GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Green Bay City Alderman is critical of the response to unrest this week in Kenosha.
On Facebook, Alder Chris Wery wrote; “This has to stop. If this vile destruction creeps into Green Bay I call upon our patriots to protect our great city. Our Governor doesn’t care. Our Mayor is silent.”
He continued, “”the Governor had better call up more guardsmen to protect his citizens and their property. Does he really expect us to do it ourselves? Nobody wants that.”
We reached out to Wery on Friday morning.
“The question I posed is; what, are we supposed to protect ourselves? If we had to we certainly would,” Wery told WTAQ on Friday. “But, as we saw, when push came to shove the governor finally sent and help as he should have.”
In an update Wery says Evers decision to send more national guard soldier to Kenosha was “problem solved,” and that “nobody wants vigilantes roaming the streets.”
He did say that if it ever came to it, he would support citizens defending their lives and property, but added he doesn’t expect such a thing will happen in Green Bay.
“Our chief and the sheriff are on top of it, making sure property and people are safe,” said Wery. “I would think if it ever escalated that the governor will send in help, and our mayor will ask for help.”
Thursday, Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich said he won’t support “vigilantes” in Green Bay.
“Vigilantes are something that is not welcomed in Green Bay. It is not something that is going to be enabled or encouraged,” Genrich said. “What we want to do here is reduce the temperature and temperature in the city, the state, and the country, Encouraging people to take arms on their own does the exact opposite.”
Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith believes his team can handle these situations, based on the protests that turned destructive in June.
“Here in Green Bay the police do a great job keeping our community safe,” Smith said, “last time in Green Bay we had some rioting or unrest we brought in the national guard, and that was the end of it. We were able to keep our community safe using the police resources that we have.”
Chief Smith says he would never call on citizens to arm themselves to protect the city.
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