KEY POINTS

  • The demonstrations erupted Sunday after Jacob Blake was shot by police and left partially paralyzed
  • Tuesday night's shooter faces first-degree intentional homicide charges
  • A warrant was issued for Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Illinois

President Trump on Wednesday ordered National Guard troops and federal law enforcement agents to Kenosha, Wisconsin, two people have died and two have been injured by gunfire in three nights of rioting.

“We will not stand for looting, arson, violence and lawlessness on American streets,” vowed Trump, who has been demanding local and state leaders take decisive action to end sometimes violent social just demonstrations that have been sweeping across the country since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer.

The Kenosha violence was sparked by the police shooting on Sunday of Jacob Blake, 29, a father of six, as he was getting into a car after attempting to break up a fight. His father said Tuesday Blake had been paralyzed from the waist down as a result.

On Tuesday, armed men stood guard in front of businesses to prevent another night of looting. Police said gunfire erupted but it was unclear who fired on the crowd.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported an Illinois teenager was arrested for the shootings and faces first-degree intentional homicide. The shooter was identified as Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Illinois, and likely will be charged as an adult.

The injured man was described as a street medic who was shot in the arm.

Blake’s mother on Tuesday urged demonstrators to end the violence.

“Let's use our hearts, our love and our intelligence to work together, to show the rest of the world how humans are supposed to treat each other. America is great when we behave greatly,” Julia Jackson told a news conference just hours before the fatal shootings.

The Journal Sentinel reported cellphone video showed a male armed with long guns running from the shooting scene and talking on a cellphone. Audio picks up the individual saying, “I shot somebody.”