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Milwaukee to Enforce Curfew on Teenagers After Second Night of Unrest Milwaukee to Enforce Curfew on Teenagers After Second Night of Unrest
(about 3 hours later)
MILWAUKEE — The authorities here struggled into Monday to maintain order in part of Wisconsin’s largest city, which was gripped by unrest after a police officer killed an armed man on Saturday. MILWAUKEE — The authorities scrambled Monday to restore calm after this city endured a second night of unrest in the wake of a police officer’s killing of an armed man on Saturday.
The city police, which beginning Monday night is expected to aggressively enforce a curfew for teenagers, said that 14 people had been arrested and that four officers had been injured overnight. Milwaukee’s ShotSpotter system, which tries to detect gunfire, was activated 30 times. The authorities also used an armored vehicle to retrieve a shooting victim. “We’re going to make sure that there is peace and order restored to this neighborhood,” said Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee, who blamed “angry people who want to cause problems” for the violence that shattered this city’s northwest Sherman Park neighborhood.
Although the police reported a night of unrest — the Police Department’s Twitter account also said that officers had been targeted with projectiles that included rocks and bottles — Milwaukee officials did not summon the National Guard, which Gov. Scott Walker activated on Sunday “to aid local law enforcement upon request.” The disorder heightened concern that Milwaukee, with a glittering lakefront that belies its stark racial and economic divides, might be in the opening days of sustained protests about the practices of the police.
The second night of disorder heightened concern that Milwaukee, with a glittering lakefront that belies its stark racial and economic divides, might be in the opening days of sustained protests about the practices of the police. As Mr. Barrett acknowledged the frustrations that course through Milwaukee, he and the police, who made 14 arrests on Sunday night and into Monday morning, planned more aggressive enforcement of the city’s curfew for teenagers. The National Guard remained on standby, and Mr. Barrett suggested that Milwaukee might impose a broader curfew if Monday night brought additional violence.
A spokesman for the Milwaukee police, Sgt. Timothy Gauerke, said Monday that officials were continuing to investigate the shooting of an 18-year-old man late on Sunday along North Sherman Boulevard. Sergeant Gauerke said the man “suffered a serious injury” and was taken to a hospital in an armored Police Department vehicle. The spokesman said that the authorities continued to seek suspects in the shooting, which happened at about 11 p.m. “This is not the place where you go to gawk,” Mr. Barrett said as he announced that people under 17 would be barred from the streets between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. “It is not the place you go to take pictures. It’s not the place you go to drive your car around right now.”
After early efforts to keep the peace faltered, and two days after the unrest began with angry crowds setting fires and facing off with the police, Mayor Tom Barrett said Monday that Milwaukee would enforce its summertime curfew for residents under the age of 17. The curfew takes effect from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. The decision to intensify enforcement of the curfew came after a night of trouble that left four police officers injured. The city said that its ShotSpotter system, which tries to detect gunfire, had been activated 30 times. An 18-year-old man was wounded late Saturday along North Sherman Boulevard, a hub of the violence, and the police said that he had been evacuated by officers who arrived in armored vehicle.
“These are new age kids,” said Robert Hines, 48, said as he stood near the blackened shell of an auto parts store that burned over the weekend. “They don’t even listen to their parents.” National Guard soldiers, whom Gov. Scott Walker activated on Sunday “to aid local law enforcement upon request,” were not asked to intervene amid Sunday’s unrest.
Although the initial shooting that touched off the violence is the focus of a state inquiry, officials in Milwaukee, as required by law, have signaled that they believe the 24-year-old police officer was justified when he opened fire and killed Sylville K. Smith, 23. Both are African-Americans. Although the initial shooting that touched off the violence is the focus of a state inquiry, as required by law, officials in Milwaukee have signaled that they believe the 24-year-old police officer was justified when he opened fire and killed Sylville K. Smith, 23. Both are black.
Mr. Barrett said that Mr. Smith had been armed with a handgun when he was shot. The authorities in Milwaukee said the episode unfolded after Mr. Smith and another person fled a traffic stop on Saturday afternoon. Mr. Barrett said that Mr. Smith had been armed with a handgun when he was shot after he and another person fled a traffic stop on Saturday afternoon.
When Mr. Smith did not comply with an order to drop his semiautomatic handgun, Mr. Barrett said, the officer fired, striking Mr. Smith in the chest and an arm.When Mr. Smith did not comply with an order to drop his semiautomatic handgun, Mr. Barrett said, the officer fired, striking Mr. Smith in the chest and an arm.
“This event probably took 20 to 25 seconds,” Police Chief Edward A. Flynn said. “I mean, there was virtually no time between the officer unhooking his seatbelt, turning on his body camera, getting out of the car and immediately there was a foot chase.”“This event probably took 20 to 25 seconds,” Police Chief Edward A. Flynn said. “I mean, there was virtually no time between the officer unhooking his seatbelt, turning on his body camera, getting out of the car and immediately there was a foot chase.”
