Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has asked Trump to reconsider a visit to Kenosha. Trump’s planned visit, notably, has been widely panned as an act that will only harm the city in the wake of police officer Rusten Sheskey's shooting of Jacob Blake.
In a letter shared on Sunday, Evers expressed concern about the visit, which he says will "only hinder" the healing.
"These past few months, from managing a pandemic to facing entrenched racial disparities and inequities, our state—like so many others—has faced unimaginable challenges," Evers said. "But this past week has been particularly difficult. Kenosha and communities across Wisconsin are enduring extraordinary grief, grappling with a Black man being shot seven times and the loss of two additional lives on Tuesday night at the hands of an out-of-state armed militant."]
A Trump visit, Evers added, could "delay' the work Evers says is being done to "overcome division" and move forward as a community.
"Now is not the time for divisiveness," Evers said. "Now is not the time for elected officials to ignore armed militants and out-of-state instigators who want to contribute to our anguish."
PerCNN, Wisconsin's lieutenant governor Mandela Barnes has also condemned Trump's plans, likening his visit to "a barrel of gasoline rolling in." Barnes also noted the dangers of the message Trump has been pushing prior to announcing a visit.
"So, I don't know how given any of the previous statements that the President made that he intends to come here to be helpful," Barnes said on Sunday. "And we absolutely don't need that right now."
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