Scores of angry African American protesters gathered near the scene of the police shooting at Sherman Boulevard. What at first seemed like a Black Lives Matter-style gathering soon got out of control, however.
Several vehicles, including a police car, were set on fire, and the crowd of rioters then proceeded to break into and loot a gas station, which was then seemingly set alight as well. An eyewitness nicknamed EX414 livestreamed the escalating violence on his Ustream channel.
Shots were being fired near the gas station, preventing police from extinguishing the fire, the Milwaukee Police Department said on its Twitter account. Police had said earlier that they were responding to the disturbance in the Sherman and Auer areas, tweeting that "officers working on peacefully dispersing [the] crowd." Rioters apparently set several other properties on fire, including a bank. A live stream video showed thick smoke coming out of the windows of BMO Harris Bank, while several fire trucks parked in the area could be seen responding to the fire, after some hesitation.
Comment: The author of the article is incorrect. The big walls were built so they could hide the dead bodies inside of them.