Jacob Blake, Unarmed and Shot in the Back by Police, Is Currently Paralyzed

By N. Jamiyla Chisholm Aug 25, 2020

The horrific August 23 police shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake by an officer with the Kenosha Police Department continued to draw folks into the streets Monday night (August 24), as they defied a curfew and faced off with law enforcement yet again, CNN reports.

The latest reports are confirming that Blake, who was shot multiple times in the back as he attempted to enter his SUV where his three small sons were in the backseat, has recovered from surgery but “now has ‘eight holes’ in his body and is paralyzed from the waist down, his father said,” according to a tweet posted by Clare Proctor from the Chicago Sun-Times. The Sun-Times reports that Blake’s doctor couldn’t confirm if his injuries would be permanent.  

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“What justified all those shots?” his father asked reporters. “What justified doing that in front of my grandsons? What are we doing?”

Blake’s partner Laquisha Booker, who was on the scene, described the police’s encounter with Blake as chaotic and aloof. “That man just literally grabbed him by his shirt and looked the other way and was just shooting him, with the kids in the back screaming,” Booker reportedly said

As the officers involved remain on administrative leave and Wisconsin’s Department of Justice investigates, demonstrators continued to express their anger over police violence last night (August 24) in in New York City and Minneapolis as well as in Kenosha—where several buildings and cars were torched.

As the nation waits for charges to be filed against the officers and for Blake to recover, the family started a GoFundMe page to help with “Jacob’s medical bills, family expenses, legal representation, support for his children and therapy costs,” according to the campaign. There’s also a Change.org petition calling on Governor Tony Evers (D-Wis.) and the Kenosha Wisconsin Police Department to arrest and charge the officers with “at least attempted murder.”