Jacob Blake shooting: Civilians armed for third night of protests

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.’

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. 

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. 

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.