Police shooting victim Jacob Blake says ‘it hurts to breathe' in video from his hospital bed
Jacob Blake, the young black man shot in the back at least seven times by a white cop in the US, has spoken publicly for the first time from his hospital bed.
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Jacob Blake, the young black man shot in the back multiple times by a white police officer in Wisconsin, said “it hurts to breathe” and that he was in constant pain in a video message from his hospital bed.
Despite his injuries, which will likely leave him paralysed from the waist down, Blake told his supporters “there’s a lot more life to live.”
“Your life, and not only just your life, your legs – something that you need to move around and forward in life – can be taken from you like this, man,” Blake said, snapping his fingers, in the video released on Saturday by his lawyer Ben Crump.
Wearing a hospital gown, Blake said he had staples in his back and stomach.
“Twenty-four hours, every 24 hours it’s pain, it’s nothing but pain,” he said.
“It hurts to breathe, it hurts to sleep, it hurts to move from side-to-side, it hurts to eat,” he said in the video, which has more than 400,000 views on Twitter.
“Please, I’m telling you, change your lives out there. We can stick together, make some money, make everything easier for our people out there, man, because there’s so much time that’s been wasted.”
The 29-year-old was gravely wounded when a policeman fired seven or eight shots at him as he tried to get into his car on August 23 in Kenosha, in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin. Three of his children were in the car at the time.
The scene was filmed by bystanders and the two police officers who were trying to stop or arrest Blake have been suspended.
Coming three months after the death of George Floyd, Blake’s shooting has touched off a new round of demonstrations in several cities.
Protests in Kenosha began peacefully the night Blake was shot, but descended into violence for several nights running.
It culminated on August 25 when two people were shot dead.
A 17-year-old white Trump supporter has been arrested and charged with murder.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke with Blake by phone on Thursday and met with his family.
COPS BLAME PROTESTERS FOR DEATHS
Kenosha’s police chief has blamed protesters for the deaths during riots in the Wisconsin city — saying the bloodbath only happened because protesters defied a state-of-emergency curfew.
“Everybody involved was out after the curfew,” Chief Daniel Miskinis told reporters when asked about the two killed and one injured, allegedly by a teenage member of a vigilante militia group who said he was protecting businesses.
“The point is, the curfew is in place to protect. Had persons not been out involved in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened.
“The result of it is two people dead”.
Law enforcement had thanked the heavily armed militia just minutes before shooting broke out, while telling protesters they were trespassers who had to leave, viral video showed.
Law enforcement has vowed to crack down on curfew-breakers and officers — including some in plainclothes and unmarked cars — and have started “yanking” protesters from the streets, according to local reports.
VICTIMS IDENTIFIED BY FAMILY AND FRIENDS
The three victims in the Kenosha riots shooting have been identified by family and friends — with one a member of a protest group called the People’s Revolution.
The man died after being shot in the head during a confrontation with a vigilante teen and was identified in Facebook tributes as local dad Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“May you forever be with the angels and rest easy bro. I love you!” his sister wrote on Facebook, the paper said.
Rosenbaum — who only moved to Kenosha a year ago — leaves behind a fiancee and a young daughter.
Friends previously identified Anthony Huber, 26, as the man shot in the chest after trying to disarm the suspected shooter with a skateboard.
Meanwhile, the lone shooting victim to survive the bloodbath has been identified as Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, also a member of the People’s Revolution, the Journal Sentinel said.
Grosskreutz was blasted in the right arm — and was the man pictured howling in agony while still holding a handgun.
Teenager Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide over the protest shootings.
Mr Rittenhouse was part of a group of armed men at Kenosha protests.
The New York Post identified the men as part of a local militia group and reportedly hails from Antioch, Illinois — about 20km away from Kenosha.
Dramatic video and images from the Wisconsin city show an armed man — allegedly Mr Rittenhouse — walking down the street with protesters in pursuit after one man was shot in the head, according to reports.
The gunman stumbles and is attacked by protesters, then opens fire and strikes two more people.
One video showed a man sitting on the ground bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to his arm as police cars approached him with officers shouting “Back it up” to onlookers.
The injured man was helped to his feet by the officers.
Another showed footage of a man, who appeared to be carrying a rifle, falling to the ground before several gunshots could be heard as people fled from the scene telling one another to take cover.
KEY EVENTS LEADING UP TO SHOOTING
Prosecutors say Blake was carrying a knife and that they were responding to his girlfriend’s 911 call for help.
Wisconsin authorities offered their first official account of the shooting, saying one officer fired the seven shots after police tasered Blake because he was armed with a knife.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice said Kenosha police were called to the area “after a female caller reported that her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises.”
They said after he was tasered, Blake “walked around his vehicle, opened the driver’s side door, and leaned forward”.
“While holding onto Mr Blake’s shirt, Officer Rusten Sheskey fired his service weapon seven times,” they said in a statement.
“Officer Sheskey fired the weapon into Mr Blake’s back. No other officer fired their weapon. Kenosha Police Department does not have body cameras, therefore the officers were not wearing body cameras.”
Police said they recovered a knife after he was shot.
TRUMP SENDS IN TROOPS AMID VIOLENT PROTESTS
US President Donald Trump sent the National Guard and federal agents into Kenosha.
“We will NOT stand for looting, arson, violence, and lawlessness on American streets. My team just got off the phone with Governor Evers who agreed to accept federal assistance (Portland should do the same!),” Mr Trump tweeted at the time.
“TODAY, I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, WI to restore LAW and ORDER!”
It came as Mr Trump’s opponent Joe Biden slammed Blake’s shooting but called for an end to the violent uprising it has sparked in Kenosha, about 60km south of Milwaukee.
With law and order increasingly becoming one of the key issues of the US presidential race, Mr Biden recorded a video message to supporters condemning the latest chaos.
