Ohio police officers in Wisconsin for the Republican National Convention shot and killed a man who was wielding two knives near the convention, Milwaukee’s police chief said on Tuesday, while in Australia, Jack Black canceled Tenacious D’s tour over a jibe directed at former US president Donald Trump.
The Milwaukee incident follows the attempted assassination of Trump, who is attending the convention, although police said that Tuesday’s incident was not linked to the event.
Five members of the Columbus, Ohio, police department fired on the man, who had a knife in each hand, refused police commands and charged at an unarmed man before police fired, Milwaukee Chief Jeffrey Norman told a news conference.
Photo: Reuters / @_esilemx
Two knives were recovered from the scene, Norman said.
Police released body camera footage that showed officers on bikes talking before one of them says: “He’s got a knife.”
Several officers then yell: “Drop the knife” as they run toward two men standing in a street, the footage showed.
When the armed man moved toward the unarmed man, police fired their weapons, it showed.
“Someone’s life was in danger,” Norman said. “These officers, who were not from this area, took it upon themselves to act and save someone’s life today.”
Thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions are in Milwaukee providing additional security for the convention that began Monday and concludes today.
The Columbus Division of Police, as well as the chief of staff for Milwaukee’s mayor and a spokesperson for the convention’s joint command center, all said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention itself.
A cousin and others identified the man killed as 43-year-old Samuel Sharpe.
Milwaukee residents and rights advocates converged on the site of the shooting, many of them expressing outrage about the involvement of a police department in town because of the convention.
About 100 people held a vigil and march on Tuesday night, pausing for a moment of silence at the blood-stained spot where Sharpe was killed.
“They came into our community and shot down our family right here at a public park,” said Linda Sharpe, a cousin of the man who was killed. “What are you doing in our city, shooting people down?”
Linda Sharpe said that her cousin lived in a tent encampment across the street from King Park, where the shooting occurred.
Residents said the encampment was a long-standing feature of the neighborhood, which is home to several social service clinics and a shelter.
Some said that Milwaukee police officers are familiar with many of those living in the tents and might have de-escalated the situation.
David Porter, who said he knew Samuel Sharpe and is also homeless, was angry that officers from outside of Milwaukee were in his neighborhood.
“If MPD would have been there, that man would still be alive right now,” Porter said, referring to Milwaukee police.
Separately, Tenacious D frontman Jack Black has canceled the comedy-rock group’s tour of Australia and New Zealand after his bandmate quipped on stage about the attempted assassination of Trump on Saturday last week.
Guitarist Kyle Gass said “don’t miss Trump next time” when asked to make a birthday wish while playing a packed gig in Sydney over the weekend, part of the band’s “Spicy Meatball” tour.
While the jibe drew laughter and applause from the crowd, it swiftly sparked controversy when posted online.
“I was blindsided by what was said at the show on Sunday,” said Black, a Hollywood funnyman who starred in films such as High Fidelity and Kung Fu Panda.
“After much reflection, I no longer feel it is appropriate to continue the Tenacious D tour, and all future creative plans are on hold,” he said on Instagram late on Tuesday.
Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd said that the comment made him “feel sick.”
“People might think it’s a bit of ‘funny haha’ at a concert, but it’s not,” Rudd said. :These people should just grow up and find a decent job.”
Four remaining shows in Australia have been canceled along with two dates in New Zealand, management company Frontier Touring said in a statement yesterday.
“Frontier Touring regret to advise that the remaining dates of Tenacious D’s tour of Australia and New Zealand have been canceled,” it said. “All purchased tickets will receive a full refund.”
Gunman Thomas Crooks opened fire at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday — a near-miss assassination attempt that left Trump bleeding from his right ear.
Additional reporting by AFP
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘POINT OF NO RETURN’: The Caribbean nation needs increased international funding and support for a multinational force to help police tackle expanding gang violence The top UN official in Haiti on Monday sounded an alarm to the UN Security Council that escalating gang violence is liable to lead the Caribbean nation to “a point of no return.” Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Haiti Maria Isabel Salvador said that “Haiti could face total chaos” without increased funding and support for the operation of the Kenya-led multinational force helping Haiti’s police to tackle the gangs’ expanding violence into areas beyond the capital, Port-Au-Prince. Most recently, gangs seized the city of Mirebalais in central Haiti, and during the attack more than 500 prisoners were freed, she said.
RSS