Police Chief Says Shooting Could Have Been Avoided If Curfew Was Followed

Kenosha, Wisconsin’s chief of police has come under fire after he said the fatal shooting that took place during protests could have been avoided if curfew was followed.

CNN reports that Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis held a news conference on Wednesday, and he placed a lot of importance on how the 8 p.m. curfew was ignored. “Everybody involved was out after the curfew,” Miskinis said, referring to all three shooting victims and the shooter, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse. “I’m not gonna make a great deal of it but the point is — the curfew’s in place to protect. Had persons not been out involved in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened.”

The protests in Wisconsin started after Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, was shot seven times in the back. This week, the protests turned violent when the 17-year-old Rittenhouse, who had been spotted at a Trump rally at the start of the year, opened fire on protesters. He shot three individuals, leaving two of them dead. Videos of the incident circulated online, and he was later charged with first-degree murder upon his arrest. 

Miskinis’ controversial comments come just as Fox News host and general blowhard Tucker Carlson defended Rittenhouse for murdering unarmed protesters. “People in charge, from the governor of Wisconsin on down, refused to enforce the law. They stood back and watched Kenosha burn,” he said, placing the blame on the local authorities instead. “How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would? Everyone can see what was happening in Kenosha. It was getting crazier by the hour.”