Currents News Staff
Protests are occurring across the country as demonstrators voice their anger about the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Blake, who was shot in front of his children, is hospitalized and an investigation is underway.
Police say they responded to a domestic incident on the evening of August 23. Shortly afterward at least one officer fired a weapon into Blake’s back.
“Right now we are demanding something, and that is that the cop be arrested and charged,” one protestor told Currents News.
“They just shoot him with the kids in the back, screaming,” said Blake’s fiancée, Laquisha Booker. “That don’t make no sense that you treat somebody like that, who is not armed, not giving you no problem. He ain’t thrown no punch or nothing.”
The Kenosha Professional Police Association of Wisconsin says the video of the shooting posted to social media “does not capture all the intricacies” and asks the public to “withhold from passing judgment until all the facts are known.”
“The commitment that I make to everyone and make to their family, to the officer and everyone else is justice will be served, people will be held responsible for their actions and we will know the truth,” said Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian.
Blake’s family is calling for non-violent protests.
“We want justice, and we’re going to get justice,” said Justin Blake, Jacob Blake’s uncle. “We’re going to demand justice. but we’re going to do that without tearing apart our own communities.”
Blake is in stable condition in an intensive care unit, according to lawyer Ben Crump, who is representing Blake’s family. Two officers are on administrative leave.