Protests erupt after video shows Wisconsin police shooting Black man as he enters car

Updated at 3:43 a.m. ET

A Black man was in serious condition after being shot several times by a police officer responding to a domestic situation in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday. The shooting, caught on video, quickly sparked outrage.

City police said the person was in serious condition and being treated at a hospital. Local media identified the man as 29-year-old Jacob Blake.

The shooting happened as officers were responding to a “domestic incident,” just after 5 p.m., the Kenosha Police Department said in a media release.

The person was flown to a Milwaukee area hospital following the shooting, police said. Officers “provided immediate aid to the person,” the statement said.

The department says the incident is being turned over to the criminal investigation division of the state’s Department of Justice.

Gov. Tony Evers issued a statement Sunday night naming the man. “Tonight, Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in broad daylight, in Kenosha, Wisconsin,” he said.

“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,” he said.

“We stand with all those who have and continue to demand justice, equity, and accountability for Black lives in our country—lives like those of George Floyd, of Breonna Taylor, Tony Robinson, Dontre Hamilton, Ernest Lacy, and Sylville Smith. And we stand against excessive use of force and immediate escalation when engaging with Black Wisconsinites,” Evers said.

Kenosha News reports that several witnesses said the man had tried to break up a fight between the two women and that police had attempted to use a Taser on on him prior to the shooting.

A graphic video of the shooting that appears to capture the incident was posted to social media and has since gone viral.

In it, three officers are seen following a man to a car and drawing their weapons. Just as the man enters the vehicle on the driver’s side, one officer grabs his shirt and then fires his weapon. Seven shots can be heard.

Following the incident, concern and anger erupted online and livestreamed videos posted to Facebook and Twitter showed crowds swarming the streets in protest.

Kenosha police have declared a state of emergency curfew until 7 a.m. Monday.

Hundreds of people demonstrators took to the streets in Kenosha — some throwing rocks and bricks and at least one gasoline bomb, according to the Journal-Times of Racine.

The newspaper also posted video via social media that it said showed an officer knocked down by a brick.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that by about 10:15 p.m., some 100 people had gathered outside the Kenosha County Public Safety Building, chanting “no justice, no peace.”

Other videos on social media, many graphic, showed multiple fires burning and police firing tear gas.

Crowd is lessening but there’s still at least a couple of hundred people in the square next to the Kenosha County Courthouse. @journalsentinel pic.twitter.com/L86IBr7oOh

— Meg Jones (@MegJonesJS) August 24, 2020

This is a developing story. We will continue to update as new information becomes available.

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