Black Lives Matter riots in Wisconsin after man shot, injured by police

Riots erupted in the Wisconsin city of Kenosha after a Black man was airlifted in serious condition to a Milwaukee hospital after being shot multiple times by police Sunday evening.

The sheriff’s department for Kenosha County, located along Lake Michigan about 40 miles south of Milwaukee, late Sunday issued a city-wide curfew until 7 a.m. Monday, stating the public “needs to be off the streets for their safety.”

An emergency alert tweeted by the Kenosha Police Department urged businesses to close for 24 hours “due to numerous arm robberies and shots fired calls.”

Scroll to the bottom for more videos of what took place in Kenosha.

The curfew was imposed hours after a Black man, later identified as 29-year-old Jacob Blake by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, was shot by police in a residential neighborhood.

“Tonight, Jacob Blak was shot in the back multiples times, in broad daylight, in Kenosha, Wisconsin,” Evers said in a statement.

The Kenosha Police Department said in a release that the shooting happened after 5 p.m. Sunday as officers were responding to a domestic incident.

The department said Blake was transported to Froedtert Hospital.

“The person is in serious condition,” the release said.

Cellphone footage of the police-involved shooting circulated online shows Blake attempting to enter a car parked on a residential street while being pursued by police who shoot him several times.

Ben Crump, civil rights attorney who represents the family of George Floyd whose police-involved death on Memorial Day sparked nationwide protests, said Blake’s three sons were in the car during the shooting.

“They saw a cop shoot their father,” he tweeted. “They will be traumatized forever. We cannot let officers violate their duty to PROTECT us.”

Crump said Black was shot after attempting to break up a fight at the residence.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, which is investigating the shooting, said early Monday that the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Evers said in a statement that he joins Blake’s family, friends and neighbors in hoping that “he will not succumb to his injuries.”

“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,” Evers said on Twitter. “We stand with all those who have and continue to demand justice equity and accountability for Black lives in our country.”

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