Shooting Leaves 2 Dead Amid Protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Written by SOURCE on August 26, 2020
Protests against police brutality continued overnight in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The protests began over the weekend after footage began circulating that showed police shooting Jacob Blake Jr. multiple times. Per previously reported witness accounts, Blake was attempting to intervene in an argument between two women when police arrived at the scene.
“We all watched the horrific video of Jacob Blake being shot in the back several times by Kenosha police,” prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, whose services have been retained by Blake’s family, said in a statement earlier this week. “Even worse, his three sons witnessed their father collapse after being riddled with bullets. Their irresponsible, reckless, and inhumane actions nearly cost the life of a man who was simply trying to do the right thing by intervening in a domestic incident. It’s a miracle he’s still alive.”
In a subsequent update, Crump said it would “take a miracle” for Blake to ever walk again. In a news conference on Tuesday, it was announced that the 29-year-old’s spinal cord had been severed and his vertebrae shattered.
Protesters, as well as Crump, are now calling for all involved officers to be held accountable for their actions. As protests continue in the area, several outlets were reporting early Wednesday morning that three people had been shot—two fatally—amid the Kenosha protests.
The Kenosha News said that two people are dead and one injured with non-life threatening injuries after an incident Tuesday evening in the area of 63rd Street and Sheridan Road. While the investigation into the shooting is said to be still in progress, with no identities having been released, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said early Wednesday morning that both the suspected shooter and one of the people killed were white.
Additionally, at least one man—presumably the same shooter—is described as having used “a long gun” to open fire on protesters. Police, meanwhile, have been documented as using tear gas and rubber bullets during the protests.
