How Evers responded to Kenosha riots in 2020 appears to be a GOP talking point for 2022

KENOSHA — The Wisconsin National Guard, which serves under the orders of the Wisconsin governor, says that it fulfilled “all requests for assistance we received via official channels” for assistance to put down riots after Jacob Blake was shot by a Kenosha police officer on Aug. 23.

Both the National Guard and Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian are saying that the guard, since it isn’t a standing army, couldn’t have mobilized much faster than it did to Kenosha last summer. “It takes time for them to get down here,” Antaramian said in an interview Friday morning. “The Guard responded. The governor responded. Everyone responded well.”

Still, top Wisconsin conservatives are charging that Gov. Tony Evers did not act strongly enough to discourage violence and looting. They also allege that he delayed in deploying the Guard, a claim refuted by the governor, the Guard and Antaramian.

When asked if the Guard should’ve responded more quickly last summer, Antaramian said Friday “I don’t know that they could’ve,” adding that every request for more Guardsmen was met.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, and Rebecca Kleefisch — the former lieutenant governor and a possible 2022 gubernatorial candidate — while speaking at a June 19 Lincoln Day Dinner at The Italian American Club in Kenosha did also call into question that his comments within hours of the shooting “inflamed” the unrest.

2022 matters

How preventable was the violence, destruction and two deaths in the days following Jacob Blake being shot last August? It’s a question that will be brought up repeatedly on the campaign trail as Gov. Tony Evers seeks reelection in 2022.

The prevailing narrative also could have an impact on Donald Trump’s reputation as Republican leadership wrestles with how to deal with the dividing but energizing ex-president who outperformed expectations in Kenosha while still losing Wisconsin in the 2020 election.

The gist of it

The Wisconsin National Guard, which serves under the orders of the governor, says that it fulfilled “all requests for assistance we received via official channels” for assistance to put down riots after Jacob Blake was shot on Aug. 23, according to an email from Maj. Joe Trovato.

Still, leading Wisconsin conservatives are charging that Evers did not act strongly enough to discourage violence and looting. They also allege his statement within hours of the shooting “inflamed” the unrest which followed.

“Tonight, Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in broad daylight,” Evers tweeted Aug. 23. “While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country.”

In an interview at the Lincoln Day Dinner, Johnson said of the tweets: “All I know is, Gov. Evers his statements were not helpful at all. I would term those as ‘inciteful’ (sic). He didn’t show any leadership. He didn’t tell people we weren’t going to allow this to happen.”

“We are going to make Tony Evers a one-term Democrat,” Kleefisch said during a speech at the Lincoln Day event.

Republicans have been rallying support within their base by vilifying Evers’ response to riots in Kenosha last summer, blaming him for not calling in the National Guard sooner and in greater force. Stirring negative sentiment toward the current governor could be instrumental in unseating him at the ballot box in 2022.

After the first night of rioting, Evers called for a “limited mobilization” of the National Guard.

According to the Wisconsin National Guard:

On Aug. 24 — i.e., less than 24 hours after Blake was shot by Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey — there were 125 National Guardsmen on the ground in Kenosha.

By the next night, the night of the Kyle Rittenhouse shootings, there were 250 National Guardsmen bolstering crowd control with the many southeast Wisconsin law enforcement officers that were called into Kenosha.

On Aug. 26, the calmest night of the four since Blake had been shot, there were 500 Guardsmen active in the city. This was the night in which arrests picked up; even as protests became nonviolent, law enforcement moved quickly to arrest individuals and groups who broke off from the main crowd.

On Aug. 27, there were 750 Guardsmen in Kenosha.

On Aug. 28, there were 2,000; 800 of those came from the National Guards of Michigan, Arizona and Alabama, reportedly because Evers was now accepting outside help after having rejected it previously.

Phone calls

Steil said that Kenosha leaders had been begging for more help that wasn’t coming fast enough. Steil said in a recent speech that, on Aug. 24, he received a previously unreported phone call from Antaramian, Sheriff David Beth and then-Police Chief Daniel Miskinis where they asked the congressman: “What is the federal government able to provide specifically?”

Steil said he replied by calling the White House and — after being put on hold and bounced around the White House’s switchboard — speaking with Trump directly.

