President Trump visited Kenosha, WI to boost the morale of Lea’s following the shooting of a black man that sparked outrage. The Republican slammed the domestic terror groups for playing their role in the destruction of the Midwestern city. Kenosha underwent days of violent protests after a black man Jacob Blake, 29 was shot by a white policeman and as a result, he went paralyzed from the waist down. Blake is still paralyzed with doctors not sure if he will ever recover from the trauma.
“His family believe in miracles, but the medical diagnosis right now is that he is paralyzed and, because those bullets severed his spinal cord and shattered some of his vertebrae, it is going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake Jr to ever walk again,” his lawyer Ben Crump said in an earlier conference on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, opinion polls reveal, Trump is narrowing Democratic challenger Joe Biden’s lead before the November election. The president is floating a strong “law and order” message while his rival has accused him of fueling racial unrest.
Trump
“Fires are burning and we have a president who fans the flames rather than fighting the flames,” the former US vice-president said ahead of Tuesday’s trip.
The president made a visit to the areas where the demonstrators recorded their protests. He visited damaged sites including a store lit by the BLM activists.
“These are not acts of peaceful protest, but really domestic terror,” he told local business owners during a meeting in a high school gym. He also bailed out the police and actions of his supporters terming them as acts of self-defense. Trump also criticized the media for only highlighting dark incidents of police brutality.
The president did express some soft words for the victims of violent police behavior saying he felt “terribly for anybody who goes through that”. However, he also claimed that there was no systematic injustice and discrimination in the system.
The president confirmed that he has ordered the National Guard to take control of Kenosha, though they were arrived on the request of Wisconsin’s governor and were accompanied by 200 federal law enforcement agents. He also announced a $4mn package for the Kenosha businesses that were affected by the riots and vandalization and release $1mn for the police. Demonstrators have blamed the outside agitators for disrupting the peaceful demonstrations. Kenosha police reported that 105 out 175 suspects came did not belong to the city and were outsiders.
Trump didn’t meet Blake Family
Trump said he did not see the family of African-American because they demanded the presence of lawyers. President also said that he felt honored to have the African-American co-pastors of Mr. Blake’s mother at the roundtable.
Co-Pastor Sharon Ward said: “I think its important to have black people at the table to help solve the problem.”
Blake’s father Jacob Blake Snr. earlier in an interview with CNN, said his son’s life was more precious than a meet up with Republican president and refused a photo op. “I am not getting into politics. It is all about my son, man. It has noting do with a photo op,” he said.
The father of the shot black man said his son is still not feeling his lower body, “holding on for dear life”.
A white cop shot Jacob seven times in the back during an arrest as he tried to find refuge in a vehicle where his 3 children were seated.
Democrats
Trump’s visit to the city was rejected by Democrats who asked him to stay away. Over the weekend, Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian said it was not right time for president to visit his city. “Realistically, from our perspective, our preference would have been for him not to be coming at this point in time,” he told National Public Radio. Wisconsin’s Democratic Governor Tony Evers also warned him against the visit, saying it would hinder the healing. Mark Pocan, a congressman from Wisconsin also blamed Trump for spreading the hate in Kenosha.