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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Kari Paul, Joan E Greve in Washington, Adam Gabbatt and Martin Belam

Kenosha: teen arrested over killings at protests as NBA playoff games postponed – as it happened

Police move into protester lines through clouds of tear gas in Kenosha.
Police move into protester lines through clouds of tear gas in Kenosha. Photograph: Jim Vondruska

Summary

That is enough news for today! Now I am turning it over to my colleagues Joan E. Greve and Maanvi Singh, you can follow their coverage of the RNC tonight here. Here are the biggest stories of the day:

  • Tonight’s NBA playoff games have been postponed as players protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The strike began with the Milwaukee Bucks and has spread to the MLB, where several baseball teams are sitting out tonight’s games in solidarity, including the Milwaukee Brewers.
  • Others have shown solidarity, including sports announcers and former players Kenny Smith and Chris Webber.
  • The Wisconsin Department of Justice confirmed the officer who shot Jacob Blake seven times is Rusten Sheskey. No word yet on whether charges against the officer, who paralyzed Blake, will be filed. The department also said Blake was carrying a knife at the time of the incident.
  • Ivanka Trump is set to speak at tonight’s RNC, positioning her father as a champion of the average American family in the Right’s ongoing quest to humanize the president.
  • Hurricane Laura is approaching the coast with 150 mile per hour winds, one of the top five strongest hurricanes in US history.

Updated

Several other baseball teams have joined the strike in support of Jacob Blake, in addition to the Milwaukee Brewers.

A game scheduled for Wednesday between the Seattle Mariners and the San Diego Padres as well as another match between the Dodgers and the Giants have been indefinitely postponed.

Gabe Kapler, manager of the San Francisco Giants, put out a strong statement in support of the team’s strike.

“I don’t think it should require athletes needing to boycott playoffs games to remind us that Black Lives Matter, and that police brutality is unacceptable, and that systemic racism to be eliminated,” he said.

Hurricane Laura has been upgraded to 150 mile per hour winds as it approaches the shores of the United States. If it maintains that speed, it will be among the most severe hurricanes in US history.

The National Weather Service called the storm “unsurvivable” and warned the surge may be seen as far as 30 miles inland.

More teams have joined the strike in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

In addition to basketball team the Milwaukee Bucks and baseball team the Brewers, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Seattle Mariners have announced they will join the strike.

“We just want justice for Jacob Blake,” said Lakers player Anthony Davis. “It’s unacceptable. We’re continuing to talk and find justice for him and everyone else has been a victim.”

The WNBA also joined the strike on Wednesday, pledging not to play any scheduled games on Wednesday night.

Updated

In case you need a summary of this chaotic day in breaking news, here you go.

Not to mention ongoing historic wildfires in California! Quite an intense week, thank you for sticking with us for news updates.

Team members of the Milwaukee Bucks have released a statement about why they chose to strike and not play tonight’s playoff game in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake, citing inaction in the face of pleas for change.

“When we take the court and represent Milwaukee and Wisconsin, we are expected to play at a high level, give maximum effort and hold each other accountable,”they said. “In this moment, we are demanding the same from our lawmakers and law enforcement.”

The Bucks have called for justice for Jacob Blake and that officers involved are held accountable. They demanded the Wisconsin State legislature reconvene after months of inaction to “take up meaningful measures” on police brutality and criminal justice reform.

“We encourage all citizens to educate themselves, take peaceful and responsible action, and remember to vote on Nov. 3,” they concluded.

Former NBA player Chris Webber spoke in support of the strike in solidarity with Jacob Blake, the man who was shot by police in Wisconsin.

“If not now, when?” he said.

Webber, a five-time NBA All Star, encouraged young people to continue protesting for Black lives, saying they are continuing a movement that will live on for the next generation. He joins fellow commentator Kenny Smith in speaking out in support of the Milwaukee Bucks’ decision not to play tonight’s game.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice confirmed on Wednesday the name of the officer who shot Jacob Blake seven times, paralyzing him, is Officer Rusten Sheskey. No updates on whether the officer will be charged.

A Native American man was put to death on Wednesday despite appeals from the Navajo Nation, renewing the debate over tribal rights in the United States.

Lezmond Mitchell, age 38, was on death row for his role in a 2001 double murder of a woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter in Arizona.

His attorneys attempted to appeal the decision on grounds of tribal sovereignty, as the Navajo Nation opposes capital punishment. Since its sovereignty is recognized under the U.S. Constitution, its leaders can legally decide whether to apply the death penalty to crimes under the Federal Death Penalty Act.

Mitchell’s attorneys, Jonathan Aminoff and Celeste Bacchi, said in a statement Wednesday that the death sentence “represents an unprecedented infringement on the sovereignty of the Navajo Nation, which has steadfastly opposed his execution”.

