The cost of the civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake last month is rising.
City officials now estimate that the cost of public property damage has escalated to nearly $2 million, including the destruction of garbage trucks, street lights, and traffic signals, according to Kenosha News.
“Right now, we’re estimating between lost equipment, lost street lights, lost traffic signals, and miscellaneous sign damage — we’re estimating a cost of approximately $1.9 million,” Kenosha Public Works Director Shelly Billingsley said.
City-owned vehicles, including older garbage trucks, were deployed downtown when protests during the day were peaceful. After nightfall, the trucks were destroyed by rioters.
City Alderman Bill Siel said the cost of some damages could be recovered through insurance. “I guess it’s encouraging not to look at it as a total loss,” Siel said. “Something that will have some replacement ability.”
Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian announced on Sunday that the city would request $30 million in aid from the state to help rebuild what’s been destroyed.
Private businesses, including gas stations, have also taken a hit from the city-imposed curfew that’s forced stations to close their pumps early and shut down for the night. The city imposed a 7 p.m. curfew for Monday and Tuesday and a 9 p.m. curfew starting Wednesday until at least Labor Day.
Hamza Abujad, manager of Bono Gas Station, told Kenosha News that he lost more than $3,000 a day in sales from gas and convenience store items, including snacks and cigarettes.
“Give or take, we have lost $27,000 since the curfew was imposed,” Abujad said.
Abujad said his station normally closes at 1 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends and opens at 8 a.m. The station stayed open one night until 7:30 p.m. this week but was told by police to close down.
A new wave of protesters and riots have spread across Kenosha and other cities following Blake’s shooting, which was captured in a video. Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot seven times by officer Rusten Sheskey, who has been placed on administrative leave along with the other officers who were on the scene. No charges have been filed against Sheskey.
Wisconsin authorities are investigating the shooting of Blake, and the FBI is conducting a civil rights inquiry.
The violence in Kenosha reached a crescendo Tuesday night when two people were fatally shot and another was injured. The alleged gunman, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, has been arrested and charged in the shooting. His lawyers claim he was acting in self-defense.
President Trump is slated to travel to Kenosha, a city of about 100,000 residents, on Tuesday to meet with law enforcement and survey the damage despite Gov. Tony Evers’s plea for him not to visit.
