Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis claimed there may not have been an incident if the protesters were not out in the streets
The Kenosha, Wisconsin police chief blamed two protesters who were fatally shot for their own deaths because they violated curfew.
Read More: Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, arrested for murder in Wisconsin protest shooting
Chief Daniel Miskinis held a press conference on Wednesday to offer an update on the protests that have overwhelmed the city of 100,000 after Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old father of three, was shot in the back on Sunday by police.
Miskinis said that the two victims who were shot during a protest on Tuesday bore some responsibility.
“Persons who were out after the curfew became engaged in some type of disturbance, and persons were shot. Everybody involved was out after the curfew. I’m not going to make a great deal of that, but the point is the curfew is in place to protect,” Miskinis said.
“Had persons not been out involved in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened.”
Miskinis added that the deceased individuals were among the people who brought violence to Kenosha. He continued to refer to them as “persons” only confirming they were 25 and 36-year-old Wisconsin residents.
“It is the persons who were involved after the legal time, involved in illegal activity, that brought violence to this community,” he said.
As theGrio previously reported, Kyle Rittenhouse was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of the two men who have not yet been publicly identified.
Rittenhouse, 17, used a semi-automatic rifle in the attack and fled the state but was arrested in Illinois. Despite being labeled as a “fugitive from justice,” he was apprehended without incident and Miskinis would not call the crime a homicide.
Miskinis believed Rittenhouse allegedly “was involved in the use of firearms to resolve whatever conflict was in place” which resulted in “disturbance that led to the use of deadly force.”
Miskinis was of the view that armed civilians had every right to exercise their constitutional rights.
“Across this nation there have been armed civilians who have come out to exercise their constitutional right and to potentially protect property,” he said. “Am I aware that groups exist? Yes, but they weren’t invited to come.”
But Slate reports that Rittenhouse was among an armed group that police didn’t seem to mind being on the scene, telling them they “appreciated” them and even providing them with water.
Witnesses and video recorded near the shootings may show that Rittenhouse was allowed to walk away after killing two people on account of the “high stress” of the situation and “tunnel vision” of Kenosha officers.
“It’s no different than those on the protesters’ side who are walking around armed and those who are counterprotesters, or those who are just witnessing, to be armed, so I’m not going to address any more issues relative to that,” Miskinis said.
Miskinis also claimed there may be some justification for Blake’s shooting. Bystander video caught the incident and it has since gone viral.
“I’m not going to address that because it is one snippet of a very large situation and much as what’s happened across this nation for a long period of time, it’s focused on what you see in this much of an incident,” Miskinis said, referencing other Black men being shot by police.
“It’s unfair to everybody involved, whether you’re the person using force or the person being arrested that the picture isn’t painted.”
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