Firing a Black man by Wisconsin police on Sunday night created a huge ruckus, igniting immediate social media backlash, protests and a state Department of Justice investigation. Police utilized tear gas early Monday creating efforts to dispel hundreds of people who stepped outdoors following the incident.
Officials from Kenosha Police Department replied to a domestic incident shortly after 5 p.m. and “were involved in an officer involved shooting,” KPD stated in a news release. The man who got shot, identified by Gov. Tony Evers as Jacob Blake, was transported to a Milwaukee hospital and in serious condition.
Wisconsin DOJ said the officers involved in the brutal shooting had been kept on administrative leave. The state’s Division of Criminal Investigation is preparing for an investigation into the heinous crime and will seek to “provide a report of the incident to the prosecutor within 30 days,” according to the statement.
The statement given by the state’s DOJ does not identify the officers. It also doesn’t indicate why officers confronted Blake at the scene.
“DCI is leading this investigation and is assisted by Wisconsin State Patrol and Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office,” DOJ said its statement. ” All involved law enforcement are fully cooperating with DCI during this investigation.”
Kenosha County announced an emergency curfew for 10:15 p.m. Sunday, saying in a news release, “The public needs to stay indoors for their safety.” The curfew is in effect until 7 a.m. Monday”.
A couple hundred people now gathered outside the #Kenosha police station. pic.twitter.com/j6wMsAUaTc
— Mike De Sisti (@mdesisti) August 24, 2020
A crowd of about 100 people had taken to the Kenosha County Public Safety Building by 10:15 p.m. and were chanting “no justice, no peace.” A line of police guarded the building and faced off with the crowd, pushing them away from the building.
Police later set off tear gas canisters, scattering the crowd.
A couple hundred people now gathered outside the #Kenosha police station. pic.twitter.com/j6wMsAUaTc
— Mike De Sisti (@mdesisti) August 24, 2020
By midnight, the crowd had decreased to a few hundred people who stood in the square next to the courthouse watching city dump trucks go up in flames.