Milwaukee, Wisconsin erupted in violent riots on Saturday and Sunday night after an African American police officer shot and killed an armed African American suspect named Sylville Smith.
Who is Sylville Smith?
Police say he is a 23-year old man with 13 prior arrests who was armed with a gun who fled from a car during a traffic stop Saturday afternoon.
He was chased by two officers and was shot during the foot pursuit by one of the police officers, who was wearing a body camera.
After reviewing the shooting footage, Milwaukee Chief Edward Flynn said, “The individual did turn toward the officer with a firearm in his hand.”
Chief Flynn added that Smith was “raising up with” the gun at the time that he was shot by the officer.
The officer who fired the shots that killed Smith is 24 years old and has six years of service with the Milwaukee Police Department and three of those are as an officer.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Sunday afternoon said in a press conference:
"A young man lost his life (Saturday) afternoon. No matter what, his family has to be hurting. There was a body camera the officer was wearing. The video will be under the jurisdiction of the state of Wisconsin. I have seen a still photo extracted from that video. That photo demonstrates, without question, that (Smith) had a gun in his hand. The police officer didn't know it at the time, but there were 23 rounds in that gun. He had more bullets in his gun than the police officer had in his gun. What that police officer encountered was an individual who had a gun in his hand. I would like to see the video released as soon as possible but I agree — the officer has not even been interviewed yet, the officer who was involved."
Milwaukee riots 2016:
The police shooting of Sylville Smith resulted in rioting and looting.
Fires were set by the rioters as they destroyed a gas station, auto parts store, several cars and liquor store as well as heavily damaging a beauty shop, bank branch, and another liquor store.
They threw bricks and bottles at police and citizens and fired gunshots at police cruisers and sought out potential victims based on race as some were looking for "white people" to assault.
Local reporters were also targeted for violent assaults, including a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter, who was “thrown to the ground and punched”.
Watch the video below for more information.