US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he tours an area affected by civil unrest in Kenosha, Wis., on Sept. 1, 2020.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump stood at the epicentre of the latest eruption over racial injustice Tuesday and came down squarely on the side of law enforcement, blaming “domestic terror” for the violence in Kenosha and making no nod to the underlying cause of anger and protests – the shooting of yet another Black man by police.
Mr. Trump declared the violence “anti-American.” He did not mention Jacob Blake, who was badly wounded last week in Kenosha.
Soon after arriving in the city, a visit made over the objections of state and local leaders, Mr. Trump toured the charred remains of a block besieged by violence and fire. With the scent of smoke still in the air, he spoke to the owners of a century-old store that had been destroyed and continued to link the violence to the Democrats, blaming those in charge of Kenosha and Wisconsin while raising apocalyptic warnings if their party should capture the White House.
“These are not acts of peaceful protest but, really, domestic terror,” Mr. Trump said. And he condemned Democratic officials for not immediately accepting his offer of federal enforcement assistance, claiming, “They just don’t want us to come.”
The city has been the scene of protests since the Aug. 23 shooting of Mr. Blake, who was shot seven times in the back by police as he tried to get into a car while they were trying to arrest him. Protests have been concentrated in a small area of Kenosha. While there were more than 30 fires set in the first three nights, the situation has calmed since then.
Mr. Trump’s motorcade passed throngs of demonstrators, some holding American flags in support of the President, others jeering while carrying signs that read “Black Lives Matter.” A massive police presence, complete with several armoured vehicles, secured the area, and barricades were set up along several of the city’s major thoroughfares to keep onlookers at a distance from the passing presidential vehicles.
Offering federal resources to help rebuild the city, Mr. Trump toured a high school that had been transformed into a law enforcement command post. He said he tried to call Mr. Blake’s mother but opted against it after the family asked that a lawyer listen in.
He later added he felt “terribly” for anyone who suffered a loss, but otherwise only said the situation was “complicated” and “under investigation.” The only words acknowledging the suffering of Black people came from a pastor who attended the law enforcement round table.
Pressed by reporters, Mr. Trump repeatedly pivoted away from assessing any sort of structural racism in the country or its police departments, instead blasting what he saw as anti-police rhetoric. Painting a dark portrait of parts of the country he leads, the President predicted that chaos would descend on cities across the U.S. if voters elect Democrat Joe Biden to replace him in November.
Opinion: Donald Trump is the law-and-order candidate? Yeah, right
Analysis: U.S. presidential campaign takes shape against a backdrop of violence and upheaval
Mr. Biden hit back, speaking to donors on a fundraising call after Mr. Trump left Kenosha.
“Donald Trump has failed to protect America. So now he’s trying to scare the hell out of America,” Mr. Biden said. “Violence isn’t a problem in Donald Trump’s eyes. It’s a political strategy.”
The election is playing out in “anxious times,” with “multiple crises,” Mr. Biden said. He included police violence in the list, along with the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout and said Mr. Trump refuses to address any of them honestly.
Mr. Trump aides believe his tough-on-crime position will help him with voters and that the more the national discourse is about anything other than the novel coronavirus, the better it is for the President.
Mr. Biden said after Mr. Trump’s Wisconsin visit, “The vast majority of cops are honourable, decent and real. But the idea that he wouldn’t even acknowledge the problem – and white nationalists are raising their heads all across the country.”
Mr. Trump condemned unrest in Portland, Ore., too, where a supporter was shot and killed recently – and an increase in shootings in cities including Chicago and New York – and tried to take credit for stopping the violence in Kenosha with the National Guard. But it was Wisconsin Democratic Governor Tony Evers who deployed the National Guard to quell demonstrations in response to the Blake shooting, and he had pleaded with Mr. Trump to stay away for fear of straining tensions further.
“I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing,” Mr. Evers wrote in a letter to Trump. “I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together.”
Mr. Biden has assailed Mr. Trump as an instigator of the deadly protests that have sprung up on his watch. On the eve of his visit, Mr. Trump defended a teenager accused of fatally shooting two men at a demonstration in Kenosha last week, although he did not mention the young man Tuesday.
Claiming the mantle of the “law and order” Republican candidate, Mr. Trump insists that he, not Mr. Biden, is the leader best positioned to keep Americans safe. He said his appearance in Kenosha would “increase enthusiasm” in Wisconsin, perhaps the most hotly contested battleground state in the presidential race.
Mr. Blake’s family held a Tuesday “community celebration” at a distance from Mr. Trump’s visit.
“We don’t need more pain and division from a president set on advancing his campaign at the expense of our city,” Justin Blake, an uncle, said in a statement. “We need justice and relief for our vibrant community.”
The NAACP said Tuesday neither candidate should visit the Wisconsin city as tension simmers. Mr. Biden’s team has considered a visit to Kenosha and had previously indicated that a trip to Wisconsin was imminent but has not offered details.
Protests in Kenosha began the night of Mr. Blake’s shooting, Aug. 23 and were concentrated in the blocks around the county courthouse downtown. There was an estimated US$2-million in damage to city property, and Kenosha’s mayor has said he is seeking US$30-million from the state to help rebuild.
The violence reached its peak the night of Aug. 25, two days after Mr. Blake was shot, when police said the 17-year-old armed with an illegal semi-automatic rifle shot and killed two protesters in the streets. Since then, marches organized both by backers of police and Mr. Blake’s family have all been peaceful with no vandalism or destruction to public property.
Mr. Biden, all the while, has tried to refocus the race on what has been its defining theme – Mr. Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has left more than 180,000 Americans dead – after a multiday onslaught by the President’s team to make the campaign about the violence rattling American cities.
Mr. Biden’s wife, Jill, on Tuesday kicked off a multiweek, 10-city tour of schools disrupted by the pandemic in eight battleground states, drawing a direct line from the empty classrooms to the administration’s failures combatting COVID-19.
During her tour of a Wilmington, Del., school, she spoke with teachers and administrators about doubts that in-person learning will actually resume any time soon and the challenges – including obtaining new small desks and protective equipment to make sure classrooms can handle physical distancing – if they do. She said feelings about heading back to school “have turned from excitement into anxiety, and the playgrounds are still.”
Our Morning Update and Evening Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.