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Unrest over the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, continued for a second night as protesters and demonstrations defied a city curfew.
Blake's father spoke out Tuesday, revealing that doctors say his son is currently paralyzed from the waist down.
Here are the latest updates on the situation unfolding in Kenosha:
Unrest Continues as Darkness Falls in Kenosha
Our Sky 5 helicopter flew over Civic Center Park in Kenosha, as protesters continue to demonstrate after the shooting of Jacob Blake earlier this week.
A curfew is in effect in the city, and the National Guard has been called in this week by Gov. Tony Evers to help deal with the unrest in the area.
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Last night and into Tuesday morning, fires were set in various areas of the city according to officials, with police on high alert for any disturbances this evening.
Bears Issue Statement Following Police Shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha
As unrest continues in Kenosha after Jacob Blake was shot by police, the Chicago Bears have issued a statement promising to use the organization’s resources to “be a proponent of change” in local communities.
In the statement, the Bears said that they are supporting efforts to end systemic racism:
“The Chicago Bears are deeply disturbed by yet another instance of a police officer using excessive force against a Black person, this time on Sunday evening in Kenosha, a community just up the road from Halas Hall. Jacob Blake is the latest name added to a list that tragically continues to grow. We will continue to use our voice and resources to be a proponent of change and we support the efforts of all those who are peacefully fighting for equality and the end of systemic racism in our communities. Our thoughts are with Jacob and his family, and we pray for his recovery.”
Earlier Tuesday, Bears players and coaches had weighed in on the shooting.
“With all the notoriety and attention that’s been given to police brutality, you’d think it would slow down a little bit and not still be the main topic every day when you wake up and see it on the news,” Tarik Cohen said to reporters, including Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s crazy that we still see those same things happening in today’s world. It’s great to be on a team that openly speaks about that.”
Head coach Matt Nagy told reporters Tuesday that the team had held a lengthy Zoom meeting to discuss the shooting, with more than 40 individuals speaking during the call.
The Bears weren’t the only team to react strongly to the Blake shooting. The Green Bay Packers issued a statement Monday, with players conducting a team meeting this week to discuss how the club would respond to the shooting.
“There’s a systemic problem, and until the problem is fixed, this is going to be an all-to-common sighting in this country,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told ESPN.
The Detroit Lions canceled practice Tuesday so that players could speak out about the incident, while other teams issued calls for action amid the ongoing furor over the shooting.
Family Says Jacob Blake's Sons Asked 'Why Did Police Shoot My Daddy in the Back?'
Jacob Blake's three sons were in the car when police shot their father in the back as he opened the door to the driver's seat Sunday, attorneys said.
One of the children was celebrating his eighth birthday at the time, according to attorney Ben Crump.
"These little boys, these three little boys are going to have psychological problems for the rest of their lives," Crump said.
Blake's father said the children "are stuck right now."
"All my grandson asks is, 'Why did police shoot my daddy in the back?'" said Jacob Blake Sr. "How would you feel if your white son walked up to you and asked, 'Why did police shoot my daddy in the back?' You would have no clue."
Family members said they plan to seek out medical experts to help the children deal with the traumatic experience.
Attorneys Provide Update on Jacob Blake's Medical Condition After Kenosha Shooting
Jacob Blake underwent surgery Tuesday, one of what his attorneys say will be many procedures he will be forced to undergo after being shot several times by Kenosha police over the weekend.
Attorneys provided one of the first medical updates for Blake, days after video appeared to show police firing at the Black man's back during an incident over the weekend that has since sparked nationwide protests.
Attorneys said Blake was rushed into surgery just before they spoke Tuesday afternoon.
"He's in surgery now and it won't be his last surgery," said Attorney Patrick Salvi Jr., of Chicago.
Salvi Jr. said bullets struck Blake's spinal cord, resulted in the near-complete removal of his colon and small intestine and damaged his kidney and liver.
Blake, according to family and attorneys, was paralyzed by the shooting but it remains unclear if that will be permanent.
"Because those bullets severed his spinal cord and shattered some of his vertebrae, it is going to take a miracle... for Jacob Blake Jr. to ever walk again," Attorney Ben Crump said.
"We are going to hope and pray for as good of a recovery as we can possibly get," Salvi Jr. said. "That type of rehabilitation and recovery, it's not free."
