US president Donald Trump arrived in Kenosha, announced millions in funding

KENOSHA, Sep 1, 2020, CNN. President Trump is visiting Kenosha, Wisconsin today, where protesters have rallied nightly following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black father on Aug. 23, CNN reported.

As he left the White House this morning, Trump said he’s visiting the city to show support for the National Guard and local law enforcement. His first stop after landing was to visit a building that had been damaged in the protests.

The city’s uptown strip is fairly damaged, as are some parts of the downtown area near the courthouse. Pictures from one street of downtown showed several boarded-up businesses, but an otherwise calm scene.

And in many of the city’s neighborhoods, it’s business as usual.

Things appear in order near Bradford High School, where President Trump is scheduled to visit later today. The school is just a few blocks from where Jacob Blake was shot — and the Blake family is hosting a community event at the site today. There are bouncy houses for children to play and a BBQ for the community.

Remember: Trump said he’s not planning to meet with Blake’s family during the visit because they wanted to involve lawyers.

The President’s motorcade entered Kenosha city limits at 12:50 p.m. local time, or 1:50 ET, according to the press pool traveling with him.

The first stop will be to inspect damaged property.

According to the press pool, along the entire route was a mix of people waving Black Lives Matter signs and many Trump supporters waving Trump 2020 signs. Essentially every intersection had a gathering of people.

President Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration would be providing millions of dollars in funding toward law enforcement, public safety resources and small business relief in Kenosha and the state of Wisconsin.

“I’m committed to helping Kenosha rebuild. We will provide $1 million dollars to the Kenosha law enforcement so that you have some extra money to go out and do what you have to do,” Trump said during a public safety roundtable in Kenosha.

“I’m also providing nearly $4 million dollars to support the small businesses that I talked about today that got burned up, burned down. And we’re going to be providing over $42 million dollars to support public safety statewide, including direct support for law enforcement and funding for additional prosecutors to punish criminals, and resources to provide services to victims of crime,” he added.

The $42 million, Trump said, was funding Attorney General Bill Barr was pushing for.