Video shows Wis. man shot in back at least 7 times
KENOSHA, Wis. – Three months after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd, setting off national protests, police in Wisconsin shot a Black man in the back as he got into a vehicle with his children inside, according to video and a statement from an attorney representing the man’s family.
Violent unrest broke out after the shooting of Jacob Blake, 29, was widely shown on social media Sunday evening. Gov. Tony Evers called out the National Guard.
The incident propelled Wisconsin, a battleground state in the presidential election, into the center of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said the shots “pierce the soul of our nation.”
“Equal justice has not been real for Black Americans and so many others,” Biden said. “We are at an inflection point. We must dismantle
systemic racism. It is the urgent task before us. We must fight to honor the ideals laid in the original American promise, which we are yet to attain: that all men and women are created equal, but more importantly that they must be treated equally.”
Blake, who was shot at close range at least seven times, was in stable condition Monday after surgery, his father said in a Facebook video.
“Stable. Still here,” said his father, also named Jacob. “You can’t take nothing that’s not yours if you’re not supposed to get it.”
Angry crowds gathered after Blake was shot shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday.
At least three garbage trucks were burned, and windows were shattered at several businesses. Spraypainted on the courthouse: “They kill us because they fear us,” “Honor the dead” and “Be water, spread fire.”
The unrest continued Monday as crowds tried to shove their way into the city’s safety building for an afternoon news conference. A door was knocked off its hinges, and police filled the doorway, using pepper spray to get people to back up.
The events mirrored those around the country after Floyd’s death.
Video sparks unrest
A video posted on social media shows Blake walking to a gray van. There is nothing in his hands. Two police officers follow him, their guns drawn.
As Blake opens the door to get into the van, an officer grabs his shirt, then shoots him in the back at close range. Seven gunshots can be heard, followed by a horn as Blake slumps forward. A woman who followed them to the van screams.
The man who claimed to have made the video, Raysean White, 22, said he saw Blake scuffling with three officers and heard them yell, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” before the gunfire erupted. He said he didn’t see a knife in Blake’s hands.
Blake’s family retained attorney Benjamin Crump, who also represents Floyd’s family. Crump said three of Blake’s six children were in the van when the shooting occurred.
“They saw a cop shoot their father,” Crump tweeted. “They will be traumatized forever. We cannot let officers violate their duty to PROTECT us. Our kids deserve better!!”
According to police radio traffic, officers were dispatched at 5:10 p.m. Sunday in response to “family trouble.”
“Complaint says Jacob Blake isn’t supposed to be there and he took the complainant’s keys and has refused,
“Do (police) see something we don’t see on the video?” Justin Nix, associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Nebraska-Omaha
is refusing to give them back,” the dispatcher said.
The caller said Blake was leaving. The caller gave the dispatcher Blake’s license plate number but not a description of the vehicle. About five minutes after the call came in, police radioed that shots had been fired and they needed backup.
At 5:18 p.m., the first ambulance was dispatched. A man who lives across the street said about 15 minutes before the shooting, Blake was barbecuing with his kids. The neighbor, who did not want his name used for fear of police retaliation, went to a store. When he returned shortly after 5 p.m., Blake was trying to break up a fight. Seven or eight police officers arrived. They wanted to talk with Blake, but he wasn’t interested and started putting his kids in the van to leave, the neighbor said. “He’d be out here with us right now. It’s a bad dream. I’m just waiting for him to come outside,” the man said Monday.
Police are generally permitted to use deadly force if someone poses a threat to the safety of officers or others. In most departments, shooting someone in the back is prohibited most of the time, but there are exceptions.
Justin Nix, an associate professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of NebraskaOmaha, said the video raised several questions.
“When you watch it, it’s a 20-second clip of a larger interaction, and the questions that ran through my mind were: ‘What are they doing there? Who called them, and what was relayed to dispatch, and what was relayed from dispatch to the officers?’ ”
He said he could tell Blake was not armed.
“I can see he’s trying to get to his vehicle,” he said. “Then it happens really quickly, one officer tugging on his shirt, then you hear the gunshots . ... Do they see something we don’t see on the video?”
If they saw Blake reaching for a gun, he said, their use of force might have been justified.
“Officers can use deadly force in Kenosha and elsewhere when they believe there’s an imminent threat to their own lives or the lives of others,” Nix said. “It could be appropriate if he’s almost got his hands on a gun and they think he’s about to turn and shoot. Just saying he was shot in the back, there could conceivably be a justification for that – and I’m not saying there was.”
National and state leaders react
Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, echoed Biden’s call for an immediate investigation and accountability for the officers involved.
“Jacob Blake should not be fighting for his life right now,” she tweeted. “Jacob, our nation is praying for you and your entire family.”
Gov. Evers called lawmakers into session Monday to take action on a package of bills aimed at reducing police violence.
They’re considering legislation that would ban police chokeholds and no-knock search warrants and make it harder for overly aggressive officers to move from one job to another.
Evers said Sunday, “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.”
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he’s forming a task force focusing on racial disparities, educational opportunities, public safety and police policies and standards.
Such task forces typically take months to develop legislation.
“This is not a time for political posturing or to suggest defunding law enforcement. When a community is hurting, the most important thing that we can do is to listen,” Vos, R-Rochester, said in a statement. “We must find a path forward as a society that brings everyone together.”