Administration

Trump to visit Kenosha on Tuesday amid unrest

President Trump will visit Kenosha, Wis., on Tuesday following days of unrest in the city in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake on Sunday.

Trump “will meet with law enforcement and survey damage from recent riots,” a White House spokesperson told reporters Saturday.

On Sunday, Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was tased twice by one officer and then walked around his car, opened the driver’s side door and leaned in, at which point Officer Rusten Sheskey fired on him seven times, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said Friday.

Blake’s family said he is expected to recover but is partially paralyzed. His shooting led to days of unrest and protests in Kenosha. And while most of the protests have been peaceful, there have been instances of looting, fires and violence.

On Tuesday night, two protesters were shot and killed and another was injured. Officials later arrested suspect Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Illinois, who faces multiple homicide charges.

Blake’s father, also named Jacob Blake, said Friday that the president hasn’t reached out to him.

Trump also did not mention what happened to Blake during his Republican National Convention speech on Thursday but condemned “rioting, looting, arson and violence” he said had taken hold in Democratic-run cities. 

Wisconsin, which Trump narrowly won in the 2016 election, is a key swing state in the November election. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has been leading in polls in the state, with a poll average compiled from FiveThirtyEight putting him more than 6 points ahead of Trump.