KENOSHA, Wis. — A Missouri man on Thursday was sentenced for his role in the 2020 unrest in Kenosha.
42-year-old Michael Karmo of Hartsville, Missouri, will spend 64 months in federal prison for “unlawfully possessing firearms despite a prior felony conviction.” He’ll also spend two years on a supervised release after serving his prison sentence.
Earlier this year, Karmo had entered a guilty plea.
According to court filings, Karmo had become interested in the unrest happening in cities across the nation in the summer of 2020, following the killing of George Floyd.
“[A]ll I care about is f**king up antifas and black lives matters mother f**kers these days,” Karmo had said in a text message to a friend.
He had also indicated he was driving around the U.S. to see where rioting was happening “the hardest.”
Then, in August 2020, Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot seven times in the back by a white police officer in Kenosha. The incident left Blake paralyzed from the waist down.
Following the incident, protests erupted in the city, at times turning violet. That’s when Karmo and a friend decided to make the drive from Missouri to the scene of unrest in Kenosha on Aug. 31, 2020.
Before leaving on Aug. 31, 2020, Karmo took a photo of himself and his friend holding long guns and sent it to a woman in Iowa. He also sent her another photo of his firearm with a large drum, calling it his “game change.” Court filings said they stopped to see the woman in Iowa and she became concerned. She then called the police.
When the FBI finally arrested Karmo and his friend in Pleasant Prairie, they found a string of ammunition, weapons and other items. That included an AR-15 assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, two 9mm handguns, multiple high-capacity magazines and more.
Officials also found several videos on Karmo’s phone related to the incident. In one, Karmo talked about being on the streets “when the thugs come out.” In another, he called protestors “a bunch of victims.”
He also detailed the firearms he brought with him and said that if the police or the National Guard weren’t “handling business,” he was ready to act.