One person shot in Milwaukee protest but no repeat of riots
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Armed police officers transport an injured man in an armored vehicle to a hospital Milwaukee tonight. Shots rang out during unrest after a police shooting that killed a man Saturday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Family members of Sylville Smith gather where he was shot and killed by Milwaukee police in Milwaukee today.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
People gather at the place where Milwaukee police shot and killed Sylville Smith in Milwaukee today.
MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF VIA AP
This undated photo provided by the Milwaukee County Sheriff shows Sylville K. Smith. Smith, whose killing by police touched off rioting in Milwaukee, was shot by a black officer after turning toward him with a gun in his hand, the police chief said today, as Wisconsin’s governor put the National Guard on standby against any further violence on the city’s mostly black north side.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
People gather at the place where Milwaukee police shot and killed Sylville Smith in Milwaukee today.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A car burns as a crowd of more than 100 people gathers following the fatal shooting of a man in Milwaukee on Saturday.
MILWAUKEE » Police said one person was shot at a Milwaukee protest this evening and officers used an armored vehicle to retrieve the injured victim during a second night of unrest over the police shooting of a black man, but there was no repeat of widespread destruction of property.
Some two dozen officers in riot gear confronted a group who were throwing rocks and other objects at police near where the black man was fatally shot a day earlier. Police moved in to try to disperse the crowd and warned of arrests.
Local television showed police forming a line and using shields to deflect the objects. One police officer fell to the ground after apparently being hit by one of the objects and was moved away by fellow officers. Police also said an injured officer was taken to hospital after a rock broke the windshield of a squad car.
Earlier, video taken from a media helicopter showed a small group of protesters running through the streets, picking up orange construction barriers and hurling them out of the way. Police posted on Twitter three locations where they said shots were fired. There were no other reports of injuries and no major destruction of property after six businesses were burned in the unrest Saturday.
Police Chief Edward Flynn said the man whose death touched off Saturday night’s rioting was shot after he turned toward an officer with a gun in his hand.
Flynn cautioned that the shooting was still under investigation and authorities were awaiting autopsy results, but that based on the silent video from the unidentified officer’s body camera, he “certainly appeared to be within lawful bounds.”
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At the same news conference, Mayor Tom Barrett said a still image pulled from the footage clearly showed a gun in 23-year-old Sylville K. Smith’s hand as he fled a traffic stop Saturday.
“I want our community to know that,” Barrett said. But he also called for understanding for Smith’s family.
“A young man lost his life yesterday afternoon,” the mayor said. “And no matter what the circumstances are, his family has to be hurting.”
Flynn declined to identify the officer who shot Smith but said he is black. The police chief said he wasn’t sure what prompted the stop but described Smith’s car as “behaving suspiciously.”
After watching the officer’s body camera footage, Flynn said the entire episode took about 25 seconds, from the start of the traffic stop until shots were fired. He said Smith ran “a few dozen feet” and turned toward the officer while holding a gun.
“It was in his hand. He was raising up with it,” the chief said. He said the officer had told Smith to drop the gun and he did not do so. It was unclear how many rounds the officer fired. Smith was hit in the chest and arm, Flynn said.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker put Wisconsin’s National Guard on standby, and 125 Guard members reported to local armories to prepare for further instructions. But Milwaukee said late Sunday that the National Guard had not been deployed.
In addition to the businesses damaged, 17 people were arrested and four police injured, although all had been released from hospital, Flynn said.
Milwaukee Alderman Khalif Rainey, who represents the neighborhood that erupted, said the city’s black residents are “tired of living under this oppression.”
“Now this is a warning cry. Where do we go from here? Where do we go as a community from here?” he asked.
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke said Smith had been arrested 13 times. Online court records showed a range of charges against Smith, many of them misdemeanors.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Smith was also charged in a shooting and was later charged with pressuring the victim to withdraw testimony that identified Smith as the gunman. The charges were dropped because the victim recanted the identification and failed to appear in court, Chief Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern told the newspaper.
