He needs ‘a miracle’
Jacob Blake will need an act of God to walk after being shot and paralyzed by a Wisconsin cop, a lawyer for his family said during an emotional press conference Tuesday.
“It’s going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake Jr. to ever walk again,” attorney Ben Crump said. “He is currently in surgery as we speak, still struggling to sustain his life and to hopefully regain some resemblance of the man he once was.”
Bullets fired by the white police officer in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday penetrated Blake’s stomach and severed his spinal cord, the lawyer said, adding that most of the 29year-old’s colon and small intestine had to be removed in surgery.
“They shot my son seven times,” Jacob Blake Sr. said, pausing repeatedly to fight back tears. “Seven times, like he didn’t matter. But my son matters. He’s a human being and he matters.”
The family, which plans to file a civil lawsuit in the case, is demanding that all three cops at the scene be kicked off the force and that the unidentified officer who fired at least seven shots into Blake’s back be arrested and charged with attempted murder.
Blake’s mother, however, used the opportunity to make a tearful call for an end to the racial division that has plagued the country.
“How dare we hate what we are? We are human,” she said. “God did not make one type of tree, or flower, or fish, or horse, or grass, or rocks. How dare you ask him to make one type of human that looks just like you?
“I’m not talking to just Caucasian people,” she said. “I’m talking to everyone. White, black, Japanese, Chinese, red, brown. No one is superior to the other. The only supreme being is God himself.”
Meanwhile Tuesday, the man who shot now-viral video of the encounter shared how cops told
Blake to “Drop the knife” though he didn’t appear to be carrying one.
“I didn’t see a knife,” the man, who asked not to be identified, told WITI-TV. “I was looking at his hands when they said ‘Drop the knife.’ I said, ‘Does he have a knife?’ I didn’t see one.”
A new video of the encounter emerged Tuesday showing Blake briefly scuffle with two cops before walking to the driver’s side of his vehicle — the officers following him with guns drawn before one unleashed at least seven shots.
Blake’s fiancée, Laquisha Booker, told WTMJ-TV that he was shot “for no reason” in front of three of his children, who were in his SUV.
Blake was airlifted to a local hospital and underwent surgery.
His shooting sparked two nights of violent protests and drew the ire of high-profile celebrities, including LA Lakers superstar LeBron James, who called the incident “just f--ked up” at a press conference.
“We are scared as black people in America,” James said. “Black men, black women, black kids — we are terrified.”
The shooting also sparked talk of a boycott in the NBA. The Toronto Raptors held a team meeting to discuss boycotting the first game of their second-round series against the Boston Celtics.
In the NFL, the Detroit Lions canceled their practice Tuesday to protest Blake’s shooting, holding a team press conference outside the team’s training facility in Allen Park, Mich.
The shooting also prompted a wave of financial support for Blake and his family. A GoFundMe page posted Monday morning had raised more than $1.3 million by Tuesday night from some 46,200 donors
The page, posted by Blake’s mother, had an initial fundraising goal of $250,000, but was increased to $1 million — and later to $2 million.