President Trump visits Kenosha amid civil unrest after Jacob Blake shooting
Ns News Online Desk: President Trump toured riot-ravaged Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday, days after the city was first wracked by the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake and then by a resulting wave of fiery unrest that included a teen vigilante allegedly gunning down two protesters.
Trump first visited business districts of the lakefront city badly damaged during the demonstrations, then toured an emergency operations center at a high school and participated in a round table discussion on public safety.
“Kenosha’s been ravaged by anti-police and anti-American riots,” Trump said during the round table at Mary D. Bradford High School. “These are not acts of peaceful protest, but really domestic terror.”
Joined by guests including US Attorney General Bill Barr and acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf, Trump said that the key was not de-funding police wholesale, as some lawmakers want, but to selectively deal with cops unbecoming of the force.“You have some bad apples, we all know that. And those will be taken care of through the system,” said Trump. “If you look at what they want to do, they want to cut police funding. We want to increase police funding substantially.”
To that end, Trump announced $1 million in federal funding to local law-enforcement, as well as $4 million to help small Kenosha businesses rebuild and $42 million to “support public safety” across The Badger State. Details on how and when the funds would be disbursed were not discussed.
Asked if he felt that police nationwide should wear body cameras, as is already the case in many cities across the country, Trump deferred to Barr and members of local law-enforcement. They all voiced support for the idea, though Barr did characterize the decision as a “local issue.”
Earlier in the visit, Trump visited a hard-hit commercial district where the smell of smoke still hung in the air, thanking law enforcement for their work during the protests and vowing aid for business owners.“These gentlemen did a fantastic job,” Trump said, gesturing to local law-enforcement officers.
