The Kenosha Police Department released Jacob Blake from his handcuffs in the hospital, according to a statement from his lawyers.
Attorney Ben Crump, who also represented the family of George Floyd following his death in May, released the statement on Friday with his co-counsels Patrick Salvi and B’Ivory Lamarr. He added that criminal charges against Blake remain “pending.”
“We have learned today that the warrants for Jacob Blake were vacated, although the charges against him are still pending,” the statement reads. “Fortunately, a man who is paralyzed and fighting for his life after being shot seven times in the back, will no longer have to deal with the pain of having his ankles and wrist shackled and the traumatic stress of being under armed guard.”
Protests and violence that broke out in Kenosha, a Wisconsin city of roughly 100,000 residents, have been rising ever since viral video emerged of Blake being shot several times by police at close range during an arrest on Sunday. The Wisconsin Department of Justice, with the help of the United States Justice Department, is investigating the shooting.
Earlier this week, Jacob Blake Sr., Blake’s father, said his son was handcuffed to his hospital bed. Doctors believe Blake’s wounds will cause him to be paralyzed from the waist down. The Kenosha Police Department has yet to release specific details about why Blake was initially arrested.
“I hate it that he was laying in that bed with the handcuff onto the bed,” Blake Sr. said. “He can’t go anywhere. Why do you have him cuffed to the bed?”
Julia Jackson, Blake’s mother, has repeatedly condemned the riots and violent acts that have followed the shooting.
“We really just need prayers. As I was riding through here, through this city, I noticed a lot of damage that doesn’t reflect my son or my family,” Jackson said during a press conference. “If Jacob knew what was going on as far as that goes, the violence and the destruction, he would be very unpleased.”
