(Headline USA) President Donald Trump will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, amid violent Black Lives Matter and Antifa riots.
White House spokesman Judd Deere told reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday that Trump will be meeting with law enforcement officers and “surveying” some of the damage from recent protests that turned destructive.
Trump has been running his reelection campaign on a law-and-order mantle, denouncing rioters as “thugs” while voicing his support for police.
In his acceptance speech during the virtual Republican National Convention, Trump said the election is a stark choice between peaceful streets and anarchy.
Trump’s opponent for reelection, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his running mate, Kamala Harris, had remained silent as violence filled America’s Democrat-run cities, until they decided that it would be politically expedient to blame the violence on Trump.
“He views this as a political benefit,” Biden said, without evidence, in an interview on MSNBC. “He’s rooting for more violence, not less. And it’s clear about that.”
Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey and two other officers were responding to a domestic abuse call last Sunday when Sheskey shot Jacob Blake, who was wanted for felony sexual assault.
Video evidence shows that Blake fought with police officers and officers said he was wielding a knife.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press.
