Police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, arrested nine individuals this week after stopping suspicious vehicles with out-of-state license plates and suspecting occupants of “preparing for criminal activity related to the civil unrest.”
Several other charges are pending, according to the Kenosha County DA.
Kenosha has been the scene of civil unrest following the shooting of an African-American man, Jacob Blake, by police.
Authorities say they received an anonymous tip that three vehicles: a black school bus, a bread truck and a tan minivan, planned to meet in a remote lot near Kenosha. Officers then began surveilling the vehicles after locating them, assisted by U.S. Marshals.
They followed the vehicles to a gas station, where they observed the occupants of two of the vehicles exit and attempt to fill multiple fuel cans.
Police said they then “exited their vehicles, identified themselves, were wearing appropriate identification and then detained the occupants of the bus and bread truck.”
Upon searching the vehicles helmets, gas masks, protective vests, illegal fireworks and suspected controlled substances were found, according to the report.