Wisconsin Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Statement on Shootings at Kenosha Protests

The Wisconsin chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, the grassroots networks of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statement after two people were shot and killed, and another wounded during protests in Kenosha in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot and left paralyzed by Kenosha police on Sunday.

“We’re grieving with the families of those who were shot and with the entire Kenosha community,” said Tiffany D. Belcher, a volunteer with the Wisconsin chapter of Moms Demand Action. “While details are still emerging, we know armed vigilantes at protests only increase tensions and are more likely to incite violence. During this national reckoning with violence by police and the white supremacy that fuels it, protesters and the freedom to assemble must be protected at all costs.”

According to reports, a suspect has been arrested and charged with murder. In recent months, gun violence has broken out at several protests during the country’s reckoning with violence by police and white supremacy. In Albuquerque, a man was shot and wounded in June during a protest and demonstration. In Portland, continued protests were escalated this weekend when far right counter-protesters came to protests “armed with paintball guns, metal rods, aluminum bats, fireworks, pepper spray, rifles and handguns.”

Read more about the dangerous, unpopular “open carry loophole” that these extremists are exploiting to legally carry military-style firearms.