Two nights of unrest. Two nights of discord. Of violence. Two nights of praying for peace.
If you haven't been paying attention to what's been going on, let me tell you. Milwaukee is making national headlines. The National Guard was activated. In a 24 hour period firefighters responded to over 70 fires. Lives lost. People injured. Officers injured. Tons of property damaged or destroyed. Riots. A neighborhood in ruins.
All this started when a young man was shot and killed by officers on Saturday. This young man was carrying a stolen gun and when asked to drop it he didn't. Hours later the rioting began. Places burned down. Looting. Throwing things. Fire fighters and first responders unable to get to scenes for safety reasons. Too much gunfire. So much damage - to people, to things, to the community. That next morning the community came together. They started cleaning up the mess from the night before. They began to pick up the pieces, wanting to move on and begin healing. The National Guard was activated and put on stand by, just in case. A peaceful night was prayed for all over the city. Surely there wouldn't be two nights of chaos and violence.
There was. Last night there was more shooting. More violence. An already broken neighborhood suffered more damage. Despite the community coming together earlier in the day. Despite an increased police presence. Despite Mayor Barrett making it known that the National Guard is ready if MPD needed them. Despite all of that there was still unrest last night. More injuries. More damage. More heartbreak.
This is my city. More than half a million people also call Milwaukee home. It's been referred to as a melting pot. I was born and raised here. I continue to create a life for myself here. Milwaukee has always had it's problems, but nothing like what we've seen the last two nights.
So where do we go from here? How do we begin to heal from the destruction of the last two nights? Is finding peace even possible? I don't know the answers to those questions. Change needs to happen, that's a given. But change isn't going to happen over night and likely won't be easy.
This is my city. This is my Milwaukee. I love my city, but I'm beginning not to recognize it.