This remains the only case in history in which the US government is applying the death penalty to a crime committed on tribal land, despite opposition from the tribal government. Only one member of the Navajo nation was on the jury that convicted Mitchell, raising questions of bias in the conviction.

Mitchell died by lethal injection in Terre Haute, Indiana on Wednesday afternoon.

In a powerful show of solidarity with striking NBA players, sports commentator Kenny Smith walked off the set of his analysis show on TNT.

“As a Black man, as a former player, it’s best for me to support the players, and not be here tonight,” Smith said as he removed his microphone and walked off camera.

Smith is the latest to show support for NBA team the Milwaukee Bucks, who are striking and not playing the NBA playoff game tonight to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

Baseball team the Milwaukee Brewers will also boycott its game on Wednesday night. Other NBA players including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Trae Young also tweeted in support of the protest.

Updated

Ivanka Trump is set to introduce her father, Donald Trump, at the RNC on Thursday as “the people’s president”, according to the Associated Press.

People with close knowledge of her plan’s say Ivanka Trump will draw contrasts between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden, focusing on “the help he has offered working families”.

“Four years ago, I told you my father would focus on making child care affordable and accessible,” Ivanka Trump is expected to say, according to excerpts of her speech provided to The Associated Press. “As part of Republican tax cuts, in 2019 alone, our child tax credit put over $2,000 into the pockets of 40 million American families.”

The Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Analysis said in a May 2019 report that an estimated 40 million families would benefit.

Ivanka Trump introduced her father at the 2016 convention. She joined him in the White House as an unpaid senior adviser, focused mostly on workforce development and job training issues, child care, paid family leave and helping women in developing countries.

The strike started by NBA team Milwaukee Bucks of tonight’s playoff games has spread beyond the sport, as Major League Baseball team the Milwaukee Brewers announced it would not be playing a scheduled game Wednesday night in solidarity with the Bucks and in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake.

For those of you just tuning in, the Guardian’s sports editor Tom Lutz has written up today’s remarkable news that the NBA will postpone its playoff games. Here’s what you need to know:

On an extraordinary day for the NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks boycotted Game 5 of their playoff series against the Orlando Magic in protest at the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

ESPN later reported that Wednesday’s other two playoff games – between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets; and the Portland Trail Blazers and the Los Angeles Lakers – had also been postponed. The games are expected to be rescheduled for a later date.

Blake was shot in the back by police, apparently in front of his children, on Sunday, and his family say he is now paralyzed from the waist down. The shooting occurred in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which is 40 miles from Milwaukee.

The Bucks had been due to come on court for 4pm ET on Wednesday afternoon, but did not emerge from the locker room. “We’re tired of the killings and the injustice,” Bucks guard George Hill told The Undefeated’s Marc J Spears.

There has been growing anger about racial injustice among NBA players, 80% of whom are black, as the season has progressed. On Monday, Hill said the season should not have resumed in the first place.

“We shouldn’t have even came to this damn place [Orlando, where the playoffs are taking place], to be honest,” he said. “I think coming just here took all the focal points off what the issues are. But we’re here, so it is what it is. We can’t do anything from right here, but I think definitely, when it’s all settled, some things have to be done.”

Read the full story below ...

Racial tension has been brewing on the Milwaukee Bucks team for some time, former player Malcom Brogdon previously told the Guardian. From his interview with our reporter Tom Lutz:

Before I came to Milwaukee I’d heard the city was the most segregated in the country. I’d heard it was racist. When I got here it was extremely segregated. I’ve never lived in a city this segregated. Milwaukee’s very behind in terms of being progressive. There are things that need to change rapidly.

The Bucks are now striking their NBA playoff game this evening in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in their home state this week.

Blake was shot in the back by police, apparently in front of his children, on Sunday, and his family say he is now paralyzed from the waist down. The shooting occurred in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which is 40 miles from Milwaukee.

Tweets in support of an NBA strike over the shooting of Jacob Blake have rolled in as more teams join.

It has been speculated that other sports will join in the strike. The Milwaukee Brewers, a baseball team based in Wisconsin, is reportedly meeting to discuss whether they will play their game tonight.

Updated

A reporter at a press conference with Gavin Newsom asked the California governor how he felt about statements his ex-wife made at the Republican National Convention disparaging the state.

Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was married to Newsom from 2001 to 2006, accused Democrats in her fiery RNC speech of turning California into a land of “discarded heroin needles in parks, riots in streets and blackouts in homes.”

Newsom was asked how he felt about the accusations, as the former partner of Guilfoyle and as the governor of the state she skewered in her speech. He said he would like to “respectfully defer to the next question” and declined to answer.

