Milwaukee police chief was surprised by violence after fatal shooting

MILWAUKEE (AP) — After a night of violence that left a half-dozen businesses in flames, the city's police chief expressed surprise at the level of unrest that erupted after the fatal shooting of a black man by a black officer.

"This was, quite frankly, unanticipated," Chief Edward Flynn said today, two days after the worst of the rioting hit the Sherman Park neighborhood on the city's economically depressed and largely black north side.

The chief's statement raised questions about whether authorities could have taken steps to curb the violence, perhaps by sharing details of the shooting earlier, including the officer's race or footage from his body camera.

Randolph McLaughlin, a Pace University law professor and a civil-rights attorney, questioned how Milwaukee leaders could have expected the streets to stay quiet on Saturday night given the national debate about law enforcement and race.

"For a mayor to say everything's fine [and] we just killed somebody, that's turning a blind eye to his town," McLaughlin said.

He said Mayor Tom Barrett should have reached out to residents and community leaders and asked, "What do we need to do to make sure your community is safe?" McLaughlin said. "He needs to stay on the job."