Two Wisconsin police officers were on leave Monday as state authorities investigate why a Black man was shot multiple times in the back as he entered the driver’s side door of an SUV, officials said.
The man’s three children — 3, 5 and 8 — were in the car, a family attorney said.
Identified by the governor as Jacob Blake, the man is in stable condition in an intensive care unit, according to attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Blake family. Crump posted a video of the Sunday evening shooting in Kenosha.
The footage spread across social media, sparking protests and leading county officials to institute a curfew that remained in place until Monday morning. Another will be instituted from 8 p.m. Monday until 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, according to the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department.
Mayor John Antaramian confirmed the National Guard has been called to the city. Troops will be focused on supporting the needs of local first responders and law enforcement “to protect critical infrastructure and cultural institutions,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement.
Kenosha police have asked the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation — part o the state’s Department of Justice — to take over the investigation into the shooting. The findings will go to District Attorney Michael D. Graveley. His office will determine whether to bring any charges against the officers. Graveley said the investigation is in “its earliest stages.”
The shooting came as demonstrators continue to decry police violence in American cities, including the encounters that killed George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The night before Blake’s shooting, protests erupted in Lafayette, Louisiana, after police killed a Black man — Trayford Pellerin, 31 — outside a convenience store.
Source: CNN
