President Trump is not welcome in Wisconsin, at least not if you're asking Gov. Tony Evers.
Evers, a Democrat who has been critical of Trump, urged the president to reconsider traveling on Tuesday to Kenosha, where recent protests against police brutality have exploded into deadly riots in recent days.
“I, along with other community leaders who have reached out, are concerned about what your presence will mean for Kenosha and our state," Evers wrote in a letter to Trump. "I am concerned your presence will only hinder our healing. I am concerned your presence will only delay our work to overcome division and move forward together,” Evers wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press.
Trump announced he would head to Kenosha to inspect the damage caused by riots. Several businesses have been vandalized and some buildings and multiple car lots burned during the unrest.
Trump will be meeting with law enforcement officers, White House spokesman Judd Deere announced.
"The White House has been humbled by the outreach of individuals from Kenosha who have welcomed the President’s visit and are longing for leadership to support local law enforcement and businesses that have been vandalized," Deere wrote in reply to Evers. "President Trump looks forward to visiting on Tuesday and helping this great city heal and rebuild."
The protests in Kenosha, which followed several in bigger cities around the nation, started this week after 29-year-old Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot seven times on Aug. 23, allegedly by Kenosha police Officer Rusten Sheskey. Video seen on social media shows Sheskey shooting at Blake as he reached into his car, where Wisconsin officials later said a knife was found. The shooting left Blake paralyzed from the waist down.