Teenager charged with homicide over Kenosha protest shooting

A teenager has been arrested and charged with homicide after gunfire killed two people and wounded a third during protests over the police shooting of a black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was arrested on a warrant in Illinois and charged with first-degree intentional homicide in Kenosha, a Lake County court official said.

The lakeside city of Kenosha has been rocked by civil unrest since Sunday, when police shot Jacob Blake, 29, in the back at close range.

Blake suffered a severed spinal cord, a shattered vertebra and damage to his stomach, kidney and liver.

That incident, captured on video, has reignited protests over racism and police use of force in the United States.

The third night of protests erupted in gunfire shortly before midnight on Tuesday.

With a combustible mix of demonstrators still roaming the streets - including self-appointed militias armed with rifles - tensions boiled over, leading to chaotic scenes of people running and screaming amid a volley of gunfire and others tending to gunshot wounds.

The violence prompted some elected officials to call for a reinforcement of National Guard troops or the deployment of federal law enforcement officers.

President Donald Trump tweeted on Wednesday he would send more federal law enforcement personnel and the National Guard to Kenosha to "restore LAW and ORDER!"

“We will NOT stand for looting, arson, violence, and lawlessness on American streets. My team just got off the phone with Governor Evers who agreed to accept federal assistance (Portland should do the same!)...,” he said.

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor, Tony Evers, has also doubled the number of National Guard members available to support Kenosha law enforcement and help maintain the peace.