Newsom and Guilfoyle were once thought of as a liberal power couple and graced the pages of Harper’s Bazaar with this wacky photo alongside a feature that called them the “New Kennedys”.

Guilfoyle has stated she was always a Republican and is now dating Donald Trump, Jr., the president’s son.

Hello readers, Kari Paul here, covering the blog for the next few hours. Stand by for more news!

Today so far

That’s it from me for now. I’ll be back later tonight to cover the third night of the Republican National Convention.

Here’s where the day stands so far:

  • A 17-year-old was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing two people in Kenosha amid protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Kenosha police department chief Dan Miskinis confirmed that a 17-year-old is in custody. Miskinis said a 26-year-old and a 36-year-old, both from Wisconsin, were shot dead. He said at this point police do not know if the person in custody is responsible for both deaths.
  • Footage from the scene showed what appeared to be a white man with a semi-automatic rifle firing three or four shots from a prone position on the ground, hitting at least two people.
  • The Milwaukee Bucks boycotted their playoff game against the Orlando Magic to protest the shooting of Blake. According to CNN, all of tonight’s NBA playoff games have been postponed due to players’ protests.
  • Facebook has removed an event, posted by a self-described militia, which had called for “patriots” to “take up arms” in Kenosha. People describing themselves as a militia have been present in Kenosha in recent nights.
  • The Kenosha county board has petitioned the Wisconsin governor for 1,500 National Guard members to be sent to Kenosha. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said he has approved the deployment of 500 members of the Wisconsin National Guard to Kenosha.

My west coast colleague, Kari Paul, will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Tonight's NBA playoff games postponed over Blake protests - report

All of tonight’s NBA playoff games have been postponed amid player’s protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The Milwaukee Bucks, based in Wisconsin where Blake was shot, were the first team to boycott their playoff game, refusing to take the court for their game against the Orlando Magic this afternoon.

Updated

The Los Angeles Lakers are scheduled to play tonight as well, but if this tweet from LeBron James is any indication, there may be more NBA boycotts before the day is over.

The issue of police brutality is personal for the Milwaukee Bucks, one of whom previously sued the city of Milwaukee after he was tased and arrested over a parking violation.

The Bucks’ Sterling Brown described his experience in an essay published in July:

One of the officers had a knee on my neck. Another stood on my ankle. The cop who tased me had initially pulled his gun.

The whole time I was on the ground, I was just wondering how we had gotten to that point. All I was focused on was getting back to my family and my job. I thought about fighting back, but it was just an unnecessary attempt for them to show power. I could have gotten them off of me, but it was six guns to none. I had no protection and they had the protection of the badge.

I could hear a few of the officers making jokes about the Bucks. In the body cam videos that were later released, one officer jokes about how it will blow up in the media because I’m an NBA player and how they’ll be accused of being racist.

Eventually they put me in the back of the cop car and took me to the police station, where I was thrown in a cell for a few hours. For what? Because I was a Black man with a nice car in the hood. But while I was in there I had time to think and reflect. I had time to turn my anger into fuel.

Milwaukee Bucks boycott game in protest of Blake shooting

The Milwaukee Bucks have officially decided to boycott today’s playoff game against the Orlando Magic to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Blake was repeatedly shot in the back by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which is about 40 miles from Milwaukee.

The Bucks’ decision marks the first time an NBA team has refused to play to protest racial injustice, and one reporter said the action was an important moment in sports history.

The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly on the verge of boycotting their NBA game against the Orlando magic to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The Bucks were scheduled to play Game 5 against the Magic starting about 15 minutes ago, but the players did not leave their locker room, and reports indicate they are adamant that they will not play.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers denied that he accepted federal assistance in Kenosha, contradicting an earlier tweet from Trump.

The Democratic governor’s office told CNN that Evers declined the president’s offer to deploy federal agents to the city for the second day in a row.

Evers’ office explained his decision by citing the increased presence of state forces in Kenosha amid protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The governor announced earlier today that he was increasing the number of Wisconsin National Guard members in Kenosha to 500.

A justice department spokesperson confirmed the Trump administration is deploying federal agents to Kenosha amid protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

“Working with the Governor and state and local law enforcement, the Department of Justice is deploying federal assets, including from the FBI and US Marshals, to assist in the response to the riots and unrest,” spokesperson Kerri Kupec said.

Trump said in an earlier tweet that Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers had agreed to accept federal assistance.

This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Adam Gabbatt.

Democratic nominee Joe Biden said he has spoken to the family of Jacob Blake, the African American man who was repeatedly shot in the back by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

“What I saw in that video makes me sick,” Biden said of the footage of Blake being shot while three of his children looked on in a nearby car.

