Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson says he's saddened by the death of the man who was killed on Tuesday, when five Ohio police officers opened fire. Johnson has called for a thorough investigation, but the mayor says there's a clear impression that the officers saved another man from death or serious injury.
The man killed by police has been identified by a cousin as Samuel Sharpe, Jr., who was 43 years old. Police say he had two knives and appeared to lunge at an unarmed man.
The shooting took place about three-quarters of a mile from the Fiserv Forum, where the RNC is being held. The officers were part of a bicycle unit. They were among the 4,000 officers from other cities and states, who've been assisting Milwaukee police during this week's convention.
The MPD announced Wednesday that it's made changes to operations — including that all bicycle units will have representation from Milwaukee police.
Organizer Angela Lang, executive director of BLOC— Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, says the city must be held accountable for the shooting.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What were your general reactions to the shooting that happened on Tuesday and did this validate any of the concerns that you had going into the RNC?
My initial reaction was just heartbroken to know that because of this event, we lost a community member. In these initial hours, it feels like some of our city leaders are taking the side of the out-of-state cop against losing one of our own community members. It's a mix of deep sadness, a broken heart, and a lot of frustration and anger. I can't help but think that this could have been avoided. It's my understanding that the man was unhoused, and last week there were sweeps downtown of unhoused folks. People had to find a place to go before the RNC started. Easily, this tragedy could have been avoided.
When you have out-of-state police coming to an event this size and they're in a city they're not familiar with, what could be detrimental about that?
When there is an understanding of the neighborhood, you take a completely different approach. You understand the people. You may not be so quick to draw your gun right away because you know these faces, you've hopefully built up relationships with them. With the MPD adding on other law enforcement who are strangers to us, it just adds to the fact that we're just another face to some of these cops. If we're just another face, then who knows what can happen.
Is there anything that you feel is still not being addressed by the city about the shooting at this point in time?
I think folks want to know why all the state cops who were here to patrol the security perimeter and provide extra support for the RNC were outside of the security perimeter. I think that is a huge question that the community deserves answers to, and specifically, Sam Sharp's family deserves. What does accountability look like? What does transparency look like? This can't be, "Whoops, we made a mistake." A man was murdered, unjustly.
Is there anything else you want to add?
Our community is hurt and heartbroken and devastated. It was a failure of our city leadership that had gaslit us for months, saying that everything was gonna be fine and the economic impact would be worth it. There needs to be accountability from our city leaders and [an] understanding [of] the failure. In keeping our community safe this week when we told them months and even years in advance that there would be problems and we didn't even want this here.
