A Wisconsin father and daughter stepped up and pointed their guns at a group of protesters and protesters draped in anti-police signs outside a Philadelphia law firm that employs the father, law enforcement said Friday.
The father, Jacob Koehler, 42, and his daughter, Katie, 14, were from Appleton, Wisconsin, on Friday morning, authorities said. Jacob Koehler has a valid permit to carry a concealed handgun.
Appleton Police Chief Rusty Lewis said his officers saw the two pull up in their vehicle with the purpose of challenging the protesters with their guns. Lewis said his officers did not fire their weapons, but they did restrain them until they could be detained. They will face a disorderly conduct charge on Sunday, Lewis said.
The two will be handcuffed. We’ve handcuffed another resident involved in an altercation with some demonstrators last night. More pictures of the disturbance over here: https://t.co/ePlyEv8fiY pic.twitter.com/kS1nbIYDPW — Stavka Szumala (@StavkaSzy) October 19, 2018
The wounded protester, Joseph Williams, was arrested, arrested on a weapons charge and treated in Philadelphia for his stab wound, Lewis said.
Williams was identified by his friends who told WSMV the 17-year-old Easton High School student had been involved in a group that gave out passes and encouraged students to attend the protest, according to WSMV.
On Friday morning, police were called to respond to two separate groups outside the law firm of Kim Koehler, aka by the alias Kim Atkins, which employed the mother. One group started to challenge the other’s right to protest with their signs, and when the officers saw two individuals from Wisconsin approach, Lewis said officers approached the two residents of Appleton to look into the situation and then arrested them.
Katie was charged with disorderly conduct and Jacob Koehler was charged with disorderly conduct.
The incident prompted Philadelphia officials to crack down on the crowd outside of Kim Atkins, Department of Public Safety Commissioner Coleman McDonough said Friday.
McDonough said in a statement the events began when two groups of protesters — one group shouted at them, one group directed profanities — and “demanded that they left the premises.”
Multiple arrests were made by the Philadelphia police of protesters and a Knessler Law Firm employee, McDonough said.
The Knessler Law Firm handles civil rights matters, and the firm’s website says their role is “providing legal advice and representation.”
The statement said that it was Kitzhler who contacted the police officers on the scene to ask for help.
Atkins worked at the firm until early August.
Both the McDonald’s and Starbucks in Kitzler are closed on Friday while the firm works on removing the protesters from their location, McDonough said.