'He just got bricked': Officer badly injured during Wis. riots, crowds cheer
A police-involved shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday led to hourslong protests that devolved into looting, riots and one officer reportedly being hit in the head with what witnesses described as a brick, according to a video posted on social media.
Graphic video posted by Twitter user @BotchlaUS on Sunday night shows a pair of officers walking around a police car amid a backdrop of fighting and small fires when the officer is seen suddenly collapsing to the ground.
WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES AND EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
Other police officers can be seen trying to help the injured cop as people in the background are heard yelling, “He just got bricked,” and, “F--- the police,” the video shows.
PROTESTERS SET FIRES, VANDALIZE BUILDINGS AFTER KENOSHA POLICE SHOOT MAN
“Officer down,” police were heard yelling on the scanner, according to The Journal Times.
It wasn't immediately clear if the officer was from Kenosha Police Department or another law enforcement agency.
Hours earlier, a person was hospitalized in serious condition following a shooting at about 5 p.m. Sunday by officers who were responding to a “domestic incident,” the Kenosha Police Department said in a news release. Police did not provide details about what led to the shooting, but said the person was transported to a hospital in Milwaukee for treatment.
Gov. Tony Evers on Sunday night condemned the shooting of the man, who he identified as Jacob Blake, saying in a statement that “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.”
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is now investigating the shooting.
A video posted earlier that day on social media appeared to show the shooting from across a street. Three officers could be seen shouting and pointing their weapons at the man as he walked around the front of a parked SUV. As the man opened the driver’s side door and leaned inside, one officer grabbed his shirt from behind and then fired into the vehicle. Seven shots could be heard on the video, though it was unclear if more than one officer fired.
By late Sunday, multiple vehicle fires had been set and windows smashed along city thoroughfares as crowds faced off with law enforcement. Officers in riot gear stood in lines and SWAT vehicles remained on the streets to move people away from city buildings despite the declaration of an overnight curfew.
According to reporters at the scene, tear gas was used to disperse groups of people.
Cellphone and interior surveillance footage shared by CBS 58 shows people looting multiple local stores.
And reporter on the ground Drew Hernandez, who uses the Twitter handle @livesmattershow,” shared his own footage of people smashing windows and climbing into storefronts.
People also reportedly set several fires to cars and buildings, videos posted by Hernandez show.
One of the images shows what he describes as a “local small business building” up in flames.
He also shared several videos of what was reported to be a car dealership set on fire.
WARNING: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
Earlier in the night, Hernandez captured video showing a group of people blocking an armored police vehicle and shouting that the police are “instigating,” and that they’re, “f------ cowards.”
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.