Biden said he spoke to Blake’s parents, siblings and other family members “just a little bit earlier.” “I told them justice must and will be done,” Biden said.

“Put yourself in the shoes of every black father and black mother in this country and ask: is this what we want America to be? Is this the country we should be?”

The Democratic nominee went on to urge protesters to remain peaceful and avoid “needless violence.” Biden repeated the words of Blake’s mother, Julia Jackson, who said yesterday that her son would not want to see violence and destruction carried out in his name.

“So let’s united and heal, do justice, end the violence and end systemic racism in this country now,” Biden said.

Kenosha police: 17-year-old in custody

Kenosha police department chief Dan Miskinis confirmed that a 17-year-old is in custody following the shooting deaths of two people in Kenosha on Tuesday night.

Miskinis said a 26-year-old and a 36-year-old, both from Wisconsin, were shot dead. He said at this point police do not know if the person in custody is responsible for both deaths.

“Persons who were out after curfew [on Tuesday night] became involved in some kind of disturbance and persons were shot,” Miskinis said.

“A 17-year-old individual from Antioch, Illinois, was involved in the use of firearms to resolve whatever conflict was in place.

“The result of it was two people are dead.”

Miskinis said he would not name the individual, but the 17-year-old has been identified in charging documents as Kyle Rittenhouse.

“Last night unfortunately a 26-year-old Silver Lake resident and a 36-year-old Kenosha resident lost their lives to this senseless violence,” Miskinis said.

He said a 26-year-old West Allis resident “was also injured but is expected to survive”. Video footage from Tuesday night showed a man who had been shot in the arm.

“We have a person in custody out of state, and we’re working to bring that person to Wisconsin to face appropriate charges,” Miskinis said.

He added: “What I can’t tell you is what led to the disturbance, what led to the use of deadly force by this person, and if both deaths are related to the same person I don’t know that at this point.”

Miskinis said police were not releasing the names of those involved at this time.

Updated

The Kenosha police press conference has started – it’s available to watch live here.

We’re still waiting for the police press conference in Kenosha. In the meantime, here’s the latest on the shootings arrest:

A white, 17-year-old police admirer was arrested Wednesday in the killing of two people during a third night of protests in Kenosha over the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake.

Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, was taken into custody in Illinois on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide.

Antioch is about 15 miles from Kenosha, which has seen three straight nights of unrest since Blake was wounded by police over the weekend.

Two people were killed Tuesday night in an attack carried out by a young white man who was caught on cellphone video opening fire in the middle of the street with a semi-automatic rifle.

“I just killed somebody,” he could be heard saying at one point during the shooting rampage that erupted just before midnight.

Updated

As we wait for further details on the arrest of Kyle Rittenhouse, it has been announced that 500 more members of the National Guard will be sent to Kenosha.

Wisconsin governor Tony Evers announced the move on Wednesday afternoon.

In a politically-charged tweet, Donald Trump claimed responsibility for the move. He said the guard would be deployed to stop “lawlessness”.

Trump has threatened to deploy National Guard in other cities which have seen anti-police brutality protests. He has been accused of using the military for political gain.

Updated

Kenosha officials are due to hold a press conference at 2pm ET, 1pm local time. We’ll have updates here.

Rittenhouse fled Kinosha for his home state of Illinois after the shooting, according to the police charge sheet.

“[Rittenhouse] fled the state of Wisconsin with the intent to avoid prosecution for that offense,” the Illinois document says.

Updated

Man arrested over Kenosha protest killings – report

Police have arrested Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, after two people were shot dead in Kenosha on Tuesday night.

Rittenhouse will be charged with first-degree homicide, USA Today reported.

Two people were shot and killed on Tuesday and a third person was injured.

Rittenhouse was arrested in Antioch, Illinois.

Updated

Facebook militia event called for armed 'patriots' in Kenosha

Facebook has removed an event, posted by a self-described militia, which called for “patriots” to “take up arms” in Kenosha on Tuesday night.

The Verge reported that the Kenosha Guard, a militia, posted the event in its Facebook group, which had 3,000 members as of Wednesday morning.

“Any patriots willing to take up arms and defend our city tonight from the evil thugs?” the Kenosha Guard post reads.

“No doubt they are currently planning on the next part of the city to burn tonight.”

People describing themselves as a militia have been present in Kenosha in recent nights. Two people were shot dead and another injured when at least one gunman opened fire on protesters on Tuesday.

The Verge said:

“A Facebook representative said they could not comment at this time, citing an ongoing investigation. However, the platform confirmed to The Verge that the event was in violation of Facebook policies and that it was in the process of various related enforcement actions.”

