海角大神

Protests in Kenosha over the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, were mostly peaceful following the arrest of a 17-year-old police admirer accused of killing two people and wounding a third during a chaotic night of demonstrations and unrest.

As of early Thursday, there were no groups patrolling with long guns as there were during previous nights of protests over the Sunday shooting of Mr. Blake, who was left paralyzed. Protesters also stayed away from a courthouse that had been the site of standoffs with law enforcement.

Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, about 15 miles from Kenosha, was taken into custody on Wednesday in Illinois on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide in shootings late Tuesday that were largely captured on cellphone video.

鈥淚 just killed somebody,鈥� the gunman, carrying a semi-automatic rifle, could be heard saying at one point while jogging away from a man who had just been fatally shot in the head.

In the wake of the killings, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers authorized the deployment of 500 members of the National Guard to Kenosha, doubling the number of troops in the city of 100,000 midway between Milwaukee and Chicago. The governor鈥檚 office said he is working with other states to bring in additional National Guard members and law officers. Authorities also announced a 7 p.m. curfew, though protesters ignored it again Wednesday.

Protesters marched past the intersection where two people were shot Tuesday night, stopping to gather around the spot where one person was shot, and to pray and lay flowers. Daijon Spann said he decided to join the demonstration because one of those killed the night before was a friend.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 take it any more,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 just sit there and watch my friend die.鈥�

Mr. Evers, a Democrat, issued a statement asking those who wanted to exercise their First Amendment rights to 鈥減lease do so peacefully and safely鈥� and urging others to 鈥減lease stay home and let local first responders, law enforcement, and members of the Wisconsin National Guard do their jobs.鈥�

鈥淎 senseless tragedy like this cannot happen again,鈥� Mr. Evers said.

In Washington, the Justice Department said it is sending in more than 200 federal agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The White House said up to 2,000 National Guard troops would be made available.

The Justice Department also announced that the U.S. attorney鈥檚 office and FBI would conduct a civil rights investigation into the shooting of Mr. Blake, in cooperation with Wisconsin state law enforcement agencies.

The two people killed late Tuesday were identified only as a 26-year-old Silver Lake, Wisconsin, resident and a 36-year-old from Kenosha. The wounded person, a 36-year-old from West Allis, Wisconsin, was expected to survive, police said.

鈥淲e were all chanting 鈥楤lack lives matter鈥� at the gas station and then we heard, boom, boom, and I told my friend, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 not fireworks,鈥欌�� protester Devin Scott told the Chicago Tribune. 鈥淎nd then this guy with this huge gun runs by us in the middle of the street and people are yelling, 鈥楬e shot someone! He shot someone!鈥� And everyone is trying to fight the guy, chasing him, and then he started shooting again.鈥�

Mr. Scott said he cradled a victim in his arms, and a woman started performing CPR, but 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think he made it.鈥�

According to witness accounts and video footage, police apparently let the gunman walk past them and leave the scene with a rifle over his shoulder and his hands in the air as members of the crowd were yelling for him to be arrested because he had shot people.

As for how the gunman managed to slip away, Sheriff David Beth described a chaotic, high-stress scene, with lots of radio traffic and people screaming, chanting, and running 鈥� conditions he said can cause 鈥渢unnel vision鈥� among law officers.

Mr. Rittenhouse was assigned a public defender in Illinois for a hearing Friday on his transfer to Wisconsin. The public defender鈥檚 office had no comment. Under Wisconsin law, anyone 17 or older is treated as an adult in the criminal justice system.

Much of Mr. Rittenhouse鈥檚 Facebook page is devoted to praising law enforcement, with references to Blue Lives Matter, a movement that supports police. He also can be seen holding an assault rifle.

In a photograph posted by his mother, he is wearing what appears to be a blue law enforcement uniform as well as the kind of brimmed hat that state troopers wear.

