Black Wisconsin man Jacob Blake is paralysed after being shot by US police, father says
- Blake’s father said his son was shot eight times during the Sunday evening confrontation with police in Kenosha that led to widespread protests
- Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said the officers must be held accountable, amid anger over the police killings of George Floyd and others
The father of Jacob Blake, a black man who was shot by police in Wisconsin, says his son was left paralysed from the waist down.
Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was told his son was shot eight times during the Sunday evening confrontation with police in Kenosha, which was captured on a now-viral cellphone video and led to two nights of unrest in the city between Milwaukee and Chicago. Protests were also held across the US, from Brooklyn, New York to Portland, Oregon.
The father, who is also named Jacob Blake and who was driving from Charlotte, North Carolina to Kenosha to be with his son.
He said his son now has “eight holes” in his body and is paralysed from the waist down, though doctors do not know if the paralysis will be permanent.
Anger over the shooting spilled into the streets of Kenosha for a second night on Monday, with police again firing tear gas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at law enforcement guarding the courthouse.
The southeastern Wisconsin city became the nation’s latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest after cellphone footage of police shooting Blake as he leaned into his SUV – apparently while three of his children were sitting in the vehicle – circulated widely on social media. The 29-year-old was taken to hospital.