Protests surge as man paralysed after shot by police in US
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Police responded with force overnight as demonstrators torched cars and set buildings ablaze in Kenosha, Wisconsin, demanding justice in the shooting of Jacob Blake, CNN reports.
Blake has been paralysed from the waist down, his father said, after protesters were met with police using teargas and flash-bang grenades on Monday night.
Protestors are silhouetted against a burning business during a second night of unrest in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake by police officers, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA, 24 August 2020. EPA-EFE/TANNEN MAURY
The shooting drew condemnation from the Democratic governor, Tony Evers, who called out 125 members of the national guard on Monday. As the protests stretched beyond an 8pm curfew, some protesters lit fires, threw bottles and shot fireworks at law enforcement guarding the courthouse, The Guardian reports.
Blake’s father, also called Jacob Blake, told the Chicago Sun Times his son had “eight holes” in his body and was paralysed from the waist down. It was unclear if the paralysis would be permanent.
“What justified all those shots?” Blake’s father said. “What justified doing that in front of my grandsons? What are we doing?” “I want to put my hand on my son’s cheek and kiss him on his forehead, and then I’ll be OK,” he said. “I’ll kiss him with my mask. The first thing I want to do is touch my son.”
