The presence of National Guard troops and federal agents in Kenosha, Wis. were a decisive factor in the diminution of rioting that followed the shooting of Jacob Blake, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Radio’s “Guy Benson Show” Wednesday.
“I think what we’re witnessing, quite honestly, because of the decisive action taken by President Trump and the fact that we brought in a large number of National Guardsmen from around the state… we so overwhelmed the protesters, the outside agitators, I think they picked up stakes and they left,” Johnson told host Guy Benson. “So we’ve got the formula, we have the model now to stop the rioting.”
Johnson added that he believes most of the Kenosha rioters were outside agitators. He also emphasized the importance of recognizing how such agitators and their ilk lay “siege” to cities and businesses trying to survive.
“We need to understand [if] these protests continue … they also can be a violation of other people’s constitutional rights to be able to earn a living, operate a business,” he said. “They become a siege on a community. At some point in time, somebody is going to have to go in and protect the Constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens in Portland and Seattle.”
According to Johnson, President Trump was very “accessible” during the worst of the rioting in Kenosha and offered to provide any help necessary to Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who initially turned the offer down.
The political pressure on Evers from Republicans and local leaders as well as the fatal shooting of two demonstrators riots, the senator added, is finally what resolved the issue.
“It really is that leadership resolve… the decisiveness to say ‘we’re not going to let this stand,’” he said. “We’re not going to allow riots to continue like the Summer of Love in Seattle.”
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