KENOSHA, Wis. — The founder of the Lake County chapter of Black Lives Matter in Illinois has been charged with a felony count of attempted battery to a law enforcement officer and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct during the Jacob Blake protests in Kenosha, Wis. on Aug. 25, 2020.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Kenosha, Clyde McLemore, 62, of Zion, Ill., Black Lives Matter advocate and activist, was a part of an alleged "unruly crowd" that attempted to force their way into the Kenosha Public Safety Building (PSB) where the mayor was doing a press conference.
The complaint states that police officers and the Civil Disturbance Response Team (CDRT) were called to dispel the crowd and close the PSB doors.
Officer Steven Winters, a member of the CDRT, attempted to pull the doors closed when McLemore allegedly kicked the door in an attempt to harm the officer.
Winter claims that he was unable to pull the door closed at first, forcing him to grip the exterior of the door, exposing his fingers and hands. He states he felt the door slam as he pulled it closed.
The complaint says McLemore claims that a police officer grabbed a girl, used her as a shield, went inside the building, and attempted to close the PSB door.
Police say McLemore admitted that when the officer's hands were in the doorway, he kicked the door out of anger to "try and break the officer’s fingers."
Kenosha Police Detective Peter Falk received a tip that McLemore posted images of himself during the incident. One of the photos shows McLemore kicking the PSB door, the complaint says.
Detective Falk reviewed McLemore's Facebook and says that a series of videos posted by McLemore shows his alleged actions before, during, and after the incident at the PSB.
Falk also claims that McLemore was wearing the same black t-shirt and glasses as seen in the image of him kicking the door.
If convicted of both charges, McLemore could be fined up to $6,000 and imprisoned for up to three years and 90 days.
After being made aware of the charges against him, McLemore took to Facebook and made a status saying, "Instead of filing criminal charges against the officer that attempted to murder Jacob Blake instead Kenosha County Government District Attorney Michael Graveley chose to go after me for kicking a door. It's sad to see in America that a Door is more important than the life of a Black man or woman."
