Milwaukee went up in flames on Saturday night after an officer fatally shot an armed suspect during a chase. Both the officer and the suspect’s names and ethnicities were initially undisclosed. The suspect was armed with a gun that he had allegedly taken at an earlier burglary, according to Milwaukee Police. Though the officer was wearing a body camera, it is unclear whether the suspect pointed the gun toward officers.
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According to The Blaze, Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke pointed to what he believes to be the contributing factors of the weekend destruction during a Sunday press conference. He said that the police force served as an “igniter,” but only to “an already volatile mix of urban pathologies.” He listed some issues:
[…] failed urban policy, failing public schools, inadequate parenting. Father-absent homes — we all know when fathers are not around to shape the behavior of young boys, they often times grow up to be unmanageable misfits that police have to deal with in an aggressive fashion. Pathologies like lifestyle choices, questionable lifestyle choices, [like] gang violence, drugs, and alcohol abuse. As well as massive unemployment.
Clarke said that they were “ingredients” that inspire “anger” and “resentment” towards officers. He later told his audience to “stop trying to fix the police” and to “fix the ghetto” instead.
The sheriff regularly criticizes non-partisan constitutional criminal justice reform and policing reform advocates.
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After the first night of violence, Clarke requested intervention from the National Guard. “We cannot allow for a repeat of what happened last night. I am going to utilize all available resources to accomplish that,” said Clarke. He spoke with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Major General Donald Dunbar before requesting assistance.
Gov. Scott Walker approved the request.
The city was chaotic on Saturday night.
#BREAKING: [VIDEO] #Milwaukee rioters destroy a car and yell "BLACK POWER" [EXPLICIT LANGUAGE] #MilwaukeeUprising https://t.co/7qUl2Zttm5
— Kris Cruz (@realKrisCruz) August 14, 2016
https://twitter.com/Timcast/status/764669696708866048
People are shooting back at police in Milwaukee tonight after a Black man was shot 3 times in the back earlier today pic.twitter.com/DnX9XIWxtD
— Tariq Nasheed 🇺🇸 (@tariqnasheed) August 14, 2016
Clarke previously penned an open letter to the black community around the time of the Democratic National Convention. He slammed the Democratic party for “continuing their fifty-year assault on the Black community, adding to it this season with the normalization of criminal behavior and demonization of law enforcement.”