The United States is once again grappling with the reality of racist and violent policing caught on video. A Black man named Jacob Blake is fighting for his life after Kenosha, Wisconsin, police shot him in the back seven times as he tried to get into his car—a car carrying his three sons, who now have to live with the trauma of seeing their father shot.
In the video, taken Sunday afternoon, police follow Blake with guns drawn as he walks around the front of a vehicle, then grab the back of his shirt and shoot him in the back as he tries to enter the car. Kenosha police predictably described it as an “officer-involved shooting,” because taking responsibility for their actions is not what police are all about. Kenosha County then declared a state of emergency curfew overnight Sunday as protests spread.
“Tonight, Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in broad daylight, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kathy and I join his family, friends, and neighbors in hoping earnestly that he will not succumb to his injuries. 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,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement.
Blake was taken by helicopter to a Milwaukee hospital, where he had surgery and was moved to the ICU. Police in riot gear responded to protesters gathering at the site of the shooting, and protests spread around the city, with police spraying tear gas and protesters breaking into a government building and setting garbage trucks on fire as they were used to block traffic.
On Friday, Lafayette, Louisiana, police shot 31-year-old Trayford Pellerin 11 times, killing him. The killing of Pellerin and shooting of Blake comes after months of protest over the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