Updated

Witness: Kenosha gunman 'fired multiple rounds'

A man who witnessed a civilian shooting protesters in Kenosha last night has said the gunman “began to fire multiple rounds” at the demonstrators.

Cellphone video of at least two of the shootings, posted online, showed what appears to be a white man carrying a semi-automatic rifle running before falling over. The man can be seen firing three or four shots from a prone position on the ground.

Associated Press spoke to a witness, Julio Rosas, 24, who said that when the gunman stumbled and fell, “two people jumped onto him and there was a struggle for control of his rifle. At that point during the struggle, he just began to fire multiple rounds and that dispersed people near him.”

“The rifle was being jerked around in all directions while it was being fired,” Rosas said.

Devin Scott, 19, said he witnessed the shooting. Scott said he held a lifeless male victim in his arms, and a woman started performing CPR, but “I don’t think he made it.”

Wisconsin Lt Gov Mandela Barnes said in an interview with the news program “Democracy Now!” that the shootings were not surprising and that white militias have been ignored for too long.

“How many times across this country do you see armed gunmen, protesting, walking into state Capitols, and everybody just thinks it’s OK?” Barnes said.

“People treat that like it’s some kind of normal activity that people are walking around with assault rifles.”

Barnes added that the police shooting of Jacob Blake was unjustified:

“There’s no way that any officer could look at that video and say that that’s the way policing should happen,” Barnes said.

“We need police departments, sheriff’s departments to acknowledge that there is a real problem in the culture of policing.”

Hakeem Jeffries, one of the most influential Democrats in the House, has criticized Trump for his lack of response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, and to last night’s shootings.

What Jeffries doesn’t mention is that Joe Biden hasn’t responded to Tuesday’s shootings yet either.

Earlier in the week Biden did condemn the police shooting of Blake, saying “the officers must be held accountable”.

“These shots pierce the soul of our nation. Jill [Biden’s wife] and I pray for Jacob’s recovery and for his children,” Biden said.

“Equal justice has not been real for Black Americans and so many others. We are at an inflection point. We must dismantle systemic racism. It is the urgent task before us.”

Vice-president Mike Pence will apparently address the shootings in his speech at the Republican national convention tonight.

We’ll have to wait and see how Pence handles that, but it will likely be a tricky line for him to negotiate. Republicans have blamed Democrats in Wisconsin for the protests, and GOP adherents don’t take kindly to criticism of the police.

The head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team gave an emotional response when asked about the shooting of Jacob Blake, telling reporters:

“We keep loving this country and this country doesn’t love us back.”

Doc Rivers said as a Black man he had to have conversations with his children about how to deal with police. Basketball players including LeBron James have also spoken out against the shooting of Blake in recent days.

“If you watch that video, you don’t need to be black to be outraged,” Rivers said.

“You need to be American and outraged.”

How dare the Republicans talk about fear? We’re the ones that need to be scared. We’re the ones having to talk to every Black child. What white father has to give his son a talk about being careful if you get pulled over? It’s just ridiculous.

Breonna Taylor, no charges, nothing. All we’re asking is you live up to the constitution. That’s all we’re asking, for everybody.

Rivers said the Republican convention, taking place this week, had stood out to him, because: “All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear.”

Rivers said:

“We’re the ones getting killed. We’re the ones getting shot. We’re the ones that are denied to live in certain communities.

“We’ve been hung, we’ve been shot. All you do is keep hearing about fear. It’s amazing to me why we keep loving this country and this country does not love us back.”

Updated

Even before last night’s events, the largely peaceful protests over the shooting of Jacob Blake had deteriorated on the fringes into daily scuffles between sheriffs and National Guard troops, the Guardian’s Adam Mahoney writes.

Relations between communities of color in Kenosha and the police had long been fraught.

“The cops and the people in the courthouse and jails say they care about Kenosha, but they really don’t care about making it a nice place for everyone,” Kenosha resident Glenn Summers said.

He added: “I’m scared to walk outside sometimes because the last time I was pulled over, there were multiple cops pointing assault rifles at me just because someone called the cops on me. I was unarmed.”

While Black and Latino people make up 25% of the cities population, they account for 40% of people in the city living in poverty.

Kenosha man TW Gordon said that the shooting of Blake on Sunday was “far from an isolated incident”.

“We’ve seen too many mistakes. Excuses have run dry. It’s obvious now that it’s just racism,” he told the Guardian.

Gordon said he believes that developments in industry and infrastructure in recent decades have favored the rural communities that are mainly white at the expense of more urban communities of color.

And public funding skews in the wrong direction, he said.

“The police are taking too much money to make too many mistakes. We need to invest that money into our community so that our Black kids can get the resources they need to succeed just like the white folks here,” Gordon said.

