President Trump addressed the shooting of Jacob Blake, which has led to nearly a week of unrest in the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Trump called the shooting “not a good sight” and said that he “didn’t like the sight of it” when he was asked about it by WMUR following his Manchester, New Hampshire, rally on Friday evening.
“I’m looking into it very strongly. I’ll be getting reports, and I’ll certainly let you know pretty soon. It was not a good sight,” Trump said. “I didn’t like the sight of it, certainly. And I think most people would agree with that.”
.@realDonaldTrump says he’s looking into the shooting of Jacob Blake: “It was not a good sight. I didn’t like the sight of it, certainly, and I think most people would agree with that.” More tonight on @WMUR9 at 11pm, full 1-on-1 interview airs Sunday 10am on CloseUp. #WMUR pic.twitter.com/ECwfwKg0kW
— WMUR TV (@WMUR9) August 29, 2020
Tensions in Kenosha, a city of roughly 100,000 residents, have been escalating since the viral video emerged of Blake, a 29-year-old black man, getting shot on Sunday. The Wisconsin Department of Justice, with the help of the Justice Department, is investigating the shooting. The officer who was allegedly involved in the incident, Rusten Sheskey, has been placed on administrative leave as have the other officers who were on the scene, but no charges have been filed against Sheskey.
Blake’s father has said that his son is paralyzed as a result of the shooting.
Protests, and subsequently violence, have ensued since the shooting took place. On Tuesday night, a 17-year-old militia member, Kyle Rittenhouse, allegedly shot and killed two other rioters, and he was arrested the next day. Rittenhouse, whose social media showed that he was part of a police cadet program for young students and a fan of Trump, is shown in video footage before the shooting with other armed vigilantes explaining that he was there to protect local businesses from looting.
