Keynote Speaker Rev. Dr. William Barber II face emanates neon purple rays against a background of dark blue with dark teal concentric pentagonal shapes that subtly meet one another to create a cohesive pattern as they radiate out in to space. Race Forward Presents Facing Race: A National Conference.

Hundreds of demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin, took to the streets on Sunday (August 23) after 29-year-old Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man who was trying to get into his car, was critically wounded by an officer from Kenosha Police Department after being shot multiple times in the back, several news outlets report (Kenosha News, Washington Post, ABC7) in addition to the state’s Governor Tony Evers (D-Wis.).

“While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country,” Evers tweeted on August 24 shortly after the shooting.

Civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, who is now representing Blake in addition to George Floyd’s family, shared additional specifics via Twitter, including the horror that Blake was shot in front of his three small children. According to a statement released by Crump on Twitter, Blake was trying to deescalate a domestically tense situation “when police drew their weapons and tasered him. As he was walking away to check on his children, police fired their weapons several times into his back at point-blank close range.”

Early this morning a person close to Blake’s family tweeted that he was out of surgery and out of ICU. USA Today reports that Blake remains in critical condition. The anger that erupted after the shooting in broad daylight was shared on video, resulted in several fires, including the ground floor of the Kenosha County Courthouse, smashed cars and broken windows, ABC7 reports. One bystander video on Twitter even shows a police officer being smashed in the face with a brick. 

With national tension around police killings high, Kenosha declared a state of emergency overnight curfew last night, according to CBS 58, and the state’s Department of Justice is investigating the shooting. As for the officers who shot Blake, CNN reports that both are on administrative leave and neither has been identified. Nonetheless, both politicians and people on social media have responded with anger and calls for substantive change.

Tags
Benjamin Crump
Jacob Blake
Kenosha
Police Brutality
Police Shootings
Unarmed
Wisconsin