Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil, a Republican who represents Kenosha in Congress, lauded President Trump’s decision to visit the city that has been beset by civil unrest for more than a week.
Steil said that Trump’s plan to meet local law enforcement officers and business owners is the first step in healing the city as it begins to recover from the protests and riots that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake last month.
“President Trump answered my call when help was needed in Kenosha. Now he wants to thank the men and women who helped restore public safety in our community of Kenosha,” Steil said in a statement posted to Twitter on Tuesday. “It’s positive he is coming to thank them and to help begin the process of healing and rebuilding our community.”
My statement on President @realDonaldTrump’s visit to Kenosha: pic.twitter.com/dV8oBtZTL6
— Bryan Steil (@RepBryanSteil) September 1, 2020
Steil’s positive outlook on Trump’s visit differs from the response given by other leaders in Wisconsin. Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, urged Trump to stay out of Kenosha because he believes the president’s visit would “hinder” the city’s ability to recover.
“I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state. I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together,” Evers wrote in a letter to Trump made public on Sunday.
Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian, a Democrat, said on Monday that he also believes Trump should give the city more time before visiting.
“I think that Kenosha, at this present time, needs peace and needs to heal and needs people to allow us to do that,” Antaramian said.
Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot several times at close range while attempting to reenter his vehicle during an arrest. Video of the shooting prompted protests, some of which developed into riots. Blake’s family says he is paralyzed from the waist down. Wisconsin authorities are investigating the shooting of Blake, and the FBI is conducting a civil rights inquiry.
Several buildings were burned and looted, and two protesters were shot and killed during the unrest.
