June 1, 2020 5:30a; Updated at 6:50a with Racine violence
(WGTD)---As has been the case in a number of cities, a noisy but largely peaceful protest against the in-custody death in Minneapolis of George Floyd...is followed by violence, vandalsim and chaos. And so it went in Kenosha Sunday.
Despite a curfew in place and the presence of National Guard troops, unruly groups of young people roamed Kenosha for a time overnight, setting fires, vandalizing and looting stores and keeping police and sheriff’s deputies on the run.
A group of demonstrators remained near Columbus Park and were slow to disperse.
Things turned even more serious in Racine. Tear gas was used to disperse demonstrators who gathered at the police station. According to a report on the Journal Times website, some people in the back of the crowd threw rocks and stones at police.
Kenosha Police said Monday morning that most of the damage in that city was isolated and confined to the central part.
Soon's Sushi near Columbus Park reported on its Facebook page that someone tossed a molotov cocktail into the building. At Roosevelt Rd. and 22nd Ave., passersby put out a fire that was set at another business. At a grocery store at 45th St. and 22nd Ave, a resident of the area reportedly fired a gun to scare away intruders, at least one of which was armed.
Damage occurred outside of the central city. A Verizon store located near Walmart in Somers reportedly had its windows smashed. Ditto for a liquor store on south Sheridan.
Things settled down in the early morning hours. Dump trucks that had been blockading streets near the courthouse and Public Safety Building were removed but still remained on scene.
A march through city streets began Sunday afternoon and grew in size as it wound through parts of the city. Marchers holding banners followed by a long trail of horn-blaring vehicles tied up traffic on Roosevelt Rd, 75th St. and Sheridan Road.
At one point, a man with a gun appeared on a porch across from Roosevelt Elementary. A momentary, tense situation was diffused by police officers who were on the scene almost immediately. The man reportedly said he grabbed his gun because someone had thrown a rock in his direction. An arrest—if there was one—was not immediate.
A similar event that occurred several hours later in a different part of town did result in an arrest—it was captured live on video on Facebook.
Kenosha police said Monday morning that despite the chaos there were no injuries. A tally of citations and charges wasn’t immediately available, but an online record shows that just three people were booked into the Kenosha County jail Sunday and early Monday.
The curfew, put in place county-wide Sunday night at 8:30, officially was to expire at 7 a.m.
One other note…there is no Metra train service going in and out of Chicago Monday. The rail agency announced Sunday night it was suspending all service because of regional unrest.
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