Video shows a man walking towards a car followed by two officers, one officer shoots him as he opens the vehicle’s door.

Protests erupted in Kenosha in the US state of Wisconsin after police shot an apparently unarmed Black man multiple times in the back, prompting authorities to impose a curfew.

The shooting occurred at about 5pm (22:00 GMT) as officers were responding to what they called a “domestic incident”. The victim was immediately taken to a hospital by the police, according to a Kenosha police department statement.

No further explanation was given by the police as to what led to the shooting, in which one officer fired seven rounds into the man’s back. The Wisconsin Department of Justice said early on Monday that the officers involved had been placed on administrative leave.

The incident on Sunday was likely to add to continuing outrage and protests in the US and abroad against police brutality and racism since the death on May 25 of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

The victim in Kenosha, identified by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers as Jacob Blake, was hospitalised in serious condition.

A video circulating on social media and cited by the US media showed a man walking towards a car followed by two officers and one of them shooting him as he opens the car door.

Soon afterwards, multiple fires were set at the scene by a crowd that gathered to protest the incident.

Evers, in a tweet, said Blake had been “shot in the back multiple times in broad daylight”.

“We stand against excessive use of force and immediate escalation when engaging with Black Wisconsinites,” said Evers.

‘Mercilessly killed’

Social media posts showed crowds marching down the streets of Kenosha, a city of about 100,000 people on Lake Michigan, 100km (65 miles) north of Chicago, and throwing Molotov cocktails and bricks at police officers.

Police responded by imposing a city-wide curfew until 7am local time (12:00 GMT).

The state’s Division of Criminal Investigation said it would aim to issue a report to prosecutors within 30 days, US media reported.

Evers said while full details of the incident had yet to emerge, Blake was among Black people to have been injured or “mercilessly killed” by police in the United States.

“We stand with all those who have and continue to demand justice, equity and accountability for Black lives in our country,” Evers said, mentioning Floyd and other victims of brutal law enforcement.

Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump said Blake’s three sons were in the car at the time and he had been trying to break up a fight between two women.

“They saw a cop shoot their father. They will be traumatised forever,” Crump said on Twitter.

Clyde McLemore, who local Kenosha TV identified as part of a nearby chapter of the Black Lives Matter movement, said at the scene “we’re tired of it”.

“The frustration is boiling to the top and we’re sick and tired.”

Source: Read Full Article