KENOSHA, Wis. — Jacob Blake’s uncle on Tuesday slammed Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers as a “coward” and a “racist” for deploying National Guard troops to Kenosha to prepare for any unrest when a verdict arrives in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.
Justin Blake, whose nephew’s shooting at the hands of police led to the tumultuous protests where Rittenhouse fatally shot two people, said that the Black Lives Matter protesters outside the courthouse were only “positively focused” on a guilty verdict in the Rittenhouse case.
“The governor is a coward and a racist to send out National Guards,” Blake told The Post.
“The only National Guard he’s bringing out is for the people supporting Rittenhouse, while we’ll be celebrating that somebody’s going to jail, they’ll be quite upset,” he added.
Outside the courthouse Tuesday, Black Lives Matter demonstrators sparred with counter-protesters over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, who was struck in the back by the gunfire and paralyzed from the waist down.
“He shouldn’t have resisted arrest. He should have stopped,” said one woman, who was carrying a sign that said, “BLM and Antifa are here 2 Intimidate.”
“Are you kidding me? His back is turned. He is no threat to the cops,” one of the Black Lives Matter protesters fired back.
The crowds gathered Tuesday after the jurors in the Rittenhouse trial were sent to deliberate whether the teen was guilty in a separate series of shootings during last year’s tumultuous protests in the city over the Jacob Blake case.
The demonstrations were marred by arson, rioting and looting, and left several businesses destroyed.
Evers announced this week that he mobilized around 500 National Guard members to be on standby if similar chaos breaks out in the city following the Rittenhouse verdict.
“Kenoshans are strong, resilient, and have worked hard to heal and rebuild together over the past year,” he wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
“Any efforts to sow division and hinder that healing are unwelcome in Kenosha and Wisconsin. Regardless of the outcome in this case, I urge peace in Kenosha and across our state.”
Local authorities, however, said Tuesday that they had “no reason” yet to impose a curfew.
“We have and will continue to be engaged with our local community leaders,” the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office and Kenosha police said in a joint statement.
