US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit the city in Wisconsin, which has currently in unrest after a black man, Jacob Blake, was shot in the back and injured by a policeman.
According to the White House, President Trump will travel to Kenosha on September 1. The president will meet with law enforcement officers, and he will assess the damage done by the recent protests.
Citywide riots
The current protest in Kenosha happened after Jacob Blake, a black man who was unarmed and stopped the fight between two women, was shot seven times by a police officer. According to Blake's father, he is now paralyzed from the waist down, and it is not clear if he will walk again.
The shooting ignited violent demonstrations in Kenosha and other cities across the United States. The country had already witnessed widespread protests against racism and police brutality since May after George Floyd died at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.
The president will meet with the local police and survey the damage from the recent riots, according to White House spokesman Judd Deere, as reported by CNN.
When asked if the president would meet the family of Blake, Deere said that the schedule had yet to be confirmed.
The US president has not fully addressed the shooting that happened in the city on August 16, when asked on August 21 if he thought that the officer who shot Blake should be charged, President Trump said that he is looking into it very strongly and he will be getting reports. He added that he "didn't like the sight of it."
Law and order
President Trump has made law and order a part of his bid for re-election this year. In his speech at the Republican National Convention last week, he condemned the rioting, looting, violence, and arson that happened in "Democrat-run cities," citing Kenosha and others.
On August 22, around 1,000 people took to the streets of Kenosha and chanted, "Black lives matter." The police were also present, and Trump supporters showed up with guns, as reported by LA Times.
Jacob Blake's father, Jacob Blake Sr., called for BLM protesters to remain calm and peaceful while calling for justice for his son. He told the crowd that good people of the city should understand that if they tear it up, they will have nothing. He also said to "stop it" and "show them for one night we don't have to tear up nothing."
More than 1,000 National Guard soldiers were in Kenosha, many from the neighboring states, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, the lawyers for a teenager that was charged with killing two people during the protest in Kenosha have said that he will fight charges against him on the grounds of self-defense.
The 17-year-old suspect, Kyle Rittenhouse, had told journalists that it was his "job" to guard buildings in Kenosha against protesters.
Videos on social media showed a man with a rifle being chased by a crowd before he fell to the ground and shot at them.
Rittenhouse's lawyer, John Pierce, tweeted that the teenager "stood up to protect his community and his country."
