A brick was thrown at a police officer amid the unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after police shot a black man on Sunday.
Video posted to social media shows an officer falling over after being struck and other officers rushing to assist him as demonstrators can be heard saying, “F— the police,” and, “He just got bricked.”
Footage of officer getting knocked out with a brick in Kenosha. pic.twitter.com/zZYypCgyja
— Nick ?? (@BotchlaUS) August 24, 2020
Protests erupted in Kenosha, a suburb of Milwaukee, after the emergence of a viral video that appears to show police firing several shots at a black man who has been identified as Jacob Blake.
Officers were deployed to the scene to control the crowd. Some of the protesters set garbage trucks on fire, smashed windows, and threw bleach bombs, according to ABC7. Law enforcement officials used tear gas and pepper balls to subdue protesters and implemented a curfew.
Videos of other confrontations with law enforcement were posted on social media.
#BREAKING: Tear gas just deployed by law enforcement at @KenoshaPolice station. This is all in response to a man who police say was seriously injured in an officer-involved shooting this afternoon. @tmj4 #Kenosha pic.twitter.com/zoC8C79ILK
— Lauren Linder (@lauren_linder) August 24, 2020
Crowd sets city of Kenosha vehicles on fire. pic.twitter.com/cyJQ3UzgnR
— Meg Jones (@MegJonesJS) August 24, 2020
Breaking: Multiple garbage trucks have been set on fire during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The garbage trucks are being used as barriers to block streets near the Police station. pic.twitter.com/3VnD1YoyB2
— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) August 24, 2020
This used car dealership was set on fire overnight by protestors. Car Source is just down the street from the Kenosha courthouse. The owners are devastated. Their business a total loss. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/emYtWNzvh9
— Vi Nguyen (@ViNguyen) August 24, 2020
In the afternoon, police said they responded to a call about a potential domestic disturbance in Kenosha. Video posted to social media, appearing to show the shooting, showed a black man, believed to be Blake, walking from the passenger side of the car and around the hood, with officers following him as their guns were drawn. The man opened the driver door and started to move inside the car, after which the officers then started firing. Seven shots can be heard in the video. It is unclear if there was a weapon in the vehicle. The video does not show what happened before the man walked away from the officers.
At least half a dozen witnesses said Blake tried to break up a fight between two women at a residential home and that police attempted to taser him prior to firing. The witnesses said that they heard at least seven gunshots. They also said that Blake was unarmed and shot in the back.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who has worked alongside a number of families who have had loved ones injured by police officers in recent months, told CNN that Blake’s family contacted him. Crump also said that Blake’s young sons were in the car when he was shot.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation is investigating the incident, and the officers involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave.
The unrest that ensued is reminiscent of the protests and violence that began three months ago when George Floyd, a black man, died in police custody in Minneapolis, which was caught on video. Floyd’s death sparked hundreds of protests, riots, and calls for police reform around the country and the world.
