Ohio police officers in Wisconsin for the Republican National Convention shot and killed a man who was wielding two knives near the convention, Milwaukee’s police chief said Tuesday.
Five members of the Columbus, Ohio, police department fired on the man, who had a knife in each hand, refused police commands and charged at an unarmed man before police fired, Milwaukee Chief Jeffrey Norman said at a news conference. Two knives were recovered from the scene, the chief said.
Police released body camera footage that showed officers on bikes talking before one of them says, “He's got a knife.”
Several officers then yell “Drop the knife!” as they run toward two men standing in a street. When the armed man moved toward the unarmed man, police fired their weapons.
“Someone’s life was in danger,” Norman said. “These officers, who were not from this area, took it upon themselves to act and save someone’s life today.”
Thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions are in Milwaukee providing additional security for the convention that began Monday and concludes Thursday.
At a Wednesday morning press conference, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said "the likelihood is that any officer who saw a citizen about to be attacked .... would have taken the same action."
Johnson said Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called him to “share his gratitude for the security and for law enforcement preparations.”
The Columbus Police Department, as well as the chief of staff for Milwaukee's mayor and a spokesperson for the convention’s joint command center, all said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention itself.
>> Reporting on the shooting from WOSU Public Media in Ohio
The shooting fueled anger from residents who questioned why out-of-state officers were in their neighborhood located about a mile from the convention site.
“They came into our community and shot down our family right here at a public park,” said Linda Sharpe, a cousin of the man who was killed. “What are you doing in our city, shooting people down?”
Sharpe said her cousin, who she identified as Samuel Sharpe, lived in a tent encampment across the street from King Park, where the shooting occurred.
Residents said the encampment was a long-standing feature of the neighborhood, which is home to several social service clinics and a shelter. Some said Milwaukee police officers are familiar with many of those living in the tents and might have been able to deescalate the situation.
Kenneth Johnson, a volunteer with Friends Without Shelter, said he often dropped off food to the man and others who lived in the tents — and questioned what an out-of-state officer had been doing at the location.
David Porter, who said he knew the man and is also homeless, was angry that officers from outside of Milwaukee were in his neighborhood.
“If MPD would have been there, that man would still be alive right now,” Porter said, referring to Milwaukee police.
Milwaukee residents and organizers of the Coalition to March on the RNC held an impromptu press conference Tuesday afternoon condemning the police shooting. The activists said in their discussions with the Milwaukee Police Department before the RNC, they expressed concern about thousands of out-of-state officers coming to the city during the RNC.
“[The police] told us to trust the process — well look what the process got us,” said Alan Chavoya. “We’re not even two days in to the RNC and we have a casualty.”
On Tuesday night, about one hundred people gathered for a vigil for the man who was killed.
The Reverend Radontae Ashford said he does not want the man’s death to be lost in the political debate of the day.
“There’s a whole neighborhood full of people that are without homes, that are living in tents and without food and without water right over here where yellow tape is now being pulled up," Ashford says. "There’s somebody going to go to sleep tonight that’s homeless and hungry and so it’s very important for us to extend our hands in some level of grace to try to help these people, and probably they’re probably living in fear. You know, why would a homeless guy have a knife in this area – because he’s probably afraid for his own life."
Editor's note: The AP corrected this story to reflect that the Columbus Police Department, not the Fraternal Order of Police, said the Columbus officers were operating within their assigned area.
