All right. The events of uh July 3rd were inexcusable, disturbing, and outrageous. But even as we commit to preventing a a recurrence of these events, and work to hold accountable those who perpetrated them, we must not allow this barbaric behavior to in any way define this city or any of its communities. Our initial statement to the media was guarded because quite frankly we did not have all the information at the time questions were first asked. We had the data. We did not have the details that were in the reports that were making their way up the chain of command. After a thorough analysis of those reports, we can now report what we do in fact know to be true. On July 3rd, between 100 and 200,000 people came to Milwaukee to watch the fireworks. At about 10:30, these crowds were dispersed by the sheriff's department as well as the police department. Large numbers of people started making their way up the hill from the lakefront to Water Tower Road. Between 10:30 and 11:00, numerous large fights broke out among members of this crowd. These fights were responded to and dispersed by members of the Milwaukee Police Department. Officers in the vicinity of North Avenue monitored the movement of this large group of people. At approximately u uh 11:00 or excuse me 11:30, a fight broke out outside of the RC Tavern which is uh near u on East North Avenue. officers responded to that fight and broke that up. At approximately midnight, another group of E people ransacked the BP station at Humbult and North Avenue. We have provided copies of the video to all members of the media. We're asking you to continue to play it and we're requesting that members of the community who recognize anybody in this video please assist the police in this investigation to help us get to the bottom of that crime. Not long after this event, robberies were reported in the vicinity of Reservoir Park. We believe some of the individuals that were seen at the BP station may I emphasize may have been involved in those additional robberies. One armed robbery occurred in the park at 11:50. Police responded and investigated. A report was done that night. At 2 am, police officers arrested three people, two 16 year olds and one 18y old who were suspected in that particular incident. Another armed robbery occurred in the park at 12:15. This strong armed robbery victimized two individuals, each of whom were bloodied in the attack. Police responded to a scene that they described as chaotic. Large numbers of people were still fighting with each other. Two individuals needed medical treatment while at the same time needed to be interviewed about the particulars of their crime. Officers took information at the scene and summoned medical attention. The two victims elected to transport themselves to a nearby hospital. No suspects were on the scene while this occurred, although large numbers of other distraught people were. Within minutes, yet another strong armed robbery occurred at approximately 12:18 a.m., but that incident was not formally reported to the police department for 18 hours. It was reported at 5:21 on July 4th. Those two victims were also injured. Now already there are some in the community who seek to sensationalize these disturbing incidents. Now while everybody is entitled to be outraged by this behavior, we must not lose our focus. Just to give you some perspective, in the 48 hours of July 3rd and July 4th, there were 19 robberies reported to the police. One victim was Asian, four victims were Hispanic, eight victims were white, and 13 victims were African-American. What these statistics are meant to convey is that crime is an equal opportunity color blind affront to the community. We must not allow the sensational aspects of these crimes to divide us in the face of the challenges that remain before us. Now, there's good work being done in River West. Just one week ago, we arrested three individuals who were part of a robbery crew that we think is involved in 19 different robberies in three months. We're going to continue our work on that case. Now, we're going to solve these crimes. We're going to hold these characters accountable, and we're not going to let any group of individuals terrorize or bully any of our neighborhoods. I'd like to turn the podium over to the mayor for a couple of moments. He has a statement to make. Thank you, chief, and thank you for summarizing the events of the last 48 hours. I had the opportunity in the last 24 hours to view the video uh in particular of the incident that occurred at the BP gas station and it was disturbing. Anybody who saw this video would agree that it was disturbing. My first reaction as I was watching it was, "Well, we can't really see the faces of these individuals." That was in the first minute or two. And my staff said, "Just wait. You'll be able to see it." Sure enough, two or three minutes later into the video, you could see perfectly the faces of the individuals who terrorized that gas station. And the reason I make that point is there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that these individuals will be apprehended and will be prosecuted if we have cooperation of the citizens of this city. This is an opportunity for us. These individuals, young people, very young people, were obviously not the smartest people in this community because it was almost like class pictures as they were following filing one after another out of the store where you have a perfect view of many of their faces. There were approximately 13 people that I counted as they were coming in. We can see most of them. So, what I'm asking for the safety of the people in this community is for people to take a look at that video and to contact the police with information that will lead to the the arrest and prosecution of these individuals. That's how we regain a peaceful city by having the great men and women who work for the police department, who put their lives on the line every day, get the assistance of citizens who know who these individuals are. It's something that we can do. It's something we should do. It's something that we have to do. The events that occurred at Reservoir Park were equally disturbing. And I'm proud of the men and women who work for the Milwaukee Police Department who are going to do everything they can to apprehend those individuals. We do not know at this point where the individ whether the individuals who terrorized the BP station are the same individuals who moved west along North Avenue to go to Reservoir Park. But we'll be able to solve those crimes as well if we have people who can step forward. So, this was an event that should not occur in any neighborhood. And as the chief said, we do not want anyone anyone in this city to be a victim of a crime. And what we're going to do is make sure that citizens of all races in all neighborhoods are protected by the police department. To do that, of course, we need the cooperation of citizens throughout the citizen of the city of Milwaukee. And I'm confident that people will step forward. [Music]