Read Adam’s full piece here:

Gun rights advocates have pointed to last night’s shootings as proof the US needs stricter gun control laws.

The Giffords campaign, formed by former congresswoman Gabby Giffords after she was shot at a campaign event in 2011, referenced Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth to say “armed men should not be on the streets with rifles”.

Fred Guttenberg, a gun control activist whose daughter Jaime Guttenberg was killed in the mass school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 also condemned the shootings.

Updated

Jamaal Bowman, a progressive who ousted a long-time Democratic congressman in New York’s primaries, has called on the party’s presidential ticket to do more in its response to events in Kenosha.

Bowman was endorsed by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and beat Elliot Engel, who has served in Congress for more than 30 years, in July.

Joe Biden has condemned the police shooting of Jacob Blake, but is yet to comment on last night’s shootings.

The FBI is working with Kenosha police to investigate the shootings last night, Kenosha News reported, as police confirmed a shooting victim was treated at the same hospital where Jacob Blake is recovering.

Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth told the local news outlet that police are “working together” with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as officials work to track down the person or people who shot three people Tuesday night.

According to Kenosha News Beth said an “outside agency’s law enforcement tactical team” picked up one person who was shot.

The other reportedly walked into Froedtert Kenosha Hospital. Jacob Blake was taken to the same hospital after he was shot by police on Sunday.

Blake is recovering from multiple gunshot wounds, and his attorneys said he underwent further surgery on Tuesday, according to CBS 58.

“They say a bullet damaged Blake’s spine, he has several holes in his stomach, and multiple injuries to the rest of his body,” CBS reported.

This is Adam Gabbatt taking over from Martin Belam.

Updated

Here are some more of the images that have come in from Kenosha overnight.

Demonstrators raise their fist in the air.
Demonstrators raise their fist in the air. Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
A demonstrator carries a make-shift shield across the street.
A demonstrator carries a make-shift shield across the street. Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
A shell casing sits on the ground of a parking lot off of 63rd St and Sheridan Rd.
A shell casing sits on the ground of a parking lot off of 63rd St and Sheridan Rd. Photograph: Chris Juhn/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock
Police stand in the road near the courthouse.
Police stand in the road near the courthouse. Photograph: Chris Juhn/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock
A demonstrator attempts to interview police officers.
A demonstrator attempts to interview police officers. Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

Here, by the way, is the latest Associated Press write-through describing the video clips of the events posted to social media:

Cellphone video of at least two of the shootings that was posted online shows what appears to be a white man with a semi-automatic rifle jogging down the middle of a street as a crowd and some police officers follow him. Someone in the crowd can be heard asking “What did he do?” and another person responds that the man had shot someone.

The man with the gun stumbles and falls, and as he’s approached by people in the crowd, he fires three or four shots from the seated position, hitting at least two people, including one who falls over and another who stumbles away to frantic shouts of “Medic! Medic!”

With the crowd scattering, the shooter stands up and continues walking down the street as police cars arrive. The man puts up his hands and walks toward the squad cars, with someone in the crowd yelling at police that the man had just shot someone, but several of the cars drive past him toward the people who had been shot.

The shooter is still, as far as we know, at large. Police have said they are looking for one man with a “long gun” and Kenosha county sheriff David Beth has told the press that authorities didn’t detain anyone over the shootings, but that investigators had reviewed video of what happened and that he was confident a man would be arrested soon.

Kenosha County Board has requested 1,500 National guard members – reports

We’re beginning to get some political reaction to overnight events in Kenosha. CNN’s Ana Cabrera is reporting that the Kenosha County Board has requested 1,500 National guard members be sent in.

Ron Johnson, the Republican senator for Wisconsin, has also posted about last night on Twitter in the last few minutes.

Updated

Kenosha protest shootings: What we know so far

He’s what we know so far for sure about last night’s shootings in Kenosha during the protests for racial justice over the police shooting of Jacob Blake at the weekend:

  • Two people were shot dead and another injured when at least one gunman opened fire on protesters.
  • David Beth, the county sheriff, said one person was shot in the head and another in the chest just before midnight on Tuesday. Another was shot in the arm. The victims have not been identified.
  • The shootings took place in an area between 63rd Street and Sheridan Road, near the Froedtert South hospital.
  • The third night of protests against the police shooting of Blake had attracted supporters of Black Lives Matter and armed rival protesters who had gathered near a petrol station.
  • Video posted on social media showed chaotic scenes as gunfire rang out, scattering people in the street. One of the victims, a young shirtless white man with a red bandana around his neck, was seen receiving first aid in a car park after being shot in the head.
  • In an other image, a man sits on the ground with his arm almost severed by a gunshot wound.
  • Eye-witness 19 year old Devin Scott told the Chicago Tribune: “We were all chanting ‘Black lives matter’ at the gas station and then we heard, boom, boom, and I told my friend, that’s not fireworks. And then this guy with this huge gun runs by us in the middle of the street and people are yelling, ‘He shot someone! He shot someone! And everyone is trying to fight the guy, chasing him and then he started shooting again.”
  • Police said they were looking for one individual with a “long gun”.

