Arizona National Guard troops return home from mission in Wisconsin
(Photo Courtesy: Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS))
PHOENIX - Officials with the Arizona National Guard say about 150 of their soldiers have returned to Arizona following a deployment to Wisconsin.
FOX 10 first reported on the deployment on August 27, which happened amid escalating racial tensions following the police shooting of a Black man named Jacob Blake in Kenosha.
At the time, officials say about 150 members of the 850th Military Police Battalion will be deployed Wisconsin to support the state in the wake of civil unrest, following a request from Wisconsin officials.
"Arizona was one of three states which provided Guardsmen to surge law enforcement capacity in Kenosha, Wisconsin and assist with providing a safe environment in which citizens could freely exercise their Constitutional rights," read a portion of a statement released on September 2.
The soldiers, according to officials, returned earlier on September 2.
Shooting of Blake sparked deadly protests in Wisconsin
The shooting of Jacob Blake by police officers in Kenosha, which happened on August 23 and months after the death of George Floyd while in police custody in nearby Minnesota, sparked renewed national controversy over police use of force and racial inequality, It also sparked protests in various cities, including in Kenosha.
Two protesters have been shot to death in Kenosha, and the suspect, identified as a juvenile by police in Antioch, Illinois, has been arrested.
While authorities in Antioch did not identify the suspect due to age, FOX News has identified the suspect as 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse.