ICYMI: Kenosha Business Owner: Tony Evers’ Failed Leadership Left Our Community Burned

[Kenosha, WI] – In case you missed it, small business owner Kimberly Warner wrote an op-ed in the Kenosha News slamming Tony Evers for his failed leadership one year ago — resulting in a vicious attack on her business and mass destruction throughout the community. 

When violence swept Kenosha one year ago, Tony Evers refused federal help to protect the community. Instead, Evers heightened tensions to the point that local law enforcement asked him to stop speaking about Kenosha. The result was disastrous — over 100 businesses were damaged and the community was “rocked to its core.”

As Warner notes: “As a proud member of our small business community, I expect my governor to stand with those of us who love Kenosha and want to contribute — not violent rioters causing tens of millions of dollars in destruction to our community in order to appear ‘woke.’ Wisconsinites deserve better than a governor who plays politics with our lives.”

Read more from Kimberly Warner below:

Evers’ failed leadership burned Kenosha
Kenosha News
Kimberly Warner
August 25, 2021

It was always my dream to own a small business with a mission to empower women. That dream became reality when I was able to open my boutique gift store, Authentique, in Kenosha four years ago. My dream of seeking out and empowering female artisans and business owners could now take flight.

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As I watched the rioting and looting on TV last summer, I felt safe in our small town of Kenosha. Yet last year, my business was one of over 100 to be targeted by violent rioters who sought to wreak havoc on our peaceful community. Make no mistake — this was a direct result of Tony Evers’ failure to protect public safety.

I will never forget watching in horror as the rioters vandalized my storefront with spray paint and even tried to break in with a crowbar. I was fortunate enough to still have a business after the rioters and looters finished sowing chaos, but many of my neighbors’ livelihoods were destroyed with nothing but ashes left behind.

As our city burned, I expected our elected officials to protect us — but instead, Gov. Tony Evers chose to fan the flames.

When our community needed him most, Gov. Evers chose to appease liberal politicians and the rioters and looters destroying our town by refusing to condemn the violence. Instead, he told protestors to “wear masks and social distance” and made inflammatory comments on social media. Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes tweeted in support of the rioters, saying that leaders “have an obligation to hear (their) demands.”

It is unbelievable that law enforcement organizations had to ask our state’s governor and lieutenant governor  to stop making public statements that were threatening public safety.

I was even more baffled when Gov. Evers refused President Trump’s offer to lend support from the Department of Homeland Security in order to keep the public safe. When local leaders requested 1,500 National Guard troops to help save our community, Gov. Evers sent just 500. Local leaders like State Senator Van Wanggaard, State Representative Samantha Kerkman, and Congressman Bryan Steil consistently stressed the need for more aid, but Gov. Evers didn’t listen. Instead, he chose to make protecting our community political — refusing federal assistance in order to avoid working with President Trump to keep us safe.

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Gov. Evers’ weak, ineffectual, and failed leadership cost dozens of Wisconsinites in our community their livelihoods. Despite the governor’s best efforts to rewrite history and silence people like me from speaking our truth about his disastrous leadership that left our community burned, our truth deserves to be heard, and our stories will never be forgotten.