Governor Scott Walker has activated the Wisconsin National Guard in the wake of a fatal officer-involved shooting in Milwaukee on Saturday, August 13th, and violence that followed.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett addressed the media Sunday afternoon. He stated that the National Guard has been activated but will not be deployed unless the Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn deems it necessary.
He attempted to calm the community by mentioning the police officer body camera footage which he had seen screen shots of.
The pictures “demonstrated without question that he had a gun in his hand.”
Mayor Barrett said that there were 23 rounds in the gun., “which means he had more bullets in his gun than the officer had in his gun……I am very proud of the way our police officers and firefighters responded under tremendous pressure.”
Speaking about the response to the civil unrest, Barrett mentioned that you saw “tremendous restraint” from police officers and they did not fire a single shot.
Barrett encouraged parents to take responsibility, “It is going to take parents making sure that their sons and their daughters do not get involved in the activities that occurred last night.”
“If you love your son, your daughter, your grandchild, tell them to stay away from this area,” the Mayor emphasized.
Police Chief Edward Flynn announced that 17 arrests were made overnight and all of them had prior criminal records. Flynn reported “significant gunshots” in the area overnight and mentioned that 48 different activations came from their ShotSpotter in the area. One activation could indicate several rounds being fired.
Several police cars were damaged overnight with gunfire, bricks and fire. The Bearcat was struck 8 times with gunfire and two rounds hit the windshield. Police did not use force during the events.
Chief Flynn detailed the damage to several businesses including the destruction of three businesses.
Chief Flynn announced that he has activated the Major Incident Response Team which is 150 officers specially trained in “crowd control and management.” Chief Flynn credited the group with being the reason they have had success over civil disruptions over the last few years.
Flynn refused to identify the officer involved because he fears for his safety. “There are a number of people here that want to do that officer harm. He happens to be African American. He has several years of experience and an active officer. We are concerned for his safety and he is staying with relatives out of town.”