Here’s our full report: Two dead in Kenosha on third night of unrest after Jacob Blake shooting

Pompeo accuses Chinese Communist Party of "bullying" Britain over Hong Kong

Fresh from appearing at the RNC, Reuters are reporting secretary of state Mike Pompeo embroiling himself in between UK and Chinese relations.

Pompeo said the United States was “dismayed” by British bank HSBC’s reported actions toward certain Hong Kong-related accounts, including those linked to pro-democracy publisher Next Media, and said China was “bullying” the United Kingdom.

Pompeo cited reports of Hong Kong-based executives at Next Media being unable to access their HSBC bank accounts and said the bank was “maintaining accounts for individuals who have been sanctioned for denying freedom for Hong Kongers, while shutting accounts for those seeking freedom.”

“Free nations must ensure that corporate interests are not suborned by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to aid its political repression,” Pompeo said in a statement. “We stand ready to help the British government and its companies resist CCP bullying and stand for freedom.”

Here’s some of what we can expect on diary from the rest of the day. At the RNC, vice president Mike Pence, second lady Karen Pence, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Senators Marsha Blackburn and Joni Ernst and Kellyanne Conway are among featured speakers. Well, at least we think, having announced her White House departure, that Conway still speaks.

Donald Trump is sure to make an appearance at the RNC gain. Before that gets underway he receives his intelligence briefing at 12:15pm and has a 3 o’clock meeting billed as “with medical professionals on Covid-19”

At noon, House speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and Biden campaign national press secretary TJ Ducklo are doing a video press briefing to discuss, they tell us, the Republican convention and Trump’s failed coronavirus response.

Also with the Democrats, vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris attends a virtual “Sister to Sister: Mobilization in Action Program” roundtable in Michigan to launch nationwide voter engagement programme for Black women

And an advanced bit of warning, it has been announced that US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin will be testifying next week before the House coronavirus committee. That’s due on Tuesday.

Poll: Biden leads Trump in six key battleground states

Away from Kenosha for a second, there’s some new polling data out today which will worry Republican election strategists in the middle of their convention. A new CNBC/Change Research poll shows Joe Biden leading in six of the key battleground states for November.

  • Arizona: Biden 49%, Trump 47%
  • Florida: Biden 49%, Trump 46%
  • Michigan: Biden 50%, Trump 44%
  • North Carolina: Biden 48%, Trump 47%
  • Pennsylvania: Biden 49%, Trump 46%
  • Wisconsin: Biden 49%, Trump 44%

However, between the lines there is actually some good news for the president’s reelection campaign. Across the six states, 48% of voters in said they approve of the job Trump is doing, while 52% disapprove. But that has tightened in the last fortnight, when it was 46/54.

About 7 in 10 respondents to poll said they had a positive reaction to Joe Biden’s closing speech at the DNC last week. It remains to be seen what Trump can do tomorrow to narrow that gap further.

Read it here: CNBC – Coronavirus concerns fall and Trump approval ticks higher in swing states

The Chicago Tribune have reports from another eye-witness to the shooting in their coverage. They quote 19 year old Devin Scott:

“We were all chanting ‘Black lives matter’ at the gas station and then we heard, boom, boom, and I told my friend, that’s not fireworks,” said Scott, 19, who lives in the Round Lake area. “And then this guy with this huge gun runs by us in the middle of the street and people are yelling, ‘He shot someone! He shot someone! And everyone is trying to fight the guy, chasing him and then he started shooting again.”

Scott said he hit the ground as the next round of shots went off and a man nearby was shot in the middle of the street.

“I was cradling him in my arms. I was trying to keep this kid alive and he wasn’t moving or nothing. He was just laying there,” a visibly shaken Scott said shortly after midnight. “I didn’t know what to do and then this woman starts performing CPR. There was no pulse. I don’t think he made it.”

If you missed the press conference from members of Jacob Blake’s family yesterday, here’s a clip of his sister from it.

The family had appealed for justice – and calm – yesterday.

Here’s how Adam Rogan at the local Racine County Journal Times has reported last night’s fatal shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin:

Dozens of shots were heard near the intersection of 63rd Street and Sheridan Road late Tuesday night, where Black Lives Matter protesters had gathered, and where a couple earlier scuffles that didn’t lead to gunfire occurred between demonstrators and armed individuals.

