This incident came as Trump’s failed primary challengers are to take the stage Tuesday at the Republican Party convention, in an act of support for the party’s prominent figure and newly designated US presidential candidate.
Ohio police officers, attending the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin, shot and killed a man wielding two knives near the convention venue. The man, identified as 43-year-old Samuel Sharpe, had a knife in each hand and defied police commands, ultimately charging at an unarmed individual before the officers opened fire. Five members of the Columbus, Ohio, police department fired their weapons in response to the imminent threat posed by the armed man. Chief Jeffrey Norman of the Milwaukee City Police highlighted that the officers acted to protect lives in the face of danger. Two knives were recovered from the scene, the chief said.
Body camera footage released by the police captured the intense moments leading up to the fatal shooting, where officers urgently instructed the man to drop the knives. Camera footage that showed officers on bikes talking before one of them says, “He’s got a knife.”
Several officers then yell “Drop the knife!” as they run toward two men standing in a street. When the armed man moved toward the unarmed man, police fired their weapons. “Someone’s life was in danger,” Norman said. “These officers, who were not from this area, took it upon themselves to act and save someone’s life today.”
This incident came as Trump’s failed primary challengers are to take the stage Tuesday at the Republican Party convention, in an act of support for the party’s prominent figure and newly designated US presidential candidate. The unified front comes a day after the ex-president triggered high emotion when entering the convention hall in Milwaukee as he made his first public appearance since surviving a weekend assassination attempt.
Thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions are in Milwaukee providing additional security for the convention that concludes Thursday. According to The Associated Press, the shooting fueled anger from residents who questioned why out-of-state officers were in their neighborhood located about a mile from the convention site. The Columbus Division of Police said there was nothing to suggest the shooting was related to the convention itself.