A Homeless Man Was Shot and Killed, Which Makes People Worry About the Safety of Out-of-state Cops at the RNC
The man who lived in one of Milwaukee’s tent cities was known to many people in the King Park neighborhood and was described by a friend as a “beautiful person.” People would often see him with a Bible while walking his dog.
A cousin of the guy named him Samuel Sharpe Jr. Five police officers from Columbus, Ohio, shot and killed him on Tuesday as part of the city’s security efforts for the Republican National Convention. The police released a video from his body camera that showed him holding a knife.
The shooting happened a little less than a mile from the convention’s security perimeter. The convention is being held with tighter security because of the attempted murder of former President Donald Trump at a gathering in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The police said the shooting death in Milwaukee had nothing to do with the conference. But for some people in the neighborhood, the move to bring police officers from other states into the city to help with security for the event raises questions.
“No, no, no,” said Milwaukee Alderman Robert Bauman, who serves the district where the shooting happened. “This is King Park. This is a known place for homeless people to camp out. There are a lot of people with mental disabilities in here. Be careful and calm down.”
He said that cops from other states are “in a strange land and they don’t know King Park from Central Park.”
A news conference in Ohio heard from Brian Steel, head of the Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge No. 9. He said that the five officers involved in the shooting are being sent back home, but the other 35 officers that the city sent will stay in Milwaukee.
Steel said that when cops in Columbus shot the man, he was waving knives at other people and/or them. Steel said he wasn’t sure if the police had tried a stun gun or other ways to calm the man down before killing him.
According to early information released late Tuesday by Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, thirteen Columbus police officers were in the area for a meeting when they saw a fight between two people, one of whom had a knife in each hand.
He said the police told the man to drop the knives. The man didn’t, and then he charged at the other person all of a sudden, Norman said. That’s when police opened fire.
Columbus police released video and still frames from the man’s body camera late Tuesday night. The footage and frames show that the man was still holding the knives and lunging at another man when he was shot. The tape shows that the police shot him several times and killed him.
The police chief said that two knives were found at the spot.
Norman strongly supported the officers from out of state who were involved in the shooting.
“Life was in danger for someone,” he said. “These officers who are not from this area took upon themselves to act to save someone’s life today.”
The mayor of Columbus, Andrew J. Ginther, said that the body-worn camera footage “shows that Columbus’ officers acted in line with their training to protect a potential victim from physical harm.”
“Columbus officers were guests in Milwaukee, but they take an oath to protect and serve, wherever and whenever they are called to service,” he said.