Videos show scenes from Wisconsin after police shoot Black man in back multiple times
Hundreds of people assembled in the streets after video emerged appearing to show Kenosha, Wisconsin, police shooting Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back several times as he leaned into a car Sunday evening.
Seven shots are heard in the video.
After the shooting, videos posted to social media showed people gathered in the streets and surrounding police cars, while chanting “no justice, no peace” and “this is what democracy looks like.”
A reporter for CBS affiliate WDJT reported that 50 cars at a car lot and a nearby building were burned following the shooting.
The county declared a state of emergency curfew from 10:15 p.m. until 7 a.m. Monday morning, WDJT reported.
Roughly 100 people protested in front of the Kenosha Public Safety Building, where a line of police dressed in riot gear and face masks moved people back from the building, occasionally using their batons and shields, USA Today reported.
SWAT vehicles patrolled to the streets to keep people away from city buildings, according to the outlet. Around 11 p.m., a dump truck went up flames. Crowds dispersed when a tire exploded, making a loud boom, USA Today reported.
Video also shows police deploying tear gas on protesters who gathered outside the police department, Storyful Newswire reported. People can be heard coughing in the video as a cloud rolls through the scene.
Another video obtained by Storyful appears to show a police officer being knocked to the ground by a projectile amid protests.
Police were responding to a “domestic incident” in Kenosha when the shooting occurred, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said. After Blake was shot, he was taken by Life Flight to a hospital in Milwaukee and is in serious condition.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Blake’s three children were in the car when he was shot.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers condemned the shooting in a statement posted to Twitter.
“Tonight, Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in broad daylight, in Kenosha, Wisconsin,” Evers said in a statement posted to Twitter. “While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country.
“We stand with all those who have and continue to demand justice, equity, and accountability for Black lives in our country—lives like those of George Floyd, of Breonna Taylor, Tony Robinson, Dontre Hamilton, Ernest Lacy, and Sylville Smith. And we stand against excessive use of force and immediate escalation when engaging with Black Wisconsinites.”
A person identified by WDJT as Blake’s cousin posted to social media that he is out of surgery and in the ICU.
All officers have been placed on administrative leave and the state Department of Criminal Investigation has launched an investigation into the incident, aiming to have a report ready for the prosecutor in 30 days, officials said.
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 8:58 AM with the headline "Videos show scenes from Wisconsin after police shoot Black man in back multiple times."