Uprising in Milwaukee After Police Officer Kills Black Man

In the clip above, one of many Milwaukee residents protesting the police killing of 23-year-old Sylville Smith says in an interview rebroadcast on “Democracy Now!” that police bear responsibility for the chaos rending black communities.

“Democracy Now!” introduces the segment:

Protests are continuing in Milwaukee two days after police shot dead a 23-year-old African-American man named Sylville Smith. On Sunday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker activated the National Guard after local residents set fire to police cars and several local businesses, including a gas station, on Saturday night. Seventeen people were arrested. Four police officers were reportedly injured. Milwaukee police say Smith was shot while trying to flee from an officer who had stopped his car. Police Chief Edward Flynn said he had viewed video from the officer’s body camera, and it showed Smith had turned toward him with a gun in his hand after the traffic stop. Many local residents said the tension between their community and the police has been rising for years. Milwaukee is considered to be one of the most segregated cities in the country.

In another part of the “Democracy Now!” broadcast, community activist Muhibb Dyer says, “When you put that all together, it becomes a powder keg.” Dyer is a poet and co-founder of the organization Flood the Hood With Dreams, which tries to help urban black youths save themselves from misery and crime. “It’s the explosion, metaphorically, that you get that’s going on in Milwaukee today,” he says.

That explosion was felt in a must-hear exchange between reporter Evan Kruegel of CBS station WDJT (CBS 58) and the man who identified himself as Sedan Smith:

SEDAN SMITH: Right now, you got a city riot going on, because, once again, the police has failed to protect us like they said they was going to do. They failed to be here for the people like they say they—like they’re sworn in to do. You know? And us as a community, we’re not going to protect ourselves, but if we don’t have anyone to protect us, then this is what you get. You know, you get riots. You got people out here going crazy. We’re losing loved ones every day to the people that’s sworn in to protect us. It’s other stuff that’s going on out here, and you wonder why. It’s ISIS in America.

EVAN KRUEGEL: Sedan, certainly, people upset here tonight, but we’ve got, you know, innocent business owners who are now going up in flames. What’s it going to take for you guys to be OK tonight and to stop this chaos?

SEDAN SMITH: It ain’t me. It’s not me. I’m going to let you all know that now. It’s not us guys, neither. And I’m glad that y’all said that. It’s not us. It’s the police. This is the madness that they spark up. This is what they encourage. This is what they provoke. This is what you get. Either you take us from—a loved one from someone. This is what you get. You get a lot of people that’s hurt, and they can’t vent the right way. They can’t no longer depend on the police to be here to protect us like they say they’re going to do. So this is what you get. And, no, it’s not going to end today. I can’t tell you it’s going to end tomorrow. I don’t know when it’s going to end. But it’s for y’all to start. We’re not the ones that’s killing us. Y’all killing us. We can’t make a change if you all don’t change.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.