US President Donald Trump has said on a visit to Kenosha in Wisconsin that recent anti-police protests in the city were acts of "domestic terror" committed by violent mobs.
"These are not acts of peaceful protest but really domestic terror," Mr Trump said.
He was describing multiple nights of angry demonstrations last week after a white police officer in Kenosha shot a black man in the back at close range.
Jacob Blake was shot seven times at point blank range while three of his children watched.
Last week, two protesters were shot dead after clashing with an armed teenager.
Local leaders had asked Mr Trump to stay away warning it could inflame tension.
Crowds lined the barricaded footpaths along the street where the president's motorcade passed, with Trump supporters on one side and Black Lives Matter protesters on the other, yelling at one another across the street.
Under heavy security, Mr Trump visited a burnt-out shop where he told the owners "we'll help you rebuild".
"These gentlemen did a fantastic job," he said pointing to sheriff's officers, a reference to law enforcement units that quelled the violent protests.
"This is a great area, a great state," Mr Trump added.
Meeting the Blake family during his high-profile visit was not on the president's public itinerary but just before leaving Washington he suggested it was possible.
"I don't know yet. We'll see," he said when asked. "We'll be making that determination."
Mr Trump said this evening that the federal government would provide $42m to support public safety and law enforcement in Wisconsin.
He also said the administration would provide nearly $4m to help businesses damaged in the turmoil and $1m to the city's law enforcement.
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Last night, Mr Trump said the the 17-year-old charged with the double shooting was trying to get away and would have been killed by demonstrators if he had not opened fire.
"He was trying to get away from them ... And then he fell and then they very violently attacked him," Mr Trump said at a briefing.
"I guess he was in very big trouble ... He probably would have been killed."
Kyle Rittenhouse has been charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide.
His lawyer has said he plans to argue self-defence.
Democrats and police reform advocates see Kenosha as a symbol of institutional racism.
They see Mr Rittenhouse, a Trump supporter, as emblematic of right-wing militias that are increasingly brazen about brandishing weaponry in political settings and attempting to act as amateur law enforcers.
Mr Trump, however, comes with a different priority: countering what he has repeatedly described as the "anarchy" in Democratic-led cities.
But Mr Trump controversially has refused to condemn the growing presence of armed vigilantes and militias on the streets, calling the alleged killings by Mr Rittenhouse "an interesting situation".
