Shop Owner Watched Business Burn In Kenosha Jacob Blake Protests

KENOSHA, WI — John Rode stood before the camera shop of his namesake in Uptown Kenosha late Monday night in astonishment.

"Last night at 11:30 p.m., another one of the employees who worked for me when I owned it called and said 'come down here right away,'" Rode told Patch. Rode said he and his wife got in the car, and were out in front of the camera shop within ten minutes.

"When I got here, the building was engulfed in flames," he said.

Rode, who is recently retired, watched as the camera shop he owned and operated for 45 years burned down. Rode's Camera Shop had been in existence since 1911. The shop had been in Rode's family for several generations and had survived a fire once before.

What Rode saw late Monday was just one small part of the second day of protests surrounding the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

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Blake, 29, was shot several times by Kenosha police Sunday 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. The video of Blake's shooting has gone viral, and Kenosha has seen widespread protests ever since.

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.

Rode was saddened to see his camera shop consumed by flames, and questions why the arson and destruction that Kenosha has seen over the last 48 hours is necessary.

'You Can't Just Shoot Somebody Seven Times'

"It's not getting any better, I don't think it's helping the cause, it's just ruining other people's lives," he said.

This is not the first time the Rode Camera Shop has burned.

Back in 1953, Rode's parents lived in the apartment above the camera shop's previous location. Rode was two years old at the time, and a fire consumed the building.

His family recovered from that fire and rebuilt. This time, "we're going to see what happens," he said.

As he stood across the street behind a line of yellow police tape, Rode wondered whether Kenosha police could have handled Sunday's situation differently.

"Just have to have some more police training," he said. "I think there has to be better training for police. You just can't shoot somebody seven times."