“Is this what we want America to be? Is this the country we should be?” he said.
“Protesting brutally is a right and absolutely necessary. But burning down communities is not protest it’s needless violence.”
‘A MIRACLE IF JACOB BLAKE WALKS AGAIN’
Blake is paralysed from the waist down and doctors don’t know if his injury is permanent, his father said.
“I want to put my hand on my son’s cheek and kiss him on his forehead, and then I’ll be OK,” the dad, Jacob Sr, who is making his way to Kenosha from Charlotte, North Carolina, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
“I’ll kiss him with my mask. The first thing I want to do is touch my son,” he added.
He said that when he spoke with his son, the younger Blake had been preparing for his son’s eighth birthday party.
Hours later, he learned that Blake had been shot by an officer as he tried to get into his SUV.
And just 18 minutes later, he said he saw the shocking viral footage of the shooting.
“What justified all those shots?” the father told the paper, saying the young man has “eight holes” in his body.
“What justified doing that in front of my grandsons? What are we doing?”
Some witnesses have said Blake was just trying to break up a fight that evening.
Blake, who has seven brothers and five sisters, was a “happy little dude” when he grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, his dad told the Sun-Times.
Mr Blake had been living in Kenosha for about three years and has six children between the ages 3 and 13, he said, adding that family is “definitely” important to him.
“If you were in need of something and my son had it, he would not hesitate to give it to you,” the dad said. “He’s a very giving individual.”
Police were “the flint as well as the gasoline” that sparked the violent protests in Kenosha, his father said.
“Those police officers that shot my son like a dog in the street are responsible for everything that has happened in the city of Kenosha,” he told the paper.
“My son is not responsible for it. My son didn’t have a weapon. He didn’t have a gun.”
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said he had seen no information to suggest Blake was carrying a knife or another weapon, but that the case remains under investigation.
Blake’s mother said it would take a “miracle” for her son to walk again after one of the policeman’s bullets shattered Blake’s spine, and others damaged his stomach, colon, liver and arm.
‘SHOT MERCILESSLY’ AS SONS WATCHED
Blake’s three young sons were in the car at the time and witnessed the shooting, lawyer Ben Crump and the American Civil Liberties Union said.
Mr Blake was flown to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee and was in serious condition, Kenosha police said.
“Tonight, Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in broad daylight, in Kenosha, Wisconsin,” Governor Tony Evers said on Twitter.
BREAKING: Large protests erupting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following an incident where police shot a man 7 times in the back; individual is hospitalized in critical condition, reason for the shooting is unknown. pic.twitter.com/Ig5loRpW3U
— SV News 🚨 (@SVNewsAlerts) August 24, 2020
“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.”
US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has said that the police shooting of Mr Blake, “calls for an immediate, full and transparent investigation and the officers must be held accountable.”
“Equal justice has not been real for Black Americans and so many others. We are at an inflection point. We must dismantle systemic racism. It is the urgent task before us,” Mr Biden said.
The two police officers reportedly involved were placed on leave.
Police said the shooting occurred when they were responding to a domestic incident at about 5:11pm local time (8:11am AEST).
Mobile phone footage of the incident shows a Black man followed by two police officers with guns drawn as he goes around the front of a grey SUV.
As he opens the door and tries to get into the driver’s seat one of the officers pulls on his T-shirt and he appears to be shot repeatedly in the back.
Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump said Mr Blake had been trying to break up a fight between two women as his three sons watched on.
This is 29-year-old Jacob Blake who was shot by Kenosha police. His fiancé shared this picture with us. pic.twitter.com/6Si9lkCPFu
— Sarah Thamer (@SarahThamerWISN) August 24, 2020
“They saw a cop shoot their father. They will be traumatised forever,” Mr Crump said on Twitter.
Mr Crump represents the family of George Floyd, a black man who died on May 25 when a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
The shooting sparked outrage in Kenosha, as protesters gathered at the scene of the shooting. Several businesses in the area were vandalised and about 50 cars were set on fire at a local car lot, local news station WDJT reported.
On scene of an officer-involved shooting in Kenosha. We’re at 28th ave & 40th street working to gather more information. pic.twitter.com/8OpEqK7vtK
— Sarah Thamer (@SarahThamerWISN) August 24, 2020
“I know he’s got kids and a girl. I never had a problem with him. I always see him every day. (He) parks right behind me on the street,” one neighbour told the outlet.
After nightfall in Kenosha, a crowd of protesters faced off against riot police, according to footage posted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Kenosha city later declared an overnight curfew.
Wisconsin Department of Justice said its criminal investigation division was investigating the shooting.
“The involved officers have been placed on administrative leave,” it said in a statement.
The death of Floyd ignited massive global protests against racism and police brutality.
ARMED PROTESTERS CONFRONT SWAT TEAM
As riots raged in Kenosha, protesters armed with powerful rifles confronted an armoured SWAT truck leaving it in flames.
A line of protesters blocked the path of a sheriff’s department BearCat vehicle as at least two in the crowd approached with AR-style weapons, according to footage posted by local reporter Drew Hernandez.
“Get me a gas mask!” one of the armed men shouts as he prowls around the armoured vehicle, appearing so twitchy that another rifle-carrying protester warns him not to point it straight at the officers, reports the New York Post.
“They’re gonna deploy,” someone in the crowd calls out — as one of the officers opens the hatch and throws the first of several tear gas grenades out to ultimately clear the path.
Other footage also caught by Hernandez shows looting and a library completely smashed up — as well as rows of cars in flames in what he called “like a scene out of hell.”
One fire was also filmed raging around a large Black Lives Matter sign.
“A perfect summary of the chaos in America in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Welcome to the Mob’s America,” the Columbia Bugle tweeted.