[Madison, WI] – In case you missed it, last week Senator Van Wanggaard, whose district includes Kenosha and Racine, penned an op-ed in the Racine Journal Times highlighting Tony Evers’ choice to play politics in Kenosha as violent riots devastated the city.
As Senator Wangggaard notes, when lawlessness overwhelmed the community of Kenosha, Tony Evers’ initial reaction was devastating. Not only did he fail to meet the requests of local leaders, but local law enforcement was forced to seek help from Congressman Bryan Steil because they knew that Evers would choose “woke” politics over public safety, while other law enforcement organizations asked him to stop making statements that were fanning the flames. Meanwhile, Evers also refused President Trump’s offer of federal assistance — saying that he “would not need federal assistance in response to protests, but would welcome additional federal support and resources for [Wisconsin’s] response to COVID-19.”
On this one-year anniversary of the violence in Kenosha, Evers’ own words reveal the truth about his response. Despite his refusal to own his failure as he attempts to rewrite history, Wisconsinites in Kenosha experienced the disastrous results of his absent leadership.
Read more from Sen. Wanggaard below:
Democrats’ rewrite of riot history contradicts facts
Racine Journal Times
Sen. Van Wanggaard
August 19, 2021
Last month, in a flurry of press releases, area Democrats tried to rewrite history to ease the conscience of Governor Evers for his failures of last August. Democrats tried to convince Kenoshans that Tony Evers did all he could to prevent the Jacob Blake riots from spinning out of control but the people who were literally crying and begging for help know better.
Congressman Bryan Steil recently did a good job breaking down what those Democrats were saying — that Evers did all they asked of him. Of course, what those Democrats didn’t say was that what Kenosha officials sought from Steil, and what law enforcement told me they needed, was far different than what Governor Evers delivered, at least initially.
Here’s what Congressman Steil can’t say that I will—the reason local officials contacted Steil was that they had little or no confidence Governor Evers would provide the necessary help, and they were proven right.
Governor Evers initial comments following the incident were so over-the-top, so out of line, so inflammatory that they did more to incite rioting than calm it. Would you look for help from someone who was making the situation worse? Of course not. No rational person would. Evers’ initial comments, and those he continued to make during the week, were so bad that 4 days later police groups asked Evers to just stop talking about Kenosha.
[…]
I first asked Governor Evers to call in the National Guard about 9 P.M. Sunday night—4 hours after the incident. Twenty-four hours later, while rioting was beginning for a second night, 125 Guard Troops arrived—far less than needed. Governor Evers claims this was the best he could do on 24 hours’ notice.
[…]
But for me, what really proved Evers didn’t do all he could was when I heard from a friend in Washington that Tuesday afternoon. With concern in his voice, my friend said that the President was ready to immediately send 500 people to Kenosha to help that night. With another one thousand people within a day. Within 10 minutes, I relayed this offer to Governor Evers and begged him to call the President. About an hour later, I made the request and the offer public. Like most in the area, and around the country, I was worried that Governor Evers wasn’t doing enough to help. Now, at least there was hope.
Quickly, Governor Evers snuffed out that glimmer of hope. Rather than take help that was sorely needed, Evers decided to play political games. My office received a glib email from the Governor’s office dismissing my plead to take and send more help to stop the riots. According to his spokeswoman, Governor Evers told the President he “would not need federal assistance in response to protests, but would welcome additional federal support and resources for [Wisconsin’s] response to COVID-19.”