UN calls Blake shooting excessive as US National Guard deployed

GENEVA: The UN human rights office said on Friday that the images of the shooting of Black man Jacob Blake in Wisconsin appeared to show that the police officer had used “excessive” force.

Sunday’s shooting, captured on video, showed Blake being shot in the back by a white police officer as three of his young children watched. “From the images available that we’ve seen at this point, the police appear to have used force against Jacob Blake that would seem to be excessive,” Rupert Colville said at a virtual briefing in Geneva, saying the use of force did not appear to comply with international standards.

“It also seems highly possible that the force used against Blake could be discriminatory in nature,” he added.

The shooting of Blake has triggered unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with a teenager shooting three demonstrators, two fatally, on Tuesday night. The assailant has been charged with homicide.

Asked to comment on the incident, Colville described it as an unfortunate example of “insufficient and lax” gun control measures in the US, saying it has issued repeated warnings to prevent such events.

About 150 National Guard troops were deployed to Kenosha on Thursday as part of a massive effort to ensure a second night of calm after demonstrations continued for three straight nights.

Capping a week of protests , civil rights advocates will highlight violence against Black Americans at a commemoration of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Thousands are expected at the Lincoln Memorial on Friday, where the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his historic “I Have A Dream” address, a vision of racial equality that remains elusive for millions of Americans.