Damage from violence in Kenosha tops $11 million

Posted: Sep 16, 2020 / 10:44 AM CDT / Updated: Sep 16, 2020 / 10:44 AM CDT

Volunteers clean up department of corrections building Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. The building was burned during protests sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Kenosha’s fire chief says damage from the unrest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake has now topped $11 million.

Fire Chief Charles Leipzig told the Police and Fire Commission Tuesday the record fire loss came in the days following the Aug. 23 shooting of Blake, who was left partially paralyzed by the gunshots to his back.

Cars torched during violent protests this week in Kenosha, Wis., sit Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, as demonstrators gather across the street to speak out against the Sunday police shooting of Jacob Blake. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)
People protesting the Sunday police shooting of Jacob Blake stop for snacks Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Residents stand in front of boarded-up businesses in Kenosha, Wis., Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020, days after protests of the police shooting of Jacob Blake turned violent and demonstrators set fire to a number of buildings. (AP Photo/Russell Contreras)
Protesters march past a burned out building damaged in protests against the Sunday police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis., Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
A protester kicks a smoke canister Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020 in Kenosha, Wis. Anger over the Sunday shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police spilled into the streets for a third night. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Volunteers clean up department of corrections building Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. The building was burned during protests sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Charred vehicles sit in a lot following a night of unrest, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. Anger over the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police spilled into the streets of Kenosha for a second night Monday. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
ATF agents look over the damage at an office supply company that was burned during a protest Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
A woman is seen through a broken window at the Harborside Academy Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. The windows were broken after protests broke out late Sunday night following a police shooting. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Photo couresty WDJT
A protester stands in a cloud of tear gas near a burning garbage truck outside the Kenosha County Courthouse, late Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. Protesters converged on the county courthouse during a second night of clashes after the police shooting of Jacob Blake a day earlier turned Kenosha into the nation’s latest flashpoint city in a summer of racial unrest. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot seven times by a white police officer after walking away from the officer and two others who were trying to arrest him.

On the second night following Blake’s shooting, prosecutors say 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot two demonstrators and wounded a third.

His attorney claims it was self defense.