Salvi Jr. said he plans to file a civil lawsuit in the case.
Jacob Blake's Mother Says Son Would be 'Unpleased' by Response to Kenosha Shooting
Jacob Blake's mother issued an impassioned plea for people across the country to "take a moment and examine your heart," saying her son would be "unpleased" by the unrest sparked from his shooting by police over the weekend.
"Citizens, police officers, firemen, clergy, politicians: do Jacob justice on this level and examine your hearts," Julia Jackson said Tuesday, days after her son was shot multiple times in the back by Kenosha police officers. "We need healing. As I pray for my son's healing - physically, emotionally and spiritually - I also have been praying even before this for the healing of our country."
Jackson pleaded with all races and said she was praying for "all police officers and their families."
"Let's use our hearts, our love and our intelligence to work together to show the rest of the world how humans are supposed to treat each other," Jackson said.
Blake's mother, father and three sisters all spoke at a press conference Tuesday, describing their son and brother as a family man fighting to survive.
At one point, Blake's father broke down in tears and walked away from the family's press conference.
Wisconsin Governor Declares State of Emergency
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has declared a state of emergency in the midst of ongoing protests across the state following the police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha over the weekend.
The executive order, issued Tuesday afternoon, will direct state agencies to "continue assisting the state response."
Evers had already increased the presence of the Wisconsin National Guard earlier Tuesday.
Curfew Expected for 3rd Straight Night in Kenosha
A curfew will reportedly take effect in Kenosha for a third straight night.
According to NBC affiliate TMJ4, the curfew will take effect at 8 p.m. Tuesday and continue until 7 a.m. Wednesday.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers Increasing National Guard Presence in Kenosha
Gov. Tony Evers will increase the Wisconsin National Guard presence in Kenosha Tuesday as protests and unrest continue following the police shooting of a Black man Sunday.
“We cannot forget the reason why these protests began, and what we have seen play out over the last two nights and many nights this year is the pain, anguish, and exhaustion of being Black in our state and country," Evers said in a statement. "But as I said [Monday], and as I’ll reiterate today, everyone should be able to exercise their fundamental right—whether a protester or member of the press—peacefully and safely. We cannot allow the cycle of systemic racism and injustice to continue. We also cannot continue going down this path of damage and destruction. We are assessing the damage to state property and will be increasing the presence of the Wisconsin National Guard to ensure individuals can exercise their right safely, protect state buildings and critical infrastructure, and support first responders and fire fighters."
Anger over the shooting of Jacob Blake spilled into the streets of Kenosha for a second night Monday, with police again firing tear gas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at law enforcement guarding the courthouse.
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.
Evers first activated the National Guard Monday with “limited mobilization."
Watch Live: Jacob Blake's Family to Speak at 3 p.m. Following Kenosha Police Shooting, Protests
Family members of Jacob Blake, the man Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officers shot several times in the back on Sunday, are scheduled to speak alongside their attorney on Tuesday afternoon.
Blake's family was expected to speak beginning at 3 p.m. at the Kenosha County Courthouse alongside civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, Crump's office said in a statement.
"The family will address Jacob’s current condition and their plans moving forward following the latest occurrence of excessive police force against the young Black man," the statement reads.
Crump's office said Blake was "helping to deescalate a domestic incident when police drew their weapons and tasered him. As he was walking away to check on his children, police fired their weapons multiple times into his back at point blank range. Blake’s three sons were only a few feet away and witnessed police shoot their father."
Jacob Blake's Dad Says Son Left Paralyzed by Police Shooting
The father of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, says his son was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Blake's father told the Chicago Sun-Times that he was told his son was shot eight times during the Sunday evening confrontation with police, which was captured on cellphone video and led to two nights of unrest in the city between Milwaukee and Chicago.
The father, who is also named Jacob Blake and who was driving from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Kenosha to be with his son, told the newspaper that he learned Sunday night that officers had shot his son eight times and that he saw the now-viral video of it online a few minutes later that appears to show police shoot his son in the back.
He said his son now has “eight holes” in his body and is paralyzed from the waist down, though doctors don't know if the paralysis will be permanent.
Anger over the shooting spilled into the streets of Kenosha for a second night Monday, with police again firing tear gas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at law enforcement guarding the courthouse.
