Police shooting of black man in Wisconsin, U.S. sparks protest

On August 23, Jacob Blake, a black man, was shot seven times by police officer in Kenosha in the U.S. State of Wisconsin. Protests against police violence and racial injustice erupted in Wisconsin and further escalated across the nation.

Blake was shot multiple times by police as he tried to enter a parked vehicle on a residential street. His 3-, 5- and 8-year-old sons were inside vehicle during police shooting. Blake was hospitalized in serious condition. His family’s attorney said that "it's going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake Jr. to ever walk again." The legal team plans to file a civil lawsuit against the police department over the shooting.

Blake’s father condemned the shooting as a "senseless attempted murder." "They shot my son seven times ... seven times like he didn't matter, but my son matters, he's a human being and he matters," he said.

Cellphone footage of police shooting Jacob Blake has circulated widely on social media, provoking new nationwide protests in the U.S. three months after the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer touched off a nationwide reckoning over racial injustice. In Kenosha, the U.S.’s latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest, demonstrators gathered and demanded justice for Jacob Blake overnight. Dozens of cars in the downtown district were set on fire overnight and businesses were looted. Blake's mother called for peaceful protests, saying "violence doesn’t reflect my son."

On Tuesday afternoon, Wisconsin governor Tony Evers declared a state of emergency in response to riots in the city of Kenosha. However, just before midnight Tuesday, two people were killed and another was wounded as shots rang out during protests in Kenosha. Later on Wednesday night, Wisconsin government authorized 500 members of the Wisconsin National Guard to "support local law enforcement in Kenosha County."

The Division of Criminal Investigation under the Wisconsin Department of Justice is investigating the case. The division aims to provide an incident report to the prosecutor within 30 days. The U.S. Justice Department and FBI agents in Wisconsin are also gathering information in order to determine whether a federal civil rights investigation will be launched.

On Wednesday night, authorities revealed that Blake had a knife in his car, and had opened the driver’s side door before Kenosha police officer opened fire. According to the press release issued by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession “during the investigation following the initial incident.”

[ Editor: SRQ ]