Amid Kenosha unrest, Wisconsin suburbs become a crucial testing ground for Trump's appeals to White

[brooklynite]

Wasington Post

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Surrounded by vintage comic books and video games, Henry Gacek sat behind the cash register in his antique store in this overwhelmingly White suburb of Milwaukee and recalled the chills running down his back when he saw the video of a police officer down the road in Kenosha firing seven pistol rounds into Jacob Blake's back.

“It looked like a blatant assassination,” said Gacek, 48.

But Gacek’s 401(k) and his IRAs, he said, were doing quite well during President Trump’s term. He has doubled his life savings in four years and could retire now, he said. Trump brought him out of a 20-year voting hibernation in 2016 and has “pretty much” earned his vote again, despite his unease over police brutality issues that have hit close to home.

For Riley Menting, 20, recent events have only solidified her appreciation for Trump. Menting had always figured she was a Democrat because that’s what her high school friends leaned that way. And she has sympathized with the Black Lives Matter cause. Dating a police officer, though, has opened her eyes to the struggles law enforcement officers face daily, she said. Menting recently switched political allegiances.

[JI7]

1. just call it racism