The police did not release video of the episode, but Chief Flynn said that the officer’s recorded actions appeared “credible and legally protected.” Mr. Barrett, speaking to reporters on Monday, said he wanted the video to be made public because he expected it would “provide a lot of context.” Investigators did not release a body camera’s video of the episode, but Chief Flynn said that the officer’s recorded actions appeared “credible and legally protected.” Mr. Barrett, speaking to reporters on Monday, said he wanted the video to be made public because he expected it would “provide a lot of context.”
But in some of Milwaukee’s predominantly black neighborhoods, the killing was yet another outgrowth of what some believe are exceedingly aggressive and misguided police tactics in this city of about 600,000. The shooting occurred less than two weeks after a coalition that included the N.A.A.C.P. and the American Civil Liberties Union urged Milwaukee to create a civilian oversight panel in a city with some of the country’s highest rates of incarceration or unemployment for black men. But in some of Milwaukee’s predominantly black neighborhoods, some people argued that the killing was yet another outgrowth of what they believe are exceedingly aggressive and misguided police tactics in this city of about 600,000. The shooting occurred less than two weeks after a coalition that included the N.A.A.C.P. and the American Civil Liberties Union urged Milwaukee to create a civilian oversight panel in a city with some of the country’s highest rates of incarceration or unemployment for black men.
The Milwaukee police have been under closer scrutiny for months. In December, after prosecutors did not bring charges against a former Milwaukee officer in the 2014 killing of an unarmed black man, the Justice Department announced that the city would participate in its “collaborative reform process,” which will yield nonbinding recommendations that federal officials hope will improve “community-oriented policing practices, transparency, professionalism, accountability and public trust.” “Every time somebody gets shot, they put them on desk duty and then you don’t hear no more about it,” said Eddie Robinson, 63, a retired security guard. “Did they get charged for it? Was it a rifle shooting? They never tell the community nothing. So it looks bad. It looks like they can just kill you and get away with it. Even if that’s not the facts, that’s what it looks like.”
The Milwaukee police have been under closer scrutiny for months. The Justice Department announced in December that the city would participate in its “collaborative reform process,” which will yield nonbinding recommendations that federal officials hope will improve “community-oriented policing practices, transparency, professionalism, accountability and public trust.”
The entire process, which is also playing out in places like North Charleston, S.C., and St. Louis County, Mo., takes years and is distinct from a civil rights inquiry that could monitor changes to eliminate unconstitutional patterns or practices.The entire process, which is also playing out in places like North Charleston, S.C., and St. Louis County, Mo., takes years and is distinct from a civil rights inquiry that could monitor changes to eliminate unconstitutional patterns or practices.
There is skepticism that the review will lead to changes, and before the outbreak of violence on Sunday night, the protests here carried an edge, like when a group of tuxedo-clad black men led hundreds of people in an angry march through Sherman Park. Marchers, some of whom were white, chanted over and over, “Indict! Convict! Send these killer cops to jail!” But on Monday in Milwaukee, the immediate concern was whether the tentative peace that took hold in daylight would last after sundown.
“The curfew isn’t going to stop nothing or nobody,” says Sabrina Sharp, 17, as she stood near her home with her daughter, Sarya, 2, in a stroller. “If you’re trying to enforce a curfew, you’re not trying to find a solution, you’re just trying to lock the kids up. The kids are going to be out here past 10 o’clock anyway.”
There were also mounting worries about what would come of Sherman Park, where some businesses were burned over the weekend in what the president of the Milwaukee Police Association, a labor group, suggested were “terrorist-like actions.”
Victor R. Vela, who is Hispanic, said he regretted that the charred rubble of a gas station was becoming a symbol of the neighborhood.
“That image alone is destructive psychologically,” he said. “You can look at that and it will be in your mind for two weeks.”
Yet the damage only did so much to take the edge off protests, like one on Sunday when a group of tuxedo-clad black men led hundreds of people in an angry march through Sherman Park. Marchers, some of whom were white, chanted over and over, “Indict! Convict! Send these killer cops to jail!”
The police, who were observing from across the street, began donning riot gear. One young female protester pointed at them and said, “They’re getting ready to kill.”The police, who were observing from across the street, began donning riot gear. One young female protester pointed at them and said, “They’re getting ready to kill.”
A woman replied, “Yeah, they are. They are.”A woman replied, “Yeah, they are. They are.”
Others who gathered near the scene of the unrest said they hoped for greater unity.Others who gathered near the scene of the unrest said they hoped for greater unity.
“We’re praying that these young kids, that their anger dissolves,” said Marie Polk, who was waiting for a bus to head home. “I just prayed that everyone goes home and be peaceful. We’re not about violence.”“We’re praying that these young kids, that their anger dissolves,” said Marie Polk, who was waiting for a bus to head home. “I just prayed that everyone goes home and be peaceful. We’re not about violence.”
She added, “They want answers, that’s all, just wanting answers.”She added, “They want answers, that’s all, just wanting answers.”