(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — President Trump visited volatile Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday and met with local law enforcement representatives but did not have contact with the family of Jacob Blake, the Black man whose shooting by police Aug. 23 spurred protests and demonstrations that devolved into deadly violence.
Trump wished the Blake family well, but focused his tour on efforts by police and National Guard members to keep the peace after arson, looting and a deadly shooting blamed on an Illinois teen who reportedly is a supporter of the president's.
The commander in chief spent a few hours on the ground, touring burned-out businesses and attending a roundtable discussion that included owners and police officials. He said the protest violence was anti-police and un-American and pledged financial support for Kenosha to help rebuild.
Supporters — and a few protesters — gathered outside the site where Trump made an appearance. Confrontaton seemed to be a minimum, WBBN Newsradio Political Reporter Craig Dellmore reports.
"There was love in the streets," Trump said of his impressions.
Separately Tuesday, Blake's family talked with reporters and urged protesters to be peaceful and dismissed the president's visit as public relations.
"Whatever they're talking about is a ruse. That's why we're doing what we're doing today, so they can't take over the narrative," Justin Blake, uncle of Jacob Blake, said. "We're going to keep things on Jacob Blake, getting justice and healing little Jake."
Critics of the president, who is trying to run on a law-and-order platform, say he has stoked violence between protest factions in Kenosha and other U.S. cities to draw attention from the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.
Democratic leaders of Wisconsin and Kenosha said they would have prefered the Republican president stay away, at least for the time being.
Trump departed Kenosha by mid-afternoon.
