night.
Today, he doubled his authorization for National Guardsmen from 250 to 500, but President Trump went over his head later this afternoon and approved 2,000 Guardsmen for service, as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The White House authorized sending up to 2,000 National Guard members from neighboring states to help contain unrest in Kenosha on Wednesday, a day after a gunman killed two people and injured a third.
Gov. Tony Evers accepted the help after turning down federal assistance a day earlier.
In addition to the National Guard members from other states, up to 200 law enforcement members will be available in Kenosha, including form the FBI and U.S. Marshals Service, according to the White House.
But it's unclear how many Guard members and law enforcement officers will actually be sent. What happens will in part depend on the decisions of Adjutant General Paul Knapp of the Wisconsin National Guard, according to the White House.
One hopes justice is finally served impartially in the cases of Jacob Blake, the officers involved, and now, Kyle Rittenhouse. From Minneapolis to Portland to Kenosha, this feels more like the tip of the spear than a closing chapter to the national BLM nightmare.
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The civil war has begun people. Trump refuses to support YOUR civil rights. He doesn't have to be invited in to do that. Why, is the real question. Trump has blood on his hands on this one. The Democrat supporters of all this should be in jail. Not giving interviews full of lies.