Kenosha officials prepare for weekend, sheriff says he hasn't seen Jacob Blake shooting video
KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The law enforcement presence will increase this weekend as more citizen soldiers are on their way from other states.
City and county law enforcement leaders held a press conference for a third day in a row on Friday, Aug. 28, taking questions for the first time since Wednesday.
They encouraged people to obey the 7 p.m. curfew. They said Thursday night was calmer but said the weekend could bring a "different dynamic."
When Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth was asked about the shooting of Jacob Blake and the viral video that started several nights of unrest, Beth responded: "I did not see the video." However, video circulating on social media shows Sheriff Beth watching the video on a phone at the Jacob Blake shooting scene Sunday night.
Beth and Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis have taken some heat over their handling of the shooting and the violence and destruction that has followed.
The ACLU has called for both top cops to resign. However, on Friday, Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian said he will not ask the two officials to step down.
"I think that when you look at what has occurred over the last week and all the activities that are going on -- everyone is doing the best they can," he said
Miskinis said after several nights of unrest, around 50 arrests have been made for a variety of offenses including curfew violations, drug and weapons charges, possessing illegal fireworks and possessing a flamethrower.
When asked whether those who have been arrested are from Kenosha, Beth said he believes many offenders are from out of town.
"For all the loss of life, for all the injuries, I feel really bad that this happened here in Kenosha," Beth said.
Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp, Wisconsin's adjutant general, said more than a thousand soldiers from the Wisconsin National Guard are already in Kenosha. However, he declined to give more specific numbers.
He said guard members from Arizona, Alabama and Michigan will travel to Kenosha on Friday. Those specific states were chosen because their soldiers have training in areas that would be helpful to the situation in Kenosha.
"I made the assessment that due to the situation here that we would be best served by having additional military police companies, which have additional training in civil disturbance and how to deal with that," Knapp said.
Miskinis also walked back comments he made earlier this week implying that violating curfew led to two protesters losing their lives.
"In no way was my comment earlier intended to suggest that being out after curfew that those persons played a role in their deaths. Tragically, lives were lost and a person was injured. That rests solely on the person who did that, not on the victims of this crime," Miskinis said.