Protesters in Kenosha Defy Curfew Over Police Shooting of Black Man
Anger over the shooting of a Black man by police spilled into the streets of Kenosha for a second night Monday, with police again firing tear gas at hundreds of protesters who defied a curfew, threw bottles and shot fireworks at law enforcement guarding the courthouse.
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.
Kenosha Delayed Body Cameras for Years Before Blake Shooting
City and law enforcement leaders in Kenosha, Wisconsin, unanimously endorsed the use of body cameras in 2017 as a way to increase police accountability and collect evidence at scenes of domestic violence, among other benefits.
But since then, they have balked at the price tag, raised policy concerns and put off implementation. The delays meant that officers who were on the scene of Sunday's shooting of Jacob Blake while responding to a domestic call were not equipped with technology that could give their perspective on an incident that has roiled the nation.
Instead, the public has only seen video captured by a neighbor that shows one or more officers shooting Blake, 29, in the back several times as the Black man walked away from them, opened his SUV's driver-side door and leaned into the vehicle. It doesn’t show what happened before or after the shooting like body camera footage would.
The shooting left Blake paralyzed from the waist down, his father said, and it sparked civil unrest in Kenosha, a city of 100,000 people between Milwaukee and Chicago. But it also shined a light on Kenosha’s delays in equipping its roughly 200 police officers with body-worn cameras, which has made the city fall behind many of its neighbors and similar-sized peers.
“This is a tragedy. But at least some good could come from this if this is finally the incident where Kenosha says, ‘we’ve got to get body cameras on these cops right away’,” said Kevin Mathewson, a former member of the common council.
Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian confirmed Monday that current plans call for the city to buy them in 2022 — more than five years after he endorsed their adoption. Kenosha officers do have cameras in their squad cars, but it's unclear whether any captured the shooting.
Mathewson pushed the city to buy cameras during his tenure on the council from 2012 to 2017, saying he saw them as a tool to remove bad police officers from the department after a series of troubling use-of-force and misconduct incidents. Body cameras became particularly popular nationwide as a way to improve policing after the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a Black 18-year-old, by a white officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
Mathewson recalled proposing a budget amendment to buy the equipment in early 2017 and hitting resistance from the mayor, police chief and other council members, who argued that would be unwise without clear state regulations governing their use.
By then, Kenosha had already fallen behind most other midsized police departments nationwide that were moving forward with body camera programs. By 2016, 56% of departments with between 100 and 250 officers had acquired them, and most had some officers wearing them, according to a 2018 U.S. Department of Justice study. Their use is believed to have increased substantially since then, although funding challenges remain.
Instead of providing the money immediately, Kenosha's council passed a unanimous resolution in March 2017 recommending their use, listing their numerous benefits and noting that the police chief, the district attorney and the mayor were in favor.
But the resolution said that their adoption in Kenosha hinged on the state providing guidance to departments on usage, storage, public records and privacy issues.
Gov. Tony Evers signed a law in February outlining body camera regulations for police departments. The law requires footage to be retained for 120 days at minimum — longer in certain cases — and says recordings are generally subject to Wisconsin's open records law.
Kenosha initially planned to buy the cameras this year, but funding shortfalls and technological concerns prompted the city to push that back to 2022, said Rocco LaMacchia, chairman of the council's public safety committee.
“We have moved it back so many times,” he said. “I got a feeling this is going to move up on the ladder really fast because of what’s going on around the United States right now. Body cameras are a necessity. There's no doubt about it.”
Of the Blake shooting, he said, “The body camera footage on this one would have told right from wrong right away.”
The city's current plans call for purchasing 175 Axon body cameras from Taser International and a five-year evidence storage and maintenance plan in 2022. After the first year, the city would incur an estimated $145,000 cost annually for using Evidence.com to store video evidence.
Protests Erupt for 2nd Straight Night
Tense demonstrations continued for a second straight night Monday in Kenosha, one day after police shot 31-year-old Jacob Blake.
Footage from Sky 5 showed a large crowd of people and fireworks being set off in the city's downtown area. Additionally, several protesters were seen running from the downtown area as what appeared to be tear gas was set off.
Chopper video also showed what appeared to be a vehicle that erupted in flames.
Information about any potential injuries or arrests wasn't immediately available.
