Two people were killed and one was injured during the third night of protesting over the police shooting of Black American Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
According to the City of Kenosha Police Department, there were “reports of shots being fired” at 11:45 pm. The names of the victims have not been released, while the police investigation is active and ongoing.
Demonstrations were sparked after 29-year-old Blake was shot seven times in the back while entering his car. Footage of the shooting shows Blake walking away from police officers before entering his SUV where his three children were sitting.
“Miraculously, because I imagine you have all seen the video, Jacob is alive,” Attorney Patrick Salvi Jr. said.
Blake’s family has demanded the arrest of the police officer responsible for shooting Blake, in addition to firing the by-standing officers. As of now, the officers have been placed on administrative leave.
“People question why we have to say Black Lives Matter: this is why,” National Civil Rights Attorney Benjamin Crump said.
This comes three months after the death of George Floyd, fueling momentum for racial justice.
Earlier Tuesday, Salvi and Crump, Blake’s family attorneys, said he was paralyzed from the waist down because bullets severed his spinal cord and shattered some of his vertebrae. “It is going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake Jr. to ever walk again,” Crump said. “He is currently in surgery as we speak, still struggling to sustain his life, and to hopefully become some resemblance of the man he once was.”
Salvi revealed there was extensive damage to Blake’s kidney and liver after sustaining bullets to the stomach, requiring nearly his entire colon and small intestine to be removed.
Safety During Protests
As demonstrations are expected to continue, safety is of high concern to Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth.
“If you want to protest peacefully, by all means go out and do it. It’s your right. But don’t be a part of this destructive force that’s burning our community. That’s not a productive path to justice,” he said in a statement.
“Just today, our county executive, Jim Kreuser, and our mayor, John Antaramian, worked with the governor to bring more National Guard troops to Kenosha tonight and in the coming days. And we are working to bring in help from federal authorities as quickly as possible.”
Up to 250 members of the state’s National Guard are expected to be present.
“We are not sitting idly, watching the destruction of our community. We’re making every effort to make it stop, and I hope you will too.”
