What to Know
- Around 100 protesters gathered at Dilworth Park in Center City around 5 p.m. Wednesday to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
- The group later began marching south on Broad Street. Roads were closed around City Hall due to the protest.
- The shooting of Blake on Sunday in Kenosha — apparently in the back while three of his children looked on — was captured on cellphone video and ignited new protests over racial injustice in several cities
Around 100 people marched through Center City to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The group gathered at Dilworth Park around 5 p.m. Wednesday and then began marching south on Broad Street. Roads were closed around City Hall due to the protest.
"As a Black man it is my responsibility to make sure that I'm here," Christian Whitaker, one of the protesters, told NBC10.
The protesters also called for police reform.
"It boggles your mind that we had months of uprising for Black lives and then have a blatant attack on Jacob Blake in front of his children," Sam Goldman, another protester, told NBC10.
Olivia Jones, another protester, brought her two children to the demonstration.
"We shouldn't be out here again and again and again," Jones said. "But we will be because it is our right and duty to participate civically in our society."
The shooting of Blake on Sunday in Kenosha — apparently in the back while three of his children looked on — was captured on cellphone video and ignited new protests over racial injustice in several cities, coming just three months after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police touched off a wider reckoning on race.
Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Blake’s family, said the 29-year-old was paralyzed, and it would “take a miracle” for him to walk again. The family called for the officer who opened fire to be arrested and others involved to lose their jobs.
During a press conference Wednesday evening, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul provided the police account of the Sunday incident. Kaul said Kenosha officers were dispatched after a woman reported that her boyfriend was at her home and would not leave.
Kaul said the officers' attempt to use a stun gun to arrest Blake was "unsuccessful."
"Mr. Blake walked around his vehicle, opened the driver’s side door, and leaned forward. While holding onto Mr. Blake’s shirt, officer Rusten Sheskey fired his service weapon 7 times," the Wisconsin Department of Justice said in a statement. "Officer Sheskey fired the weapon into Mr. Blake’s back. No other officer fired their weapon."
Kaul said investigators "recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard." NBC News has not independently confirmed the Wisconsin Department of Justice's account of the events.
Demonstrations took place nationwide in the aftermath of Blake’s shooting, with some devolving into unrest.
Commander Norman Johnson of the Antioch Police Department said the suspect — a young man who NBC News is not naming because he is under 18 — was arrested on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide. Police did not immediately release any other details.
Also on Wednesday, all three scheduled NBA playoff games were postponed due to players around the league choosing to boycott in the aftermath of the shooting.
"You look on twitter and people are more upset about not having a basketball game than by Black people being shot by police," Goldman said. "What does that say about this society and what needs to be changed?"
