The rioting in the Sherman Park area of Milwaukee that occurred after a fatal police shooting Saturday appears to have mostly abated, but the social media communication that helped fuel it has, if anything, intensified and focused on the officer.
As of Tuesday, at least 3,000 people have shared a Facebook photo of the 24-year-old Milwaukee patrolman who fatally shot 23-year-old Sylville Smith – some of them adding furious and threatening comments.
“Now y'all see his face if he's seen anywhere in the city drop him,” read one post. Another called for a gun so the person could “shoot him right in his head.”
The posters gave the officer’s name and some included his home address.
The officer and Smith, both of whom are black, knew each other from the Sherman Park neighborhood, multiple relatives and friends have told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
