On Sunday, April 25, 2021, at approximately 10:00 pm members of the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department arrested three protesters that blocked access to the public entrance to the Kenosha County Public Safety Building (1000-55th Street) interfering with the public's ability to conduct business with the Kenosha County Sheriffs’ Department, City of Kenosha Police Department, or Kenosha Joint Services. These three people were arrested for Disorderly Conduct and identified as Justin S. Blake, Jonathan W. Barker, and Joseph M. Cardinali. Mr. Blake was also charged with Obstructing an Officer during this incident.
At approximately 4:00 pm on Sunday, a calm and orderly protest march took place in the City of Kenosha concluding at the Kenosha County Public Safety Building. This protest remained peaceful and occupied a parking lot of the Public Safety Building. At approximately 5:00 pm the remaining protesters, approximately twenty-five people, began to stage at the front public entrance of the Public Safety Building. This is the only public access for members of the community to conduct business with the sheriff’s department, police department, or Kenosha Joint Services. Over the next several hours this crowd of people declined to approximately ten protesters. The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department attempted to compromise with the group of protesters asking them to stop blocking the entrance and allow the public that wanted to conduct business access to the Public Safety Building. These alternatives included remaining at the Public Safety Building to the side of the entrance doors, on the sidewalk near the doors or any area that did not obstruct the publics' access to the building. During this time, several citizens came to the Public Safety Building and had to be escorted through a secure employee entrance or became dissuaded due to the entrance being blocked. At approximately 10:00 pm four subjects remained seated in front of the doors and three protestors were off to the side of the entrance as Deputies arrived. One of the four subjects blocking the door stood up and removed herself from the front door. The remaining three people were arrested without incident and escorted to a transport van. These three people were then booked into the Kenosha County Jail. As of noon, all three people arrested have posted bonds and are no longer in the custody of the Kenosha County Jail.
Sheriff David Beth and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department recognizes and respect the rights of the citizens of Kenosha County to demonstrate peacefully their right to free speech and assembly. These targeted arrests of the three protesters that were blocking the door to the Public Safety Building should not ignore that the majority of people today had been out for hours during an incredibly peaceful protest. Sheriff Beth reminds everyone, citizens have the right to peacefully protest on public property but cannot block access to a government building for other members of the public preventing the departments within the Public Safety Building from carrying out their functions for those community members not involved.