Kenosha will keep burning until the cop who shot Jacob Blake is fired or arrested, local Black Lives Matter activists say: 'People are mad'
Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY via REUTERS
Police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin shot Jacob Blake, 29, in the back at least seven times while they were responding to a "domestic incident."
The shooting of Blake, which falls in the middle of nationwide protests against police brutality, prompted protests and riots to erupt in the city.
A Kenosha Black Lives Matter organizer has been trying to encourage investigators to be transparent with the public about actions against the cops involved, fearing that if they don't the city will continue to burn.
Whitney Cabal, a Black Lives Matter organizer for Kenosha, Wisconsin, was three weeks into a march to Washington, DC, protesting police brutality when her phone blew up with calls about the police shooting of a 29-year-old Black man in her own city.
A graphic video posted to social media Sunday appeared to show Jacob Blake walking away from two police officers and attempting to get in his car when one of the officers grabs and pulls his T-shirt from behind. After that, the two officers point their guns at his back and fire seven shots.
Blake was taken to a Milwaukee hospital for surgery, his brother told the WTMJ-TV reporter Lauren Linder, but remains in serious condition. Civil-rights attorney Ben Crump said Blake's three sons were in the car when the shots were fired.
The shooting of Blake prompted Kenosha — a city of just over 100,000 — to erupt in rage and violence on Sunday night.
Crowds formed at the site of where Blake was shot and set cop cars in the area on fire, Cabal told Insider. One officer was beaten in the head with a brick, she said.
The officers involved in the shooting of Blake were placed on administrative leave, which the shooting is investigated, the Kenosha Police Department said in a statement.
"People are mad," Cabal, who goes by Billy Violet online, said. "Until this city hears that the officer has been fired, or what the update is, the city is going to keep burning."