3 Kenosha police protesters charged with disorderly conduct
Three protesters arrested Sunday night in Kenosha during a sit-in have been charged and released.
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Updated: 2:26 PM CDT Apr 26, 2021
Kenosha County Sheriff
SOURCE: Kenosha County Sheriff
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Three protesters arrested Sunday night in Kenosha during a sit-in have been charged and released.
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Updated: 2:26 PM CDT Apr 26, 2021
Three protesters arrested Sunday night in Kenosha during a sit-in have been charged and released.They included Jacob Blake's uncle.The men blocked the entrance to the Kenosha County Public Safety Building for several hours, demanding to meet the city police chief or deputy chief with a list of demands.A video captured the moment Kenosha County Sheriff's deputies arrested the Rev. Jonathan Barker, Joe Cardinali and Justin Blake.The arrests came after a march and rally calling for the police officer who shot Jacob Blake to be fired.Officer Rusten Sheskey returned to duty from administrative leave after being cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the August 2020 shooting.Jacob Blake remains paralyzed from the waist down after Sheskey shot him seven times.Among several demands, the protesters want a written public apology for not telling the Blake family Sheskey was back on the job."Just bringing continued awareness on the lack of transparency with Kenosha PD, there's a handful of us that, we talk with them, and we just thought that we had a better rapport than this," Leaders of Kenosha Executive Director Tanya McLean said.She said the men who were arrested expected to not hear from police."Yeah, we anticipated it," McLean said.Barker and Cardinali were released overnight.Deputies released Justin Blake late Monday morning."I want people to know unequivocally that we are here," McLean said. "Literally, every day, this is what we eat, sleep and breathe on top of trying to do our normal daily things with our families and with our jobs."Sheskey is on administrative duty after a WISN 12 investigation revealed someone stole his service revolver while he was on leave, sometime after the Blake shooting.WISN 12 is still awaiting answers to open records requests in that case.The police department declined the opportunity to speak about the arrests or investigation.The chief is expected to retire in the coming days.He said Monday afternoon he would not meet with the protesters to discuss their demands."I am extremely disappointed that some of the people making demands are people who have had regular contact with me or a member of my executive staff," Chief Daniel Miskinis said. "We are always open to constructive communication; however, we cannot effectively communicate with those that seek a spotlight to create and further facilitate a false narrative. Community growth, building relationships - these ideas need to be our focus, not creating barriers."He added that the department was already working on initiatives to be more transparent with residents.The Kenosha County Sheriff said Justin Blake, Barker and Cardinali were each charged with disorderly conduct after they refused to leave.