A Milwaukee Black Lives Matter activist said a weekend tragedy in Waukesha, Wisconsin, may be the start of a “revolution” over the Rittenhouse verdict.
Activist Vaun Mayes said in a Facebook livestream Monday night that the driver of a red Ford Escape may have plowed through a parade, killing at least five and wounding dozens, because of anger over the not guilty verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial. Rittenhouse was charged with multiple felonies for killing two men and wounding a third in self-defense last year during violent riots in Kenosha. A jury acquitted the teen on Friday.
“I don’t know. Now we’ll have to wait and see because they do have somebody in custody,” said Mayes, who was speaking from the scene of the tragedy, according to the Daily Mail. “We may have to wait and see what they say about why this happened. But it sounds possible that the revolution has started in Wisconsin. It started with this Christmas parade.”
“I said I wasn’t going to speak on no rumors. Y’all are repeating some of the stuff that, you know, that has come up,” he continued. “And I can tell you that the initial person who reached out to me said that they believe that this has to do with the verdict, and so I made an assumption of which side it would be from, but I don’t know.”
Police arrested the suspected driver of the red SUV on Monday and charged him with murdering five people. The Daily Wire has decided not to name the suspect per its policy against naming the alleged perpetrators of mass casualty incidents. Officials have not yet revealed a motive for the suspected driver.
The suspected driver, a 39-year-old black male, had just left his house, missing police officers who were responding to a “domestic disturbance” involving the suspect and his ex-girlfriend. The ex-girlfriend was seen fleeing the house by a neighbor. As The Daily Wire reported:
A neighbor of the man suspected of killing five people in a vehicular rampage on Sunday says that the man’s ex-girlfriend fled his home “with no shoes and a black eye” shortly before the tragedy.
A neighbor, only identified as Ebony, spoke to The Sun at her home in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and said that the suspect and his ex-girlfriend had constant fights at his home. Often, the disputes would happen outside of the home and the neighbor would step in to break them up and threaten to call the police.
Ebony added that the suspect always “seemed off” and was “talking to himself.”
The suspect, who has an extensive history with the police, was released from jail on Friday, two days before he allegedly drove into a packed parade and plowed through dozens of people, including children. He posted a $1,000 cash bail after he was charged with two felonies and three misdemeanors earlier this year. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm admitted on Monday that the suspect’s bail had been set “inappropriately low.” Chisholm said in a statement:
On November 5, 2021, the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office issued against [the suspect] charges of Second Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety, Felony Bail Jumping, Battery, Obstructing an Officer and Disorderly Conduct … The most recent case against [the suspect] was appropriately charged. The state made a cash bail request in this case of $1,000, which was set by the court. The defendant posted $1,000 cash bail on November 11, resulting in his release from custody.
The State’s bail recommendation in this case was inappropriately low in light of the nature of the recent charges and the pending charges against [the suspect]. The bail recommendation in this case is not consistent with the approach of the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office toward matters involving violent crime, nor was it consistent with the risk assessment of the defendant prior to setting of bail.