Some businesses just down the street from the Kenosha County Courthouse are still boarded up from the unrest last summer following the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha police officer.
"I remember leaving the shop the third night and thinking am I taking anything with me?" said Amy Perry. "I don’t know if we’re going to be coming back here."
Perry is the owner of Strobbe’s Flower Cart and said she is fortunate her store is still standing.
"We were very blessed we weren’t affected, but it was so close to us just a block down in either direction," she said.
Perry has been following the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse with everyone in her community bracing for the outcome of the trial.
"I don’t know what’s going to happen when the verdict it comes out," said Anne Benson. "Whether the town is going to be upset or, you know, you never know."
The owner of Oliver’s Bakery is hoping the verdict won’t lead to more days and nights of unrest.
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"Somebody asked me, 'Do you still have your boards?' Yes I do. I didn’t get rid of them," Benson said. "They’re just put in a place of storage for now. I hope it doesn’t come to that."
Bennson said her focus is on her bakery, which struggled during the coronavirus pandemic. Regardless of the outcome in the high profile case, she hopes Kenosha can move forward and finally close a dark chapter in the town’s history.
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"I’m just praying and having faith it’s not going to ever get as bad as it was," she said.
