Police shooting: Violence, unrest after Wisconsin man Jacob Blake shot in back

Outrage, unrest in Wisconsin as video shows an unarmed man being shot 7 times in the back | WARNING: GRAPHIC

Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by US police. Picture: Twitter/CBS and Blake family

Violence erupted overnight in Wisconsin as a video circulated on social media showing local police shooting a black man multiple times in the back after responding to a domestic incident on Sunday.

Officials in Wisconsin identified the injured man as Jacob Blake. He was said to be in serious condition as of Monday morning.

A video of the event that spread online shows Mr Blake in a white tank top and black shorts walking away from several officers with weapons drawn as bystanders yell in the background. The man walks around a grey SUV and attempts to get behind the wheel when an officer grabs his tank top and shoots him multiple times from behind.

It isn’t clear from video how many officers fired on Mr Blake, as several appear to have their weapons drawn.

Gov. Tony Evers said Monday that he had authorised a limited mobilisation of the Wisconsin National Guard to assist local Kenosha authorities and protect critical infrastructure.

By midday Monday, about a dozen protesters with Black Lives Matter signs continued to gather in this lakefront city in the southeastern corner of the state, not far from the border with Illinois. The protesters began with kneeling and prayer.

In the neighbourhood where the shooting took place, residents sat on porches or stood on grassy lawns, chatting among themselves or describing what they’d seen the night before to reporters.

But there was little sign of the overnight crowds in which people yelled at and threw objects at police, who used gas on protesters.

The Kenosha Police Department declared a state-of-emergency curfew for Monday night beginning at 8pm until 7am the following morning, according to the police department’s Twitter feed.

In a statement, the Kenosha Police Department said officers had been called to the area Sunday for a domestic incident around 5:11pm and “provided immediate aid” to the man after they shot him.

“Kenosha Sheriff’s Department and Wisconsin State Patrol were requested immediately so that the scene could be turned over to an agency, other than Kenosha Police,” the police department said.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice, which is investigating the shooting, said the officers have been placed on administrative leave.

A still image shows Mr Blake trying to get into his care as police chase him. Picture: Twitter

Mr Evers, a Democrat, also called in a press briefing Monday on the Republican-controlled state legislature to gather in a special session to vote on legislation he had previously proposed that would improve police accountability in the state. Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is Black, said at the same briefing that he felt the shooting of Mr Blake “felt like a vendetta against our community.”

Earlier in the day, Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he was convening a task force on racial disparities and policing standards, among other things. Mr Vos, a Republican, said he has Mr Blake in his prayers, adding, “It’s essential we get a complete picture of what happened.”

Both the governor and Mr Vos separately asked demonstrators to keep protests peaceful.

“Every person should be able to make their voices heard without any fear of feeling unsafe,” Mr Evers said. “Please do so peacefully, and please wear your masks and keep social distance as best you can.”

Kenosha mayor John Antaramian uses a bull horn to talk to people gathered in front of the police station. Picture: AFP

In Kenosha’s downtown area Monday, the remains of burned vehicles sat in front of the Car Source auto shop. Next door, the closed down Mangia Restaurant had also burned. A high school across the street had its windows and doors covered with plywood, while workers at businesses on surrounding blocks were busy covering their own windows in anticipation of further unrest.

Arend Campuzano, 24 years old, lives on a corner near where the event took place and said he came home shortly afterwards Sunday to find his normally quiet block crammed with cars and a crowd of people protesting.

Kenosha County Sheriff’s officers stand in front of protesters at the county court house. Picture: AFP

“I felt the people’s anger,” he said. “I could feel it in the air, you could see the tension.” Donnell Lauderdale said Mr Blake, who lives in the same building, popped by his place Sunday to issue an invite to his son’s birthday. Their sons attend the same school, he said.

“We spoke, chatted it up a little bit,” Mr Lauderdale recalled. “He had his son’s birthday presents in his hands and he was ready to celebrate his son’s birthday, yesterday before that happened.”

Mr Lauderdale then went to the grocery store, he said. When he came back, his street was full of police cars and an ambulance.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” Mr Lauderdale said. “It was too much commotion out here so I talked to his baby’s mother, his kids’ mother, and she is cry[ing], hysterical — told us that they shot him seven times. About no more than about five minutes later somebody comes showing me the video, and it hurtled. It hurtled.”

Former vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said in a statement Monday, “This morning, the nation wakes up yet again with grief and outrage that yet another Black American is a victim of excessive force. This calls for an immediate, full and transparent investigation and the officers must be held accountable.”

Ben Crump, a civil-rights and personal-injury attorney whom Mr Blake’s family has retained, said Mr Blake was helping de-escalate the domestic incident when police initially used a stun gun on him. He was walking away from officers to check on his children when police began shooting, Mr Crump said.

A man looks over a burnt out car lot in Kenosha after a night of civil unrest. Picture: AFP

“Their irresponsible, reckless, and inhumane actions nearly cost the life of a man who was simply trying to do the right thing by intervening in a domestic incident. It’s a miracle he’s still alive,” Mr Crump said in a statement. “How many more of these tragic ‘while Black’ tragedies will it take until the racial profiling and undervaluing of Black lives by the police finally stops?”

On Monday, the Kenosha County Courthouse and Administration Building were closed “due to damage sustained in last night’s civil unrest,” county officials said.

The violence comes amid heightened tensions over race and policing following the mass demonstrations set off by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. Mr Floyd, a Black man, died after a white officer knelt on his neck while law enforcement responded to an alleged forgery in progress.

His killing sparked racial-justice protests across the U.S. and overseas that in some instances became violent.

Sheriff's officers stand guard in front of the Kenosha County Court House as people protest about the shooting of Jacob Blake. Picture: Getty Images

WSJ