Jacob Blake shooting: Civilians armed for third night of protests
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Heavily armed civilians take to the streets of Kenosa to protect locals businesses amid fears of a third night of rioting, arson and looting in wake of cops shooting black father Jacob Blake
- Arsonists set buildings alight, torching the black business district Monday
- In footage taken by a local reporter, a small group of men can be seen carrying rifles and wearing combat gear as they protect local shops
- ‘They’re destroying their own neighborhood. It’s not the civilians’, one man says
- One Kenosha County Board of Supervisors member said the city ‘was burned to the ground, building by building’, adding: ‘Enough is enough’
- Firefighters from about 30 fire departments around the region came to Kenosha
- The Wisconsin city became the nation’s latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest after the police shooting black man Jacob Blake, 29, in the back Sunday
Heavily armed civilians have been filmed protecting businesses in Kenosha after arsonists set buildings alight, torching much of the black business district Monday.
In footage taken by a local reporter, a small group of men can be seen carrying rifles and wearing combat gear as they protect local shops. They deny they are part of a militia.
The Wisconsin city became the nation’s latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest after the police shooting black man Jacob Blake, 29, in the back Sunday. The shooting occurred three months after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and racism.
One of the armed men in the footage taken Monday night says: ‘They’re destroying their own neighborhood. It’s not the civilians. Go f*** up the government that just killed your man. Don’t f*** up your neighbors.
‘I’m on your side but you can’t burn down your local businesses.’
Another adds: ‘We’re out here trying to protect residents, we’re trying to protect the innocent people and we’re trying to protect the businesses of the citizens out here.’
Heavily armed civilians have been filmed protecting businesses in Kenosha after arsonists set buildings alight, torching much of the black business district Monday
In footage taken by a local reporter, a small group of men can be seen carrying rifles and wearing combat gear as they protect local shops. They deny they are part of a militia
Cars burn at a small car dealership. It was set on fire the previous night with most of the vehicles being destroyed in the fire. Protesters came back the following night to finish burning the vehicles over the police shooting of Jacob Blake
he State of Wisconsin Department of Corrections building burns as flames engulf the facility that was set on fire by protesters over the police shooting of Jacob Blake
Some residents were harassed by the crowd for protecting a local business (not their own business)
¿We¿re out here trying to protect residents, we¿re trying to protect the innocent people and we¿re trying to protect the businesses of the citizens out here…¿ pic.twitter.com/1uNWHM6kNl
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) August 25, 2020
Kenosha County Board of Supervisors member Zach Rodriguez said the board would hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday on seeking federal help, such as U.S. Marshals Service officers, to quell the unrest after some 300 rioters looted businesses and set fire to buildings overnight.
‘Essentially, our city was burned to the ground, building by building,’ Rodriguez told Reuters. ‘Enough is enough.’
Firefighters from about 30 fire departments around the region came to Kenosha to help put out the blazes across swaths of the city.
The images above show the moments leading up to the shooting. Blake (seen in the white shirt) walks away from a police officer who has his gun drawn and is ordering him to stop
Police stand near a garbage truck ablaze during protests, Monday
Police first fired tear gas Monday about 30 minutes after the 8 p.m. curfew took effect to disperse protesters who chanted, ‘No justice, no peace’ as they confronted a line of officers who wore protective gear and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of the courthouse entrance.
But hundreds of people stuck around, screaming at police and lighting fires, including to a garbage truck near the courthouse.
Police said they were responding to a call about a domestic dispute when they encountered Blake on Sunday.
They did not say whether Blake was armed or why police opened fire, they released no details on the dispute, and they did not immediately disclose the race of the three officers at the scene.
The Car Source used car lot in downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin is shown Monday after it was destroyed by fire following the shooting of Jacob Blake by a white police officer the day before
A vandalized jewelry store in downtown Kenosha. The Wisconsin city became the nation’s latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest after the police shooting black man Jacob Blake, 29, in the back Sunday
A cell phone store which is between the shooting scene and downtown is shown Kenosha, Wisconsin Monday after it was broken into and looted overnight after the shooting of Blake
Blake remained in intensive care following surgery and would require more operations, civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Blake family, told ABC News on Tuesday.
Blake’s father told the Chicago Sun-Times his son was paralyzed from the waist down.
He had been attempting to break up a fight between two women when he was struck by four of the seven shots, all fired by one officer, in front of his sons aged three, five and eight, Crump said.
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