Kenosha Police Chief Defends Officers Who Let Alleged Shooter Walk Right by Them

The police chief of Kenosha, Wisconsin, defended his officers at a Friday press conference after they allowed a 17-year-old vigilante to continue roaming the streets after allegedly killing two people at a police brutality protest Tuesday night. Video shows Kyle Rittenhouse walking just feet from police at the demonstration against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. The teenager was illegally carrying an assault rifle. “Clearly they’re not seeing him as a suspect or a threat of any kind,” Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis said. “Nothing suggested this person or anybody else who was armed around them was the person.”

The Kenosha County Sheriff said the same day that he hadn’t seen video of the shooting, by now viewed by millions around the world, of police shooting Blake seven times in the back as he attempted to get into the car where his three children sat. “I did not see the video,” David Beth said. When asked if that was a problem, he walked away. Video of a recent protest, however, shows him watching the recording on a protester’s phone.