ne day after more than 70 were arrested for protesting the Dontre Hamilton shooting, the National Guard has been called up to help.
A spokesperson from Wisconsin National Guard says soldiers are being notified of the call up.
They received a request on Saturday from Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke. Governor Scott Walker has approved the use.
Earlier today Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm announced former Milwaukee Police officer Christopher Manney will not face charges after he shot and killed Dontre Hamilton, and while many citizens gathered to voice their opposition to that decision, I have not heard any reports of violence by those who gathered. The fact that Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke felt compelled to ask for the National Guard to be called up to police the streets of Milwaukee speaks volumes about his failure as our county’s elected Sheriff, especially considering the drastic cuts in sworn law enforcement personnel in the Sheriff’s Department since Clarke was first elected.
I think it was expedient given his political ambitions. He needs to signal that these protesters are dangerous as a way to squash dissent. The way to attach Walker on this one is to show this as a fear-based decision, an authoritarian response or both. Yet who will do that, I wonder? Our state media, our DPW, our few Democratic state legislators?
Considering what happened in Ferguson MO and last weeks shutdown of I43 the prudent thing to do was to give Sheriff Clark and all the fine police officers all the support and backing they might need.
You mean that Clarke’s own arsenal wouldn’t be sufficient to put down protests by unarmed citizens? And just what would the guard have done? They are prohibited from actual law enforcement actions, so were they just going to fill empty canteens or something?
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