Trump also said his administration will provide $1 million to the Kenosha Police Department, $4 million to support small businesses damaged during the civil unrest of the past week, and $42 million to support public safety statewide in…
CHICAGO (CBS) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeatedly tried to take credit for “immediately” ending the violence in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, by sending in the National Guard, even though looting and shootings continued after the first troops were deployed last week. “One of the reasons I’m making the trip today and going to Wisconsin is we’ve had such a big success in shutting down what would be, right now, a city — that would’ve been Kenosha — a city that would’ve been burnt to the ground by now,” Trump said. Trump also said his administration will provide $1 million to the Kenosha Police Department, $4 million to support small businesses damaged during the civil unrest of the past week, and $42 million to support public safety statewide in Wisconsin – including funding for additional prosecutors, and assistance for victims of crime. The president visited Kenosha on Tuesday to thank local law enforcement officials for their response to the civil unrest over the past nine days, and to visit businesses damaged by looting and fires. “It’s been an incredible coming together of a lot of great people, especially law enforcement and the [National] Guard,” Trump said during his visit. The president repeatedly claimed that violence in Kenosha ended right away after he announced he was sending in the National Guard last Wednesday. “This ended within an hour, as soon as we announced we were coming, and then they saw we were here. This ended immediately, and it should be that way all over,” he said. However, Gov. Tony Evers first deployed 250 National Guard members to Kenosha on Aug.24, the day after Blake was shot, and looting and other violence continued for at least two more nights, including the night of Aug.25, when 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed two people during protests in Kenosha, and wounded a third. Rittenhouse has been charged as an adult with two counts of first degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide. Trump has declined to denounce Rittenhouse, instead suggesting he was acting in self-defense, saying the teen “probably would have been killed” if he hadn’t opened fire. Trump said the National Guard response in Kenosha should serve as an example to other cities that have been dealing with looting and other violent unrest in recent months, in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and more recently the shooting of Jacob Blake. “Chicago could use a hand, New York could use a hand. Although I’ll tell you, if you let New York’s finest, and Chicago Police Department, they do a great job, but they’re not allowed to do their work.
