#BlackLivesMatter: Police in Wisconsin shoot Black man Jacob Blake in back multiple times, sparking protests

black lives matter

Aug 24

EEW Magazine Online // Black Lives Matter

An unarmed Black man was shot in the back and wounded by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin after breaking up a fight between two women.

The shooting of Jacob Blake, 29, captured via now viral cellphone video, sparked protests from outraged citizens. Officers fired tear gas as some angry demonstrators threw objects and set parked cars ablaze.

The clip of the shooting taken from across the street that occurred at approximately 5 p.m. Sunday shows Blake walking from the sidewalk around the front of his SUV to his driver-side door. Officers follow him with their guns drawn and shout at him. Blake then opens the door and leans into the SUV, and an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire while Blake has his back turned.

Seven shots are fired, and a Black woman can be seen screaming in the street and jumping up and down. EEW Magazine Online’s editorial team has chosen not to post the triggering and traumatizing video online.

Blake was taken to a Milwaukee hospital and was in serious condition, and three officers were placed on administrative leave which is a standard practice in officer-involved shootings.

Laquisha Booker, Blake’s partner, told NBC’s Milwaukee affiliate, WTMJ-TV, that their three children were in the back seat of the SUV when police shot him.

“That man just literally grabbed him by his shirt and looked the other way and was just shooting him with the kids in the back screaming,” Booker said.

Democratic governor Tony Evers issued a statement late Sunday condemning the shooting of Blake, saying in a statement, “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.”

Evers also indicated that he will take further action.

“I have said all along that although we must offer our empathy, equally important is our action. In the coming days, we will demand just that of elected officials in our state who have failed to recognize the racism in our state and our country for far too long.”

The shooting caused major unrest in the city of roughly 100,000 people which is along Lake Michigan and between Milwaukee and Chicago. By late Sunday, multiple vehicles were lit on fire, and windows were smashed along city thoroughfares as crowds faced off with law enforcement. Officers in riot gear stood in lines, and SWAT vehicles remained on the streets to move people away from city buildings who were not obeying the declaration of an overnight curfew.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice, which is investigating the shooting, did not release any details about the officers who were involved except to say they had been placed on administrative leave.

Following the shooting, social media posts showed neighbors gathering in the surrounding streets and shouting at police. Some could be heard chanting “No justice, no peace!” Others appeared to throw objects at officers and damage police vehicles.

Later Sunday, in a scene that mirrored the widespread protests over the police shootings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people, marchers headed to the Kenosha County Public Safety Building that houses the police and county sheriff’s departments. Authorities mostly blocked off the building, and some officers were positioned on the roof as protesters marched beside lines of honking cars as they made their way to the building.

On social media, Blake has been trending with the hashtag #SayHisName to bring awareness to what appears to be another unjust, uncalled for, and unnecessary shooting of an African American man.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.