In Wisconsin, the anger does not subside. The mother of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old African-American seriously injured by police fire and possibly paralyzed for life, called for calm on Tuesday amid fears of further tense protests across the United States.
"My son is fighting for his life", said, moved, Julia Jackson, mother of the victim, during a press conference. “If Jacob knew what was going on, the violence and the destruction, he would be very unhappy (…) We need to heal,” she added as her son was in the operating room again.
7 shots at close range in the back
As for George Floyd, who died of suffocation under the knee of a white policeman three months ago, the attempted arrest of Jacob Blake was filmed by a witness on Sunday in Kenosha, in the state of Wisconsin. The footage shows the young African American being followed by two police officers with their guns drawn as he walks towards what is his vehicle.
An officer grabs his white tank top as he opens the door and appears to be looking for something. The police officer then fired - the recording suggests seven shots - hitting this father - his children were in the back seat - several bullets in the back.
"The medical diagnosis at the moment is that he is paralyzed," Mr. Blake's family lawyer Ben Crump said. He suffered "serious bodily injuries, including a section of the spinal cord", his kidneys and liver were damaged and his injuries required "the removal of part of the intestine," said the lawyer. Patrick Salvi, also on the file. Jacob Blake's family will file a civil complaint, he said.
Lawyers have also announced that they will travel to Washington on Friday to join a vast march against police violence organized on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's famous speech I have a dream.
" No justice, no peace "
Kenosha, Minneapolis, New York or Portland, several American cities have become in the last two days the scene of sometimes violent gatherings, thousands of people demanding that justice be done for Jacob Blake.
During the night from Monday to Tuesday, the demonstrators chanted the same slogan as after the death of George Floyd, three months ago to the day: "No justice, no peace". “If I killed someone, I would be condemned and treated like a murderer. I think it should be the same for the police, "Sherese Lott, 37, told AFP on Monday evening to express her anger in Kenosha, a town of 170,000 inhabitants on the shores of Lake Michigan.
The 1,000 demonstrators gathered in front of a city court first marched peacefully. But an hour after the entry into force of a curfew, clashes broke out with the police. Protesters threw bottles and fireworks at the police, set cars and a building on fire. They were targeted by tear gas capsules and projectiles fired by the police, AFP noted.
"What we have seen these last two nights and many evenings this year is the expression of the pain, the anguish and the exhaustion to be black in our State and our country", estimated Tuesday the democratic governor of the Wisconsin Tony Evers. He reiterated his calls for peaceful demonstrations and announced that additional National Guard soldiers would be sent to the scene as reinforcements.
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- Police violence
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