It’s unclear what incited the violence, but multiple videos shared online from the scene show a group of Black Lives Matter protesters chasing down a man who had been seen with a gun-toting group that had been walking the area throughout the protests. BLM demonstrators yelled “He just shot somebody,” toward the man, who was still carrying a long-gun. When they caught up to him, more shots were fired, with one person being struck in the arm and another appearing to have been hit in the abdomen.

The man then walked toward police vehicles with his hands up.

Crowds dispersed after that, initially as demonstrators and press sprinted away to avoid the gunfire. Police moved forward, appearing to secure the area where shots had been fired, and more strongly pushing those still walking the streets away from where protests had been going on all night.

You can read that full report here: Journal Times – Two people confirmed dead after gunfire at protests in Kenosha

They’ve also just published a gallery of 120 pictures from the night, saying that their photographers left the assignment when the shooting started.

There’s a whole slew of images from the unrest last night on the picture wires, giving some indication of the scale of the Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha last night, as well as the armed response to them from both police and civilians.

A protester in the mist of the tear gas last night in Kenosha
A protester in the mist of the tear gas last night in Kenosha Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Protestors outside the Kenosha County Courthouse last night
Protestors outside the Kenosha County Courthouse last night Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Law enforcement officers outside the courthouse
Law enforcement officers outside the courthouse Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

They also include, as my colleague Peter Beaumont noted earlier, some very graphic images of the injuries from the shooting, and of what appears to be armed civilians patrolling during the protest.

Armed civilians stand in the streets of Kenosha
Armed civilians stand in the streets of Kenosha Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A confrontation between what appears to be a Black Lives Matter protester and armed civilians on Kenosha’s streets.
A confrontation between what appears to be a Black Lives Matter protester and armed civilians on Kenosha’s streets. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The kenoshanews.com website was running a live blog last night to cover the protests in the Wisconsin city as they unfolded. Some of the key things they noted were that:

  • At 8:47pm there was a small American flag on fire in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse, and snipers on the courthouse roof.
  • By 9pm police were firing pepper balls at the protesters and volunteer grassroots paramedics were on scene to help them.
  • 9:20pm tear gas was used and a county sheriff armored vehicle drove through the crowd.
  • 10:15pm people were being pushed north on Sheridan Rd, where a quasi militia with guns was stationed.
  • 10:34pm a fire broke out but was quickly extinguished, by protesters appealing against violence.
  • 12:00am they reported the shooting. According to a witness, who talked to a Kenosha News reporter, some guys were telling protesters to stop breaking windows of vehicles and they got mad and charged at a group of people with guns.

Second fatality confirmed in overnight Kenosha protest shooting

The Kenosha police department issued this statement, confirming a second fatality last night.

A third person who was shot is in a serious condition at a local hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries, according to police. The victims have not been identified.

Here’s my colleague Peter Beaumont with his latest updated report on the new shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

David Beth, the county sheriff, said people describing themselves as belonging to a militia had been patrolling Kenosha’s streets in recent nights but he did not know if the shooter was involved with such a group. “They’re a militia,” Beth told reporters. “They’re like a vigilante group.”

Video posted on social media showed chaotic scenes as gunfire rang out, scattering people in the street. One of the victims, a young shirtless white man with a red bandana around his neck, was seen receiving first aid in a car park after apparently being shot in the head.

In an other image, a man sits on the ground with his arm almost severed by a gunshot wound.

The third night of protests against against the police shooting of Blake, who was hit at almost point-blank range multiple times in the back, had attracted supporters of Black Lives Matter and armed rival protesters who had gathered near a petrol station.

Images of the rival group showed heavily armed white men, some wearing body armour.

According to witness reports, the two groups had increasingly come into conflict as the night wore on, and police fired teargas and rubber bullets at demonstrators near Kenosha’s court house.

Beth said the initial investigation into the shooting was focused on the group of men with guns outside the petrol station.

Read it here: Jacob Blake shooting – gunfire in Kenosha on third night of unrest

Emphasising again how unconventional it was to be taking part in a partisan convention while being the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo has been tweeting this morning about his diplomatic mission to Israel, Africa and the Middle East this week.

Last night his appearance at the RNC used Jerusalem as a backdrop, blurring the lines between whether he was in Israel’s capitol on state business or Republican business.

A senior Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee has launched an investigation into whether he has broken federal law.

Good morning. Welcome to our live coverage of US politics today, which is going to be dominated by the third day of the Republican national convention (RNC) and the growing Black Lives Matter protests over the weekend police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. Here’s a quick catch-up on what’s happened, and what we might see later on.

I’ll be running the live blog for the first few hours today, you can get in touch with me at martin.belam@theguardian.com

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