Fire And Anger Over Jacob Blake's Shooting Engulf Kenosha During Second Night Of Protests

Chaos engulfed Kenosha, Wisconsin, overnight from Monday to Tuesday as protesters and authorities continued to clash in the aftermath of police shooting resident Jacob Blake, who is paralyzed, his father said Tuesday.

Protesters gathered for a second night of protests near the Kenosha County Courthouse demanding justice for Blake. They were met by police around 8 p.m. Monday, who were deployed to try to maintain control of the crowd and enforce the 8 p.m. curfew. The protests did not break up and continued for around 30 minutes with chants of “no justice, no peace” as police blocked the courthouse entrance.

Tear gas was fired into the crowd around 8:30 p.m., causing some protesters to leave. However, hundreds remained, yelling at cops well after 12 a.m. Tuesday and set fire to several nearby vehicles. Reports said more stores were looted during the second night of protests as well.

One protester, whose name was not released, apologized for the damage but said they felt it was the only way for their frustrations to be seen.

“Sorry that the buildings are burning down but you can replace these buildings but you can’t replace lives,” the protester told Milwaukee CBS-affiliate WDJT. “I was going to say is it the peaceful protests or is it the fire and the looting? Burning and looting. I definitely don’t think they’re looting enough. I think every building on this block should be on fire because that’s the only way they’re listening to us. Because if we kneel nothing is going to change, but if we burn some buildings down we’re going to get looked at.”

Another protester, who wasn’t identified either, said they just wanted to be seen and heard.

“We were here just marching with the people and we were just hoping to show our faces,” the protester said. “Our silence isn’t going to do anything so we’re trying to make a difference, so we’re out here with everybody else because this is our lives. This is our kid's lives, our family’s lives and it has to stop soon.”

It is not clear if the police outside the courthouse were assisted by the 125 National Guard members called in by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.

Black Lives Matter supporters also marched in Madison, Wisconsin, in a show of solidarity with the protesters in Kenosha. Businesses were boarded up to avoid potential damage and several dumpster fires were started during the march, but no major damage or looting was reported.

Blake’s shooting remains under investigation as the cell phone footage of the shooting remains the only known video evidence of the incident. It is not known if there is dash cam footage from the police cruiser and body cams have not yet been widely adopted by the Kenosha police.

Police body cams were unanimously endorsed in 2017 by Kenosha officials to assist investigations and improve police transparency and accountability. However, implementing bodycams has repeatedly been delayed due to reports over budget and implementation concerns. As a result, Kenosha fell behind similarly sized police departments across the U.S. that implemented bodycams much faster.

Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian said Monday the city’s current plan is to have all police outfitted with cameras by 2022.

Blake was said to be in stable condition after undergoing surgery Sunday to treat his seven gunshot wounds. However, Blake's father, also named Jacob Blake, told the Chicago Sun-Times his son was paralyzed from the waist down from his wounds. He said doctors were still unsure if it was permanent or if his son would be able to recover.

"What justified all those shots?" Blake's father said. "What justified doing that in front of my grandsons? What are we doing?"

"I want to put my hand on my son’s cheek and kiss him on his forehead, and then I’ll be OK. I’ll kiss him with my mask. The first thing I want to do is touch my son."

Blake's family has since retained the services of notable civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is also representing the families of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery.

“At this point, we’re still waiting for the facts to be confirmed,” Crump told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “But we know what we saw in that video, and it was clearly an excessive use of force that was shocking and outrageous and devastating and nobody’s more devastated than his three sons.”

“You can only imagine the psychological problems these babies are going to have for the rest of their lives.”

Blake's family set up a GoFundMe page asking for $1 million to help cover Blake’s legal and medical expenses.

“As we fight for Justice and understanding, our family has and will face many trials during this time,” organizer Julia Jackson said on the GoFundMe page. “Jacob Blake is a loving father of 6 that deserves proper medical attention and legal representation.”

Around $675,000 has been raised in under 24 hours.