When your hometown police shoot Jacob Blake - An extended Scene Report with Kenosha resident Jim MallardoIXNAY Podcast Special EpisodeWith Trump encouraging trigger happy citizens to get between police and protestors, we'd like share a first hand account of the deadly interaction from the frontlines of Kenosha, Wisconsin. After the Jacob Blake shooting and ensuing nights of unrest burned down local businesses, Kenosha resident Jim Mallardo made a decision. He and his friends would attend a downtown protest armed–not with automatic weapons, designed to kill human beings–but with fire extinguishers. This is the story of a group of local skateboarding friends who took the unusual approach to be both protestors & protectors. Their intent was not to discourage protest or even resistance, but to be present to save things that make their city a community. There was a hope they could at least mitigate the unnecessary destruction that's been happening under the cover of civil disobedience in cities across America. As you will hear, Jim's decision to take to the streets that night as a kind of civic caretaker, as admirable as it was, put him and his friends in a surprisingly tough spot. They hadn't imagined their turn at good samaritan would put them in the crosshairs of 3 competing groups. They'd be forced to contend with what Jim calls "the inciters" or protestors just there to fuck shit up but also the armed and unqualified cosplayers, like Kyle Rittenhouse, one of the wannabe Facebook militiapeople given tacit license by the powers that be, to shoot people dead. Plus of course local police, who in playing at soldier while clearing the streets that night, had squeezed the protestors, including Jim and his friends into what turned out to be a kill zone. |
