KENOSHA, Wisconsin: The Black man shot in the back by police was left paralyzed and fighting for his life.
Blake, 29, a father of six, was struck from behind at point-blank range in a hail of bullets fired on Sunday by police who were following him with guns drawn as he walked away from officers to his car and opened a door to the vehicle. Three of his young sons inside the automobile – aged 3, 5 and 8 – witnessed their father being gunned down.
A bystander captured the encounter in video footage that immediately went viral, unleashing outrage over the latest in a long series of instances in which police have been accused of using indiscriminate lethal force against African Americans. Blake, who had been attempting to break up a quarrel between two women, was struck by four of seven gunshots fired at him, all by one officer, and there was “no indication he was armed. The police have not explained why Blake was shot.
At a news conference later in the day, Blake’s parents expressed anguish over the shooting while decrying two nights of looting, vandalism and arson that overshadowed peaceful street protests.
Crump and another lawyer for the family, Patrick Salvi II, said bullets shattered some of Blake’s vertebrae, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down — possibly permanently. He also suffered gunshot wounds to his stomach and gastrointestinal tract, requiring surgeons to remove most of his colon and small intestine, and sustained damage to his kidney, liver and one of his arms.
Video captured by a neighbour shows Blake walking toward the driver’s side door of his SUV, away from two officers who were pointing guns at his back. After he opens the door and leans into the car, seven shots ring out, with one of the officers tugging at his shirt. The shooting occurred three months after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and racism.
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