According to Steil, Trump said: “You’re calling me, but your governor hasn’t called me,” to which Steil replied: “I cannot explain to you my governor’s actions, but I can tell you the people of the City of Kenosha need assistance.”

Eventually, that conversation and others led to Mark Meadows, who was then Trump’s chief of staff, having now-infamous and highly publicized conversations with Evers on Aug. 25 and 26.

On Aug. 25, Meadows said on Fox News that Evers had rejected federal help. The next day, after two people were killed and a third seriously injured by Rittenhouse, Evers reportedly accepted the aid. However, that aid reportedly mainly consisted of coordinating other states’ National Guards bolstering Wisconsin’s — conversations that had already begun without help from Washington, according to Evers’ office.

According to an email from an Evers spokeswoman: “The Trump Administration did not speak to the governor until Tuesday (Aug. 25) afternoon — 2:45 p.m. call with Meadows, 3:15 p.m. call with President Trump — well after the governor had already authorized the Wisconsin National Guard, declared a State of Emergency in response, and announced he would be doubling the Guard presence in Kenosha to 250 members on Tuesday night.”

When asked via email: “Is it accurate to say that Donald Trump’s words/actions had any effect on how many troops were sent to Kenosha and how quickly they arrived?” Trovato, the spokesman for the Wisconsin National Guard, replied: “All troops that served in Kenosha last summer did so in a state active duty status, meaning they were all under the command and control of the Governor. The out-of-state troops responded under an Emergency Management Assistance Compact request from the State of Wisconsin and then fell under the command and control of the Governor. No National Guard troops served in a federalized status. All National Guard troops mobilized at the direction of Gov. Evers.”

Added the governor’s spokeswoman: “To date, the only assistance that has been provided by the federal government in our response has been additional FBI and U.S. Marshal support.”

During Friday’s interview, Antaramian said that, during that Aug. 24 phone call with Steil, he and Kenosha’s other leaders were seeking “more equipment and funds” as they waited for more Guardsmen to arrive.

Credit to whom?

The emcee of the June 19 Lincoln Day Dinner, Brian Schimming — executive director and chief operating officer of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority under then-Gov. Scott Walker, he’s also been a radio host and lobbyist — said at the event: “What it took to get help for Kenosha was the call from that guy (pointing to Steil) to the president of the United States.”

To applause from the Lincoln Day Dinner crowd, Steil said in his speech: “Ultimately, through the president’s actions, he (Trump) really, truly helped the City of Kenosha.”

This is a narrative contested by the Evers administration, noting in particular that Trump neither publicly nor directly ordered any troops or resources to Kenosha. The only federal officers known to have been in Kenosha were a smattering of FBI agents and U.S. Marshals; all National Guard troops serve under states, despite the name implying they are “national.”

Amid the unrest, the National Guard’s leaders seemed uninterested in what Trump was saying.

On Aug. 25, Trump tweeted that Evers “should call in the National Guard” to Kenosha even though hundreds of citizen-soldiers were already there.

Then, during a news conference on Aug. 26, a reporter asked the adjutant general of the Wisconsin National Guard, Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp: “Are you worried about the president tweeting about it as if it’s his decision, that it will escalate tensions here?” Knapp replied: “I don’t worry about the president’s tweets.”

What brought an end to it?

What actually brought an end to the violence is up for debate.

Steil and others have said that the show of force as well as the arrests of well more than 100 alleged agitators successfully put down the riots.

Making arrests “in particular individuals from outside the community who’re coming to Kenosha to cause disturbances,” Steil said, was a difference-maker. “Once those criminals knew that they risked arrest for their behavior and once there was a police and law enforcement force of scale necessary to enforce the rule of law, public safety was re-established by Wednesday evening.”

Others, including Antaramian, have said it’s more complicated than that.

There was fear of more violence spawned by the Rittenhouse shootings as well as the typical winding down of high emotions — riots rarely last more than a couple of days, even in extreme cases. Antaramian said that the beginnings of community conversations between young protesters and local authorities also helped deter violence.

“It’s a combination,” the mayor said.

Steil conceded that Evers making statements calling directly for an end to the unrest after the Rittenhouse shootings were “very important” in ending the violence.