{"id":10554,"date":"2020-08-26T05:37:33","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T12:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=10554"},"modified":"2020-08-26T05:37:33","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T12:37:33","slug":"2-dead-1-injured-as-gunshots-ring-out-in-kenosha-during-night-protests-over-jacob-blake-police-shooting-chicago-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=10554","title":{"rendered":"“2 dead, 1 injured as gunshots ring out in Kenosha during night protests over Jacob Blake police shooting”, Chicago Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bill Ruthhart<\/span>, John Keilman<\/span>, Dan Hinkel,\u00a0<\/span>Genevieve Bookwalter<\/span>\u00a0and Kaitlin Edquist,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Aug 26, 2020<\/p>\n

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KENOSHA, Wis. \u2014 Two people are dead and one was seriously injured in Kenosha after gunfire broke out in the middle of a crowd of protesters during the third night of demonstrations in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, according to the Kenosha Police Department.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Protesters clashed with police officers and members of the Wisconsin National Guard for several hours outside a downtown courthouse surrounded by metal fencing and protected by armored vehicles. After repeatedly warning demonstrators they were in violation of the city\u2019s 8 p.m. curfew, officers cleared a crowd of several hundred people from Civic Center Park across from the courthouse by firing rubber bullets and letting off canisters of tear gas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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As the crowd dispersed, some made their way south on Sheridan Road, where at least a dozen vehicles in a used car lot had been set ablaze during the two previous nights of violent demonstrations, looting and fires that burned at least 30 businesses in the city of 100,000 people. Across the street from the burned-out auto lot, men with guns protected the boarded-up Ultimate Gas Station, and videos posted to social media showed a confrontation between demonstrators and the armed men.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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At 11:48 p.m., shots rang out near the gas station. Police quickly cordoned off a one-block stretch of Sheridan Road. An officer used a megaphone to urge people to clear the area: \u201cWe have multiple people down. Clear the area. We don\u2019t want any more people shot. We have multiple shooters out here. Clear the area!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Officials with the Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriff\u2019s Department confirmed they were investigating shootings near the gas station stemming from a confrontation with protesters. Kenosha police wrote in a statement that the victims have not yet been identified. Neither departments would say early Wednesday if anyone had been taken into custody.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Videos on Twitter appeared to show at least three victims. In one graphic video<\/a>, a man with a rifle is shown getting run down by protesters in the middle of Sheridan Road and shooting at them from the ground. Another graphic video from The Daily Caller show people attending to a man shot in the parking lot of the gas station. The video shows a man removing his shirt to apply pressure to a victim\u2019s head wound<\/a> with two other people assisting nearby.<\/p>\n

Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth initially told the New York Times<\/a> three people had been shot, one fatally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve had people saying, \u2018Why don\u2019t you deputize citizens?\u2019\u201d he told the Times. \u201cThis is why you don\u2019t deputize citizens with guns to protect Kenosha.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Devin Scott said he witnessed one of the shootings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe were all chanting \u2018Black lives matter\u2019 at the gas station and then we heard, boom, boom, and I told my friend, that\u2019s not fireworks,\u201d said Scott, 19, who lives in the Round Lake area. \u201cAnd then this guy with this huge gun runs by us in the middle of the street and people are yelling, \u2018He shot someone! He shot someone! And everyone is trying to fight the guy, chasing him and then he started shooting again.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Scott said he hit the ground as the next round of shots went off and a man nearby was shot in the middle of the street.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI was cradling him in my arms. I was trying to keep this kid alive and he wasn\u2019t moving or nothing. He was just laying there,\u201d a visibly shaken Scott said shortly after midnight. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what to do and then this woman starts performing CPR. There was no pulse. I don\u2019t think he made it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The shootings took place after police and National Guard members dispersed protesters in the hours following an 8 p.m. curfew.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Protesters gathered by a newly installed fence surrounding the county courthouse and almost succeeded in tipping it over before police in riot gear streamed from the building. Some in the crowd fired heavy duty fireworks at the officers, who responded with high pitched blasts from a sound cannon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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At about 9:30 p.m., military-style heavy trucks pulled in front of the courthouse and released clouds of tear gas. The crowd, which included several men carrying long rifles and others bearing clubs or sticks, retreated slightly, but stayed put.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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