Jacob Blake's family holds Kenosha rally against police violence
KENOSHA, Wis. - Family members of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was paralyzed after a Kenosha police officer shot him seven times in the back, led a march and rally Saturday to call for an end to police violence.
Thousands took to Kenosha streets to march for the 29-year-old who was shot by Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey on Sunday, Aug. 23. With every step, marchers made their message heard.
"The other day when he was in the hospital...he grabbed my hand," said Jacob Blake's father, Jacob Blake Sr. "He squeezed my hand and he said, 'Daddy, I love you. You know I love you.' I said, man, listen, 'I love you more than anything in the world.'"
Blake remains hospitalized in Milwaukee. His family said he is paralyzed, but recovering. The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave.
The Blake family said people must unite to see progress and change.
"We're going to the top. We're going to make legislation happen. That is the only thing they recognize," said Blake Sr.
The demonstration included speeches by members of Blake's family, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore and other community leaders.
"We are heartbroken and enraged, but we are steadfast in our demand for justice,” Tanya Mclean, a Blake family friend who helped organize the event, said in a statement. She said Blake's shooting is not an isolated incident, but part of a “brutal, racist system.”
“We’re here to demand an end to police violence and systemic racism in Kenosha,” Mclean said. “No more piecemeal reforms and useless committees. No more Band-Aid solutions over the bullet wounds. The time for transformational change is now.”
The Aug. 23 shooting
Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey was responding to a domestic abuse call on Sunday when he shot Blake seven times in the back.
The shooting, which was captured on cellphone video, sparked new protests against racial injustice and police brutality, just three months after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police touched off a wider reckoning on race.
Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey, Jacob Blake
Protesters have filled Kenosha’s streets every night, and on Tuesday, two people were killed by an armed civilian. The commander of the National Guard said Friday that more than 1,000 Guard members had been deployed to help keep the peace, and more were on the way.
Investigators have said little about what led to Blake's shooting. The Kenosha police union said Blake had a knife and fought with officers, putting one of them in a headlock as two efforts to stun him with a Taser were unsuccessful. State investigators have said only that officers saw a knife on the floor of the car.
In the cellphone footage recorded by a bystander, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of an SUV to his driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns drawn and shout at him. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire. Three of Blake's children were in the vehicle.
The man who recorded the video, 22-year-old Raysean White, said he heard police yell at Blake, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” before gunfire erupted. White said he didn't see a knife in Blake's hands. State investigators have said only that officers saw a knife on the floor of the car.
Ben Crump, an attorney for Blake's family has said Blake did nothing to provoke police and has called for Sheskey's arrest.