Wisconsin State Rep. Greta Neubauer (D) said she will be “joining people in the streets” in protest following a violent night of riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sparked by a police-involved shooting incident of a black man.
“I am horrified, sickened and angry over the police shooting of Jacob Blake last night,” Neubauer said in a statement on Monday, calling for “deep and systemic change” and declaring “continued police violence against Black people” a “symptom of the systemic racism and white supremacy deeply embedded in our country’s past and present.”
“I support the right to protest in Kenosha and I will be joining people in the streets,” she continued. “Today and in the days to come, my thoughts are with Jacob, his family, and his community, and I am sending them strength in this time. Black Lives Matter”:
I am horrified, sickened and angry over the police shooting of Jacob Blake last night.
It is long past time for deep and systemic change. Change in how we police, how we prosecute and how we incarcerate. But also change in how we invest in and strengthen our communities.
— Representative Greta Neubauer (@RepGreta) August 24, 2020
I support the right to protest in Kenosha and I will be joining people in the streets. Today and in the days to come, my thoughts are with Jacob, his family, and his community, and I am sending them strength in this time. #BlackLivesMatter
— Representative Greta Neubauer (@RepGreta) August 24, 2020
The Democrat representative’s vow to join activists in the streets follows an eruption of chaos in Kenosha, sparked by the police-involved shooting of whom Gov. Tony Evers (D) identified as Jacob Blake. Police were reportedly responding to a domestic incident. Video shows Blake walking away from officers, who had their guns drawn. Blake opened the door of a vehicle and leaned inside, and shots were fired. He remained in serious condition as of Monday afternoon. Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is investigating the shooting incident.
“Until that investigation is completed, we ask that you withhold prejudgment about the incident and please the let process take place,” Pete Deates, president of the Kenosha Professional Police Association, said in a statement.
He also called Evers’ statement “wholly irresponsible and not reflective of the hardworking members of the law enforcement community, not to mention the citizens of the City of Kenosha.”
“As always, the video currently circulating does not capture all the intricacies of a highly dynamic incident. We ask that you withhold from passing judgement [sic] until all the facts are known and released,” he pleaded.
“We, along with the citizens of the great City of Kenosha, ask for peace and to let the process play out fairly and impartially,” Deates added.
While details leading up to the incident remain unknown, demonstrators, including armed rioters, took to the streets in Kenosha Sunday as the night descended into chaos, accompanied by looting and attacks targeting police officers:
Video appears to show police officer knocked unconscious after being struck in the head with a brick; Curfew declared in the city of #Kenosha after police shooting
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 24, 2020
BLM rioters vandalizing and looting stores in Wisconsin pic.twitter.com/tGHbDzzGzu
— Drew Hernandez (@livesmattershow) August 24, 2020
Kenosha, Wisconsin
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 24, 2020
This is insane. BLM rioters armed with semi-auto rifles have shut down the street in #Kenosha and ordered a Sheriff’s vehicle to stop. Video by @livesmattershow. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/cDhmOBG1p9
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) August 24, 2020
Neubauer did not condemn the acts of violence and lawlessness committed by protesters in her statement, nor did Joe Biden, the Democrat Party’s presidential nominee.
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