Federal investigators have released several images of persons of interest linked to the arsons that impacted 20 buildings and businesses and seven vehicles in Kenosha, Wis., in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is seeking to speak with at least seven persons of interest in connection with the fires intentionally set during the riots and mayhem from between Sunday, Aug. 23 and Tues., Aug. 25, officials said in a late Wednesday press release.
ATF investigators are working alongside local authorities and federal partners to identify the individuals, including those whose photographs are provided below.
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Investigators have released five photographs of persons of interest, as well as three videos showing them setting the fires or being in the area at the time.
One of the videos appears to show someone placing a flaming object inside a municipal garbage truck through a shattered front passenger-side window while the vehicle was parked at 56 Street and Sheridan Avenue on Aug. 23, officials said. Within moments, the vehicle appears to go up in flames.
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Another, from Aug. 24, shows a person standing in the doorway of the Kenosha Probation and Parole Building on 60 Street while someone can be heard saying they “just set the building ablaze.” The person recording then enters the doorway to find a fire had been set inside.
WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
In a third video, a person wearing face and head coverings appears to spray a liquid at an already flaming truck that was parked at Car Source, a dealership that was devastated by the fires set during riots, on Aug. 24, officials said.
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“We are asking the community to look at these images and videos and provide information to help solve these arsons,” said Special Agent in Charge Kristen de Tineo of the ATF’s Chicago Field Division in a prepared statement. “Engaging the community is imperative to not only solving these arsons, it will help the community heal and build trust among all Kenosha stakeholders.”
The ATF is also investigating arson fires at the following locations, according to the release:
- Mangia’s Italian Restaurant, 5717 Sheridan Road
- Kenosha Public Library, 711 59th Place
- Mattress Shop, 6224 22nd Avenue
- Affordable Auto, 1118 60th Street
- County Credit Union, 925 59th Street
- Charlie’s 10th Hole, 3805 22nd Avenue
- Boost Mobile, 2208 Roosevelt Road
- Car Source, 5821 Sheridan Road
- Something Different, 5716 6th Avenue
- DeBerge’s Framing & Gallery, 2008 63rd Street
- Citgo Gas Station, 3806 30th Street
- Treasure’s Within, 1016 60th Street
- Dinosaur Discovery Museum, 5608 10th Avenue
- Lend Nation, 6304 22nd Avenue
Protesters and rioters took the streets on Aug. 23 after a video circulated showing Kenosha police firing several shots at Blake as he appeared to enter a vehicle. Blake, a Black man, remains hospitalized after being shot seven times in the back by a White police officer as authorities tried to arrest him. Officials say he is now paralyzed.
A couple of miles from the place where Blake was shot, gunfire erupted again two nights later.
This time, according to police, the shots came from the rifle of Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from a nearby Illinois town.
Buildings had been torched and businesses vandalized in Kenosha as protests flared the previous night. A former member of a police cadet program, Rittenhouse told the Daily Caller that he was there to guard a local business and to help if people got hurt, bringing a first-aid kit along with his rifle.
He ended up killing two people, Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and wounding a third, Gaige Grosskreutz, in a series of encounters that snowballed after Rosenbaum threw a plastic bag at Rittenhouse, according to a court complaint.
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Police ask that anyone with information in connection with any of the incidents of arson in Kenosha please contact Kenosha Police Department at (262) 605-5203, Kenosha CrimeStoppers at (262) 656-7333, or 1-888-ATF-FIRE. People can also send emails to ATFTips@atf.gov.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
