Aug. 27, 2020 2:55p
(WGTD)---Kenosha County Sheriff Dave Beth confirmed Thursday that Tuesday night's protests against the police shooting of Jacob Blake was mostly peaceful.
Beth commended the demonstrators, who spent several hours marching through town, and said he hoped that Kenosha is "over the hump."
Beth said he believed that most of the demonstrators Wednesday evening were locals and not people who drove here from points elsewhere to cause trouble.
The largest law enforcement presence of all four nights of unrest were in place Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Mayor John Antaramian said committees are in the process of being formed to address issues a variety of issues raised by the demonstrators and others.
He also said the city has asked Gov. Evers for finance support on the behalf of businesses that were destroyed or damaged, and that he'll make the same request of the federal government.
While no one at Thursday's news conference took questions from reporters, a spokesman for the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression, did.
Standing outside the temporary fencing that surrounds the Public Safety Building and courthouse, Omar Flores said his and other organizations are investigating reports of unmarked vehicles picking up protesters off the street and refusing to identify themselves.
One such detainee was Adelana Akindes, the 26-year-old daughter of two UW-Parkside professors who heads the Parkside chapter of Students for a Democratic Society.
She and two organizers were picked up a few blocks from a "safe house' in the downtown Kenosha area.
Flores says he believes the group was targeted because of their political activities. A fourth organizer was able to escape, and provided information as to what happened to other group members.
The incident is similar to other detentions that have occurred in other communities experiencing unrest. Federal agents are being blamed.
Flores says the detentions--which he termed illegal--do nothing but fan the flames.
Court records at mid-afternoon showed that Akindes was still in custody and was facing a curfew violation. Bond was set at $200.
Flores accused local authorities of dragging their feet on releasing Akindes and a few dozen others who were picked up for curfew violations.
Flores said the ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild were investigating.
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