Smith’s sister told The Associated Press that the family wants prosecutors to charge the officer who shot him.
Kimberly Neal, 24, spoke as supporters surrounded her at the vigil as she held a bouquet of blue balloons.
She asked people for donations for his burial.
Asked about the violence, Neal said: “People stuck together and they are trying to stand up,” for their rights.
The anger at Milwaukee police is not new and comes as tension between black communities and law enforcement has ramped up across the nation, resulting in protests and the recent ambush killings of eight officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Dallas.
Nearly 40 percent of Milwaukee’s 600,000 residents are black, and they are heavily concentrated on the north side.
Milwaukee was beset by protests and calls for police reform after an officer shot and killed Dontre Hamilton, a mentally ill black man, in 2014.
In December, the U.S. Justice Department announced it would work with Milwaukee police on changes.
Critics said the police department should have been subjected to a full Justice Department investigation like the one done in Ferguson, Missouri, after the killing of black 18-year-old Michael Brown in 2014 touched off violence there.
62 responses to “One person shot in Milwaukee protest but no repeat of riots”
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Party A: What is your answer to oppression?
Party B: Answer: Loot a 7-11 for beer and cigarettes.
Party C: The revolution needs booze and smokes.
Mahalo! President Obama. ISIS the JV radical Islamist terrorists and now we see BLM taking hold. Your legacy will live on
Pocho! That is not right. Obama had nothing to do with this. Trump says he will bring “peace and law” to the streets. How? A president is not in charge of law enforcement. That is mainly local other than the FBI. Let us wait until the facts come out in the investigation.
your in lala land. Obama created racial divide, he and his cronies who’d I never ever call Rev.’s, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton then you add in Fredericka Wilson who all pre-judged incidents involving black criminals without any facts at hand. If my son looked like Trayvon will forever live in my mind
You hit it on the head, Pocho. Allie IS in lala land. AS for looting, I wonder if any work clothes were stolen..so they can get jobs, of course.
Jesse, Sharpton, Obama, Holder…it goes on and on.
Time for BLM to disappear.
bombay2101 – I was wondering when you would bring up your short list of black folks.
Should you find new black people to whine about?
Klastri, black lives matter was low on cigarettes and booze. Please don’t burn down the buildings. When Rotten Hillary gets up from her nap and the POTUS finishes up his golf game they should take AF1 to Billy Mitchell Field and O’Hare, jump on the limousine and see first hand what he has accomplished in almost 8 years.
Felons of the inner cities, unite against law enforcement and loot the stores. United we protest and stand behind crime!
lespark – You’ve probably pasted that exact same comment 15 times in the past couple of days. Can you get a literate friend to write new comments for you?
Pocho nailed it! Agree with you.
I agree with Allie. W. Bush had nothing to do with the financial crisis of 2008. And Bill Clinton didn’t have anything to do with the irrational exuberance of 2000 and the tech bubble bursting.
Send Rotten Hilliary in there. That’s her voting constituents. Truthfully, that’s the last thing she’s worried about. Preet Bharara has taken a bead on the Clinton Foundation. Lock her up. She belongs in the Jailhouse, not the White House.
You’re lying again about the DOJ investigation. As always.
No matter how much you lie about that, it will not become true.
Read the news.
What news? What are you talking about?
Right wing nut case conspiracy rags like the Daily Caller? Please.
Klastri, I’ll see what I can do to get you adjoining cells.
He’s in denial. Believes every word the Clinton’s mouths spew
Pocho – You’re lying, of course. I don’t. But neither do I make up things that the DOJ is doing. No matter how many times you and lespark lie about things, they never come true. Haven’t you figured that out yet?
Mr. Trump, incredibly, collapses further in the polls every single day. Good luck spinning that one. He’s finished.
@lespark… hiLIARy would smack you if she was placed in adjoining cells with klastri…Kurt on Kauai…kauai…whatever her/his name is. That would be torture!
Nana for president!
The FBI has launched several investigations into possible corruption within the Clinton Foundation, The Daily Caller reports.
