Milwaukee, Wisconsin — BLM protesters gathered at King Park Tuesday night to express anger toward Milwaukee and Columbus, Ohio, police departments after an officer shot and killed a knife-wielding man who was violently struggling with another man.
The Columbus Police Department was one of many police departments deployed to Milwaukee to provide additional security for the Republican National Convention. On Tuesday at approximately 1pm, a Columbus bicycle patrol officer noticed two men fighting on the street.
Body camera footage released Police officers were seen responding to the fight and realizing one of the men had a knife. They drew their guns and repeatedly ordered the man to drop both knives. The assailant refused and began lunging at the other man, at which point the officers returned fire, shooting and killing the man. The shooting took place nearly a mile from where the Republican National Convention is being held.
“The city has blood on its hands. MPD has blood on its hands.”
The March to the Republican National Convention, which organized the main protest against Trump on Monday, gathered near the scene of the incident and called on supporters to demand that the increased police presence leave the city. Demonstrators identified the dead man as Samuel Sharp, a homeless man who lived in a nearby encampment. Demonstrators argued police were in the wrong because they were away from the Republican National Convention and did not know the neighbors.
Alan Chaboya, spokesman for the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racism and Political Oppression, led the protest and said he loves Milwaukee, but Tuesday’s shooting shows the city doesn’t love its residents.
“You can see officers in Columbus, Ohio, with their guns drawn over 30 feet from where Samuel Sharp was. So you’re saying they could see the knife that Samuel Sharp was allegedly holding from 30 feet away? And before they could see it, he had his gun drawn already,” Chaboya said.
“We were over eight blocks away from the barricades at the Republican National Convention. How could the Milwaukee Police Department, the city of Milwaukee, allow officers from Columbus, Ohio, to be left unattended, unprotected and unregulated this far away in Milwaukee? We were telling them this is what was going to happen,” Chaboya continued. “Blood on the city’s hands, blood on MPD’s hands.”
After lighting candles and listening to several speeches, a small group of protesters marched around King Park. The crowd stopped for a moment of silence at the site where the shooting took place.
Columbus Dispatch Reports The five officers who fired their weapons have been sent back to Columbus, but the remaining officers remain in Milwaukee on security duty.
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