I've recently heard an interview from an ex-resident of the area (Waukesha on the west side of Milwaukee, not Kenosha) who expressed how deeply racist the area is. It wasn't until she moved out that she realized she was allowed to have friends of diff races and such. Her statement was explicitly in regards to 60th St separating the black section of Milwaukee from the white section of Waukesha, how they had integrated schools back in the 90's but even then it was to bus in the basketball team and such (as stated by the Principal).
I'm not sure how long you've been there, but how racist do you believe the area to be? Would it be prevalent through the local gov't and police force?
I'd be interested to see that interview. I actually grew up in Waukesha County, lived in Milwaukee on 74th and 62nd St for years, and now I live between Kenosha and Chicago. Southeastern Wisconsin is such a complex mix when it comes to these issues. The surrounding counties like Waukesha County and Kenosha County are conservative, Republican led counties and racism runs deep. That's part of the reason I moved as soon as I could, the racism literally made me physically ill, among other small town issues I wasn't a fan of.
Milwaukee is much better now than it used to be, but it's still nowhere near where it should be. It's insanely segregated, north off the x-axis (not sure the real name, the dividing line between north and south side of Milwaukee - it's slightly south of I-94), north of the line is predominately Black people and south of the line is predominately Hispanic people. The East side and downtown is middle to upper class white people. The west side is mainly white people, but it's a very jagged border and not as easily defined. The 60th St she mentioned is somewhat accurate, as you go north of North Ave, the invisible line goes at a northwest angle. For instance, 92nd and Silver Spring is predominately Black people. I used to live on 62nd and North Ave and 74th and North Ave. The cut off line, there, is actually around 59th street, but 60th Street is probably mentioned for a reason: 60th street between North Ave and Center St is the actual border between the City of Milwaukee and the City of Wauwatosa (a very middle upper class White area.) It's a line everyone knows well. To give some anecdotal experience on how those lines are really there, when I lived on 74th, I could never get a dealer to come to my house. The ones that would, would eventually regret it, as they would get harassed and pulled over by Wauwatosa police before they could make it back past 60th. When I lived at 62nd, more dealers were willing to come to me, but I noticed they would never drive their "stoley", it was always their nice rental. That speaks huge volumes, because driving a bad car in Wauwatosa will make you a target to get harassed and pulled over. So even in those areas where it's right on the border, there is definitely some issues with racism and targeting certain socioeconomic classes. The insane thing is how drastic the neighborhood and the race of people is from 61st to 59th. Within 2 blocks, and this is strictly for North Ave, it's like going to a different world. The gas station on 55th, I would rarely ever see a White person, but the gas station on 68th was almost 95% White people. The reason for that, again, is leaving the City of Milwaukee and going to the City of Wauwatosa. The City of Milwaukee just elected it's first Black mayor, and although the segregation is a real issue still, I like to believe the racism isn't infecting the police departments and elected officials like it once was. What I did find interesting, I just drove up there from Kenosha. And, for the first time ever, in predominately Black inner city neighborhoods, I saw White kids playing outside with Black kids. It really made me smile inside, and happy, because even a year ago, I had never once witnessed that. I truly believe change is happening and it makes me glad to witness it, even the small things like that. It really made my day.
I have no exposure to this group beyond your words here and a few mentions on other sites that have largely been ignored as conspiracy talk against right wingers. I can see what you describe as existing, though = a hard, far right wing and a more middle 2A group. I'm curious what more you can share from your discussions.
I am very curious what you mean regarding the police manipulation of the situation, and any coordination they may have had with armed civilian groups. I've not heard nor seen much of that other than the one 'before' vid of Kyle talking to law enforcement briefly
The biggest thing I noticed, and I was very put off with this at first, is many were almost praising Kyle's talent and how he handled himself. It made me very upset at first, why are they praising a murderer, right? The more I talked and the more they realized I really was an incredibly open minded person and just wanted to understand, the more the leader finally started opening up to me. Supposedly he had been coordinating with local law inforcement, sharing intel, and directing people where to go. He had actually went home for the night, so he was not there when this all happened, but this seems to be a pretty tight structured group so everyone has reported to him their version of what happened. At some point, and they actually provided me video of one of their members recounting this to CJ TV after the shootings, the local police department decided to shove all the protesters out of the city park and push them out into the outer portion, where the boogaloo was. Someone had told one of their members "we're going to push them toward you", at which point they did something (I don't remember what) to get ready for them, something to do with their stance. What he was incredibly upset about, is that the media and narrative has completely been moot on the fact that they were working with law enforcement, publicly told they weren't welcomed after the fact, and so all the blame lies on this group. They are incredibly, incredibly upset not only over the fact of what's happening to Kyle (although they don't have much defense for his age) and the damage it's doing to their reputation. They seem very proud of their training and this was supposed to be their time to show everyone that they weren't what everyone thinks they are, and also to help their community, which is evident that it's very important to them. Had I not personally been able to talk to them and only watched the media, I would literally have a whole different outlook on these events at this point. Whether the police pushed them in hopes of conflict, I don't know, I won't go that far. But, they really are letting them out to dry, completely unacknowleding that this was a joint effort shared by both police and boogaloo.