The Bureau has support from various U.S. Attorneys offices — including Preet Bharara of the Civil Frauds Unit — that will focus on Clinton Foundation headquarters in New York, according to the Daily Caller report.
Bharara has garnered public acclaim for getting convictions of prominent political figures.
The joint investigation with the U.S. Attorneys office is a departure from how Hillary Clinton’s personal email server probe was handled, which caused an uproar and led to FBI Director James Comey and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch being called before a congressional committee hearing.
In its 15 years, the Clinton Foundation has taken in more than $2 billion in donations from around the world, the Daily Caller reported. At stake is how did Clinton use her position as secretary of state to influence foreign donors in what is commonly referred to as a “Pay for Play” scheme.
Breaking News at Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/FBI-US-Attorney-Launch-Probe/2016/08/12/id/743321/#ixzz4HMKQLCxq
Urgent: Do You Back Trump or Hillary? Vote Here Now!
No matter how many times you repeat this lie, it will not become true.
Do you ever write or speak truthful things? Ever? Or do you lie like this in your offline life (whatever that must look like .. sheesh) as well?
k— I feel an October surprise coming for Auntie Hillary. Yes sir, some of those 30,000 deleted “yoga” and “wedding” emails are going to come to the surface just before the first debate. Going to be grand.
Winston – You also predicted, over and over and over again, that Mrs. Clinton would be indicted. How did that work out for you?
You have a lousy crystal ball.
Mr. Trump, unfortunately, is profoundly mentally ill and cannot control the words that he speaks. He’s finished.
Speaking of predictions…
Klastri aka kurt on Kauai aka Kauai claimed/stated:
1. OBAMACARE is the BEST thing that happened to America & is O’s Signature Legacy item.
2. Ref to: Missouri, Michael Brown,(where Hands UP was founded) former Police Officer Wilson’s exoneration will be overturned by klastri’s lawyer friends, 10-12 of them, when they appeal/contest it.
3. VA head Macdonald is the person who will fix the VA system.
4. Brexit will cause the Stock Market to crash.
5. The FBI is excellent in vetting the Middle East immigrants.
6. Attended Hawaii’s #BLM meetings.
7. hiLIARy will win in a landslide.
Talk is cheap as they say.
I wish you were right , but wishes are just wind blowing between your ears.
Addressed to Klastri
Waterman2 – I’m sure that means something to you.
LessPark would blame Clinton if the story was about a lost kitten, a grade school science project, or the planet Neptune.
Lespark…hiLIARy is napping and needs her meds so she cant exert herself on this…she needs to tend to her health issues.
Wisconsin,the number 1 DUI death State. Mexican immigrant worker’s holding up their dairy and farming industries.
LOL Poncho. It is apparent you do not even know who Scott Walker is, he is one of the most right-wing governors in the US, along with the Republic state House and state Senate. They are clueless like crooked Trump.
These protesters not too smart. 4 businesses and other property burned and damaged. I guess if any of you worked there, no more paycheck for you. If these businesses belong to your friends or relatives, too bad. All these violent protests only hurting the community you live in. I’m sure the owners are calling the protesters STUPID.
Nanakuli…you got to be kidding. Please check your facts; you’ve obviously never been to Wisconsin. Hawaii has much higher drunk driving incidents per person than Wisconsin. This is fact based on multiple sources reporting drunk driving.
Nanakuli hasn’t been off this rock.
The rioters love the excitement, adrenaline rush; they would be bored otherwise.
Lets not forget the FREE-STUFF.
Life doesn’t get any better by rioting! It does however begets more violences! Why can’t this simple equation be solved? All lives matter not just one segment of people in our society!
Wasn’t it a black cop shooting a black kid with a gun? Obama and Joe going to another funeral?
or Loretta Lynch?
BLM… BLDNM
Would have loved to be standing next to this outstanding Black cop aiming a shotgun, AF-15, or an elephant gun with .4XXX caliber slugs. Make my day, Bubba.
