ACLU calls for Kenosha police chief, county sheriff to step down

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A woman is arrested outside of the Kenosha County Courthouse in defiance of the city-wide curfew on Aug. 29, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisc. Protests continue in the city following the shooting of Jacob Blake. Blake was shot seven times in the back on August 23 in front of his three children by a police officer.
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Jacob Blake Sr. speaks during a rally in support of his son Jacob Blake in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 29, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisc. Blake was shot seven times in the back in front of his three children by a police officer in Kenosha. The shooting led to several days of rioting and protests in the city that destroyed many businesses.
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A protester kicks a smoke canister on Aug. 25, 2020 in Kenosha, Wis.
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The words "Black Lives Matter" are displayed on the digital screen after the postponement of the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park on Aug. 26, 2020 in San Francisco, Calif. Several sporting leagues across the nation today are postponing their schedules as players protest the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha, Wisconsin police.
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People march in support of Jacob Blake and his family to the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 29, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisc.
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"End Racism" is displayed on the scoreboard in light of the recent events in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in regards to the shooting of Jacob Blake, prior to Game Three of the Western Conference Second Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on Aug. 26, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta.
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Demonstrators march in the streets on Aug. 26, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. As the city declared a state of emergency curfew, a fourth night of protests occurred after the shooting of Jacob Blake, 29, on August 23.
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A police officer keeps watch as people are arrested after the start of a city-wide curfew outside of the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 29, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisc.
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Jacob Blake, Sr., (3rd L) and Julia Jackson (2nd R), parents of Jacob Blake, Jr., arrive with family members outside of the County Courthouse for the press conference in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020.
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Residents of an elderly nursing home watch the protesters through the window during a demonstration against the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 26, 2020.
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Demonstrators march through the city during a protest against the shooting of Jacob Blake in New York on Aug. 24, 2020.
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The carcasses of the cars burned by protesters the previous night during a demonstration against the shooting of Jacob Blake are seen on a used-cars lot in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 26, 2020.
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Protesters take cover during clashes with police outside the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis.
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A protester takes cover during clashes outside the Kenosha County Courthouse late Tuesday night on Aug. 25, 2020 in Kenosha, Wis. Protests continue following the police shooting of Jacob Blake two days earlier.
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Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 26, 2020. Protests continued after not only Jacob Blake was shot by a white police officers on August 23, but two protesters were shot dead and a third injured by a gunman on August 25 in Kenosha, Wis.
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People march in support of Jacob Blake and his family to the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 29, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisc.
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Letetra Wideman (C), sister of Jacob Blake, leads a march against racism and police brutality in Kenosha, Wisc. on Aug. 29, 2020. Demonstrations have been ongoing since Jacob Blake was shot by Kenosha Police officer Rusten Sheskey on August 23.
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A man speaks at a site where a demonstrator was killed on Aug. 26, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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Protesters march near the Minneapolis 1st Police precinct during a demonstration against police brutality and racism on Aug. 24, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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Lasiya Lakes, 4, raises her fist in the air while chanting Black Lives Matter on Aug. 26, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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Demonstrators protest the shooting of Jacob Blake on Aug. 26, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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People march in support of Jacob Blake and his family to the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 29, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisc.
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A protester obstructs an armored vehicle attempting to clear the park of demonstrators during clashes outside the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis.
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A protester lays injured during clashes with police outside the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis.
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Kenosha Sheriff David Beth speaks at a news conference on August 26, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kenosha's mayor, National Guard Sargent, county executive, police chief, and other local officials held a news conference to discuss the recent civil unrest surrounding the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Video shot of the incident appears to show Blake shot multiple times in the back by Wisconsin police officers while attempting to enter the drivers side of a vehicle. The 29-year-old Blake was undergoing surgery for a severed spinal cord, shattered vertebrae and severe damage to organs, according to the family attorneys in published accounts.
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Police officers keep watch as people are arrested after the start of a city-wide curfew outside of the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 29, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisc. Protests continue in the city following the shooting of Jacob Blake.
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A protester tosses an object toward police during clashes outside the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 25, 2020 in Kenosha, Wis., on third night of unrest following the shooting of Jacob Blake.
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A woman stands outside of the Kenosha County Courthouse in defiance of the city-wide curfew on Aug. 29, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisc. Protests continue in the city following the shooting of Jacob Blake.
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People attend a rally in support of Jacob Blake and his family in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 29, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisc.
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Police attempt to push back protesters outside the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 24, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis. Protesters converged on the county courthouse during the second night of protests after the police shooting of Jacob Blake a day earlier.
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Demonstrators sit on top of a car during a march on Aug. 26, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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People gather on Aug. 25, 2020 to protest against the shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man, in Kenosha, Wis.
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Protesters come face to face with police outside the County Courthouse during demonstrations against the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 25, 2020. Blake, an unarmed Black man, was reportedly trying to break up a domestic dispute when he was shot seven times in the back in front of his children by police officers on August 23.
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Volunteers clean up the neighborhood where Jacob Blake was shot on Aug. 29, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisc. Blake was shot on August 23 seven times in the back by a police officer in Kenosha. The shooting led to several days of rioting and protests in the city that destroyed many businesses.

By Tim Balk | tbalk@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News

PUBLISHED: August 27, 2020 at 4:44 p.m. | UPDATED: August 27, 2020 at 11:16 p.m.

The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday called for Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis and Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth to step down, condemning the law enforcement leaders’ response to protests after the shooting of Jacob Blake.

“Their actions uphold and defend white supremacy, while demonizing people who were murdered for exercising their first amendment rights and speaking out against police violence,” Chris Ott, the executive director of the ACLU of Wisconsin, said in a statement.

Two people were killed in a shooting late Tuesday night amid unrest in the small southern Wisconsin city. Kyle Rittenhouse, a white Illinois 17-year-old, was charged with first-degree intentional homicide after the shooting.

Four nights of protests in Kenosha have followed the caught-on-video police shooting of Blake, a Black 29-year-old man. Rusten Sheskey, a white officer, fired repeatedly at Blake outside a vehicle carrying his children on Sunday. Blake was left paralyzed.

Protests on Wednesday night proved peaceful.

Describing the deadly shooting the previous night, Miskinis underlined in a Wednesday news conference that “everybody involved was out after the curfew.” The ACLU accused Miskinis of blaming the victims.

In a statement, the ACLU also criticized Kenosha County sheriff’s deputies for allowing the shooter to leave after the bloodshed and said Beth “excused” their failure.

In 2018, Beth said after five Black people were arrested in connection with felony shoplifting that “society has to come to a threshold where there are some people that aren’t worth saving. We need to build warehouses to put these people into.” The comment has received fresh attention this week.

The Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.