On Sunday (Aug. 23) evening, horrendous news — and with accompanying video footage — surfaced that an unarmed Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin was tased and then shot several times in the back after he broke up a fight between two women.
Local news outlet KenoshaNews.com claims that the shooting occurred at the intersection of 40th Street and 28th Avenue right before 5:30 p.m. local time. Neighbors told the online publication that the incident, unfortunately, took place right in front of his children. A reporter for WISN, a news channel in Wisconsin, later confirmed that the victim is 29-year-old Jacob Blake.
After cops shot him, he was taken by Flight for Life to a hospital. At the time of this article, Blake is in serious condition.
The police department issued a statement after the shooting, which reads: “Officers provided immediate aid to the person. The person was transported via Flight for Life to Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee. The person is in serious condition. 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 Wisconsin Department of Justice (D.O.J.), Division of Criminal Investigation (D.C.I.) will be investigating this officer involved shooting.”
Since the shooting took place, protests have broken out in the city. “It goes back to the Emmett Tills. We’re tired of it. Rodney King. We’re tired of it. And right now, this is the wrong generation that this is happening to. The frustration is boiling to the top and we’re sick and tired,” Clyde McLemore, Black Lives Matter of Lake County, Illinois; said to CBS 58.
Residents of Kenosha are now calling for the firing of the cops who pulled the trigger on Blake for what appeared to be no just reason. People also want them to be arrested and charged.
Warning: The video below of Blake’s shooting is very graphic.