Here you are talking about killing someone again. What fun that would be!
Do you write these comments from prison? Or while you’re on work release?
I was just thinking –
not long ago GM was building cars in Flint, Michigan and you couldn’t
drink the water in Mexico.
After 7 years of support from Obama and his Administration,
GM now builds cars in Mexico and you can’t drink the water in Flint, Michigan.
Hope and Change delivered!
Is this a great country or what?
You really cannot possibly be this dense. You can’t be.
“My son is gone due to the police killing my son,” Marilyn Haynes told the Journal Sentinel. “I am lost.”
unfortunately, sylville is gone because, in 23 years, he became an accomplished career criminal, who fled from the police, was armed with a semiautomatic weapon and was about to shoot a police officer.
haynes omitted a few minor details that might help explain sylville’s final criminal act.
Looks like the progressive spin doctors got caught flat footed on this one. If they got out in front of this the way they did on the Ferguson fairy tale then the now dead perp would have been unarmed with both hands in the air begging the racist white racist cops not to shoot him in the back. He would have been looking forward to his first semester of college where he very well might have cured aids or cancer. Oh yeah almost forgot, the perp would look like little Barry Hussein’s son. Anyway, I’m sure Barry’s DOJ will show up in Milwaukee and find the cops have a long history of racism and harassment. In the interim the thugs will continue to destroy private property by burning and looting.
I get it … calling the President by his middle name will help this situation.
You always add so much to the discussion! Thanks!
I assure you that my use of the president’s middle name was a sign of deep respect for his his highness and I’m offended that you view it otherwise.
The middle name was “Spin” ?
CEI, don’t be offended.
You’re lying of course. But that’s all you do here.
Enjoy marinating in your hate of the President. Like President Roosevelt, I’m pretty sure he welcomes your hate.
CEI…I shudder to think if I misspelled BO’s middle name…”huINSANE”
How about a name which captures his performance while in office, such as President EmptySuitPantsOnFire?
Stick to the subject klastri. Where’s the president and the DOJ? How come they are not jumping in and trying to calm the situation? Where’s the other race baiters like Jackson and Sharpton? They should be in there calming things down.
You need to find new black people to complain about. I think you’ve used up The Revs. Jackson & Sharpton, haven’t you?
@dontbelieveinmyths…BO cant dispatch his DOJ bc the Officer & the thug are black…”darned if you do darned if you dont” kinda situation.
Lazy Pea brain criminals with warped thinking just waiting for another excuse to rob, steal burn and vandalize. Not enough prisons built to house them all. Do us a favor.
Yes, burn your houses and businesses to the ground like they did in previous U.S. riots by Blacks.
Rotten Hillary get ready. You can bet there is a connection to the Clintons.
ALBANY — With time possibly running out on crusading U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s term, many in New York’s political and legal circles are bracing for a frenzy of activity as his office works to finish up ongoing cases into the Cuomo and de Blasio administrations before the next President takes office.
“When a U.S. Attorney is about to leave office, there’s a lot of pressure on the assistants to finalize cases and indictments and bring them to fruition,” former federal prosecutor Bradley Simon said. “In this case, he’s concerned about his legacy and he’s going to want all unfinished business completed.”
Simon said there’s always a concern the next U.S. attorney may not place the same emphasis on particular cases.
“The existing U.S. attorney doesn’t want to take chances or see all their hard work going out the window,” he said. “Once there is an indictment, a new US attorney can’t go and pull it.”
It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few days. You never know the dead man may turn out to have been shot for no good reason. But… there is one thing you can bet on regardless of the circumstances. Progressive democrats will use it as a wedge to advance their political cause. Their motto is keep ’em angry and keep ’em ignorant with little Barry as their spiritual leader. The low information democrat base must never be allowed to learn the truth when the “victim” turns out to be the perpetrator ‘a la Ferguson. Unfortunately, the people who suffer are the ones who are stuck in these inner city democrat utopias.
The Fonz can stop this by tapping the record machine.