Some Wisconsin residents were stunned as buildings went up in flames. Protesters were upset that the police shot Mr. Blake, a Black man, in the back as he tried to enter a vehicle.
An afternoon that had begun with peaceful marches in protest of a police shooting gave way to fires, destruction and looting in Kenosha as a strip of businesses in a central residential neighborhood was consumed in flames early Tuesday. Residents emerged from their houses around midnight to gape at billowing smoke that could be seen for miles. Lost in the blaze, neighbors said, was a mattress store, a storefront church, a Mexican restaurant, and a cellphone store. Less than a mile away, a probation and parole office was also on fire. A line of National Guard members, called to Kenosha amid rising tension over the shooting on Sunday of Jacob Blake, a Black resident who was shot by a white police officer, prevented anyone from getting close as firefighters worked to douse the flames. “This is our town,” said Mike Mehlan,33, a chef, as he stared at the buildings, stunned.
