National Guard Troops Leave Kenosha After Jacob Blake Protests

KENOSHA, WI — National Guard troops have gone back home after spending two weeks helping local authorities during protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in late August.

Authorities said Wisconsin National Guard troops initially mobilized to State Active Duty in Kenosha on Aug. 24 after civil unrest broke out and local authorities requested Wisconsin National Guard assistance.

About 125 troops arrived in the city on Aug. 24 to serve in a supporting role to local civil authorities and to help preserve public safety.

That number of troops doubled Aug. 25 to 250 and then to 500 Aug. 26 in conjunction with a local requests received from Kenosha officials.

On Aug. 26 Gov. Tony Evers made an Emergency Management Assistance Compact – or EMAC – request to other states to bring additional National Guard military police companies from outside Wisconsin to Kenosha to assist.

Michigan, Arizona, and Alabama responded and sent more than 700 troops collectively to support the state, and by Aug. 28, about 2,000 National Guard troops, including more than 1,200 Wisconsin National Guard troops were on the ground in Kenosha assisting in public safety efforts.

Troops from out of state began returning to their respective states Sept. 2, and as the public safety situation became less urgent, the number of troops supporting the city decreased.

Hundreds of Wisconsin National Guard troops remained on duty in support of civil authorities in Kenosha through Monday based on requests from local officials.

Blake, 29, was shot several times by Kenosha police in late August during the course of a domestic dispute on the city's north side.

A witness to the shooting recorded the incident on video. In that video, police are seen following Blake around his SUV, grabbing him by the shirt, and opening fire on him several times as he enters his car while his children were apparently seated inside.

Blake survived the shooting, yet remains partially paralyzed in a Milwaukee-area hospital bed. The video of Blake's shooting went viral, and Kenosha saw widespread protests for about two weeks following the shooting.

Public officials of all kinds have weighed in on the shooting, some calling for immediate punishment for the officer who pulled the trigger, others for police and social reforms, and others who are calling for a playing-out of the police investigation into the shooting.