armed conflict location and event data project (acled)

While the word ‘demonstrations’ is used throughout this report, ‘demonstrations’ refer to ‘demonstration events’. This is because the number of demonstrations is reliant largely on reporting and the terminology used in doing so. While the rate of demonstrations per week 3 ACLED is an event-based dataset, and therefore only records demonstration events the number of ‘demonstration events’ recorded by ACLED may differ from the number of ‘demonstrations’ recorded via other methodologies. The fatal shootings in Kenosha came at the tail-end of a summer spike in demonstrations nationwide following multiple police shootings and the murder of George Floyd. 2 Ricardo Torress, “Two Missouri men arrested in Pleasant Prairie on firearms violations after coming to Kenosha”, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 5, 2020. Both were members of the Missouri-based 417 Second Amendment Militia, and one reportedly said he was willing to “take action” if police were defunded. The two men had attended a Trump rally in Kenosha and planned to continue on to Portland, Oregon. The violence in Kenosha may have been even worse had the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) not arrested two heavily armed individuals who had driven from Missouri to Kenosha - after the highly publicized shootings - allegedly “with the intention of possibly using the firearms on people.” 1 Alexander Mallin and Meredith Deliso, “Blue Lives Matter Supporters Arrested with Slew of Firearms outside Kenosha after Police Received Tip about Possible Shooting, DOJ Says,” ABC News, September 3, 2020. (Adam Rogan/The Journal Times via AP, File) In this Augfile photo, Kyle Rittenhouse, left, with backwards cap, walks along Sheridan Road in Kenosha, Wis., with another armed civilian. He patrolled the streets openly brandishing his long gun and, within hours of his arrival, had shot three people among the demonstrators, killing two.

One of those who answered a militia’s call-to-arms was Kyle Rittenhouse, a then 17-year-old from Illinois who wandered in Kenosha armed with an AR-15-style rifle.

In August 2020, loosely organized militias began to patrol Kenosha, Wisconsin, openly carrying guns in direct response to the demonstrations for racial equity in the city after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Armed conflict location and event data project (acled)