The sheriff told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that militia members or armed vigilantes had been patrolling Kenosha鈥檚 streets in recent nights, but he did not know if the gunman was among them. However, video taken before the shooting shows police tossing bottled water from an armored vehicle to what appear to be armed civilians walking the streets. And one of them appears to be the gunman.

鈥淲e appreciate you being here,鈥� an officer is heard saying to the group over a loudspeaker.

Before the shooting, the conservative website The Daily Caller conducted a video interview with the suspected gunman in front of a boarded-up business.

鈥淪o people are getting injured, and our job is to protect this business,鈥� the young man said. 鈥淎nd part of my job is to also help people. If there is somebody hurt, I鈥檓 running into harm鈥檚 way. That鈥檚 why I have my rifle 鈥� because I can protect myself, obviously. But I also have my med kit.鈥�

Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is Black, said in an interview with the news program 鈥淒emocracy Now!鈥� that the shootings were not surprising and white militias have been ignored for too long.

鈥淗ow many times across this country do you see armed gunmen, protesting, walking into state Capitols, and everybody just thinks it鈥檚 OK?鈥� Mr. Barnes said. 鈥淧eople treat that like it鈥檚 some kind of normal activity that people are walking around with assault rifles.鈥�

In Wisconsin, it is legal for people 18 and over to openly carry a gun without a license.

Witness accounts and video indicate the gunman first shot someone at a car lot just before midnight, then jogged away, fell in the street, and opened fire again as members of the crowd closed in on him.

A witness, Julio Rosas, said that when the gunman stumbled, 鈥渢wo people jumped onto him and there was a struggle for control of his rifle. At that point during the struggle, he just began to fire multiple rounds, and that dispersed people near him.鈥�

鈥淭he rifle was being jerked around in all directions while it was being fired,鈥� Mr. Rosas said.

Mr. Blake was shot in the back seven times on Sunday as he leaned into his SUV, three of his children seated inside. Kenosha police have said little about what happened other than that they were responding to a domestic dispute.

On Wednesday, three days after the shooting, state authorities identified the officer who shot Mr. Blake as Rusten Sheskey, a seven-year veteran of the Kenosha Police Department. Mr. Sheskey shot Mr. Blake while holding onto his shirt after officers first unsuccessfully used a Taser, the Wisconsin Justice Department said. State agents later recovered a knife from the driver鈥檚 side floorboard of the vehicle, the department said.

The man who said he made the widely circulated cellphone video of Mr. Blake鈥檚 shooting has said he heard officers yell, 鈥淒rop the knife! Drop the knife!鈥� before the gunfire erupted. He said he didn鈥檛 see a knife in Mr. Blake鈥檚 hands.

State authorities did not say Mr. Blake threatened anyone with the knife.

On Tuesday, Ben Crump, the lawyer for Mr. Blake鈥檚 family, said it would 鈥渢ake a miracle鈥� for Mr. Blake to walk again. He called for the officer who opened fire to be arrested and for the others involved to lose their jobs. State officials have announced no charges.

Vice President Mike Pence, speaking on the third night of the Republican convention, called for an end to violence in Kenosha and 鈥渓aw and order on the streets of this country for every American of every race and creed and color.鈥� But Mr. Pence made no direct mention of Mr. Blake or other Black Americans shot or killed by police this year.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden posted a video saying he had spoken with Mr. Blake鈥檚 parents and other family members.

鈥淲hat I saw on that video makes me sick,鈥� Mr. Biden said. 鈥淥nce again, a Black man, Jacob Blake, has been shot by the police in broad daylight, with the whole world watching.鈥�

Elsewhere, the Minnesota governor activated the National Guard on Wednesday night to help quell unrest that broke out in downtown Minneapolis following what authorities said was misinformation about the suicide death of a Black homicide suspect. The unrest comes three months after the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer touched off a nationwide reckoning over racial injustice.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP reporters Mike Householder in Kenosha, Wisconsin; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin; Gretchen Ehlke in Milwaukee; Jeff Baenen and Amy Forliti in Minneapolis; Don Babwin in Chicago; Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan; and Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed.

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