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You are here: Home / Politics / America / Kenosha Wisconsin Protests Are Ongoing!

Kenosha Wisconsin Protests Are Ongoing!

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Kenosha, WI police shot a man in the late afternoon/early evening of 23 August (or earlier today for those of you not in the eastern time zone). The police had responded to a domestic disturbance call. The only video I’ve seen posted is a 20 second clip. I’m not going to post it, but here’s the link. The video is only 20 seconds and it shows three officers, surrounding a single African American man who does not appear to have anything in his hands. He walks around his mini-van, opens the driver door, and one of the three officers, holding the man’s t-shirt in his left hand, shoots him seven times in the back while one of the other officers covers the vehicle with his firearm. The third officer is off screen/out of view because the video was not taken in landscape mode. The man’s name was Jacob Blake and he was, eventually, flown to Milwaukee for medical treatment.

While one of the most prominent African American criminologists working on policing reform had tweeted that Mr. Blake had died from his wounds, that tweet has been deleted and a correction issued, and the last reporting from local news in Wisconsin, from 45 minutes ago, indicates that Mr. Blake is in critical condition.

From WDJT CBS58:

Man shot by police in Kenosha and left in critical condition; curfew in effect until Monday morning

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) — A man identified as Jacob Blake was shot by police during a domestic call in Kenosha on Sunday, Aug. 23. A large crowd took to the streets afterward to protest.

Kenosha County declared a state of emergency curfew from 10:15 p.m. until 7 a.m. Monday.

The shooting happened near 28th Avenue and 40th Street around 5:11 p.m., after officers were called for a “domestic incident.”

Graphic video of the shooting circulated social media. It shows Blake walking away from police and getting into an SUV. One officer is seen holding Blake’s shirt, and then seven gunshots can be heard.

According to the Kenosha Police Department, officers provided immediate aid to the man after the shooting. He was transported via Flight for Life to Froedtert in Milwaukee in serious condition.

Following the shooting, protesters forced out more than a dozen officers guarding the scene. Right before, someone started a fire and an officer was attacked. A CBS 58 photographer was hit in the leg by a brick someone threw at an exiting police car.

More at the link.

As you can imagine, this shooting has sparked an immediate response from the local community.

I’ve watched the video several times. As I’ve noted here several times, I’m a criminologist by training, even if not by practice anymore. I’ve taught hundreds of law enforcement officers. I’ve even taught policing to them. I’ve consulted with law enforcement, I’ve trained law enforcement (Federal, state, and local) in continuing ed/inservices, as well as in my martial arts classes, and I’ve had tactical training from some law enforcement (my quarterly weapons training is supervised by a close friend who is a SWAT sniper). While we only have 20 seconds of video, so almost no context, there is nothing in that 20 seconds that should have resulted in shooting Mr. Blake, let alone shooting him seven times in the back. There are three officers. His back is too them, and at one point he is close to pressing himself agains the driver’s side front door of his mini-van. At that point the officer that had a hold of his t-shirt should have stepped forward and pressed Mr. Blake into the van with the other two officers providing cover and support. With Mr. Blake immobilized against the van, he could have then been taken into custody if he was either A) the person responsible for the domestic disturbance that they’d been called to deal with or B) someone else at the seen who had somehow interfered with their responding to the domestic disturbance call. Even if Mr. Blake had ignored their instructions – “lawful orders” – that is not a justification for this type of law enforcement response. There is no crime on the books in the US that allows for summary execution without judgement. In those 20 seconds, Mr. Blake had taken no aggressive actions towards those officers. He appears to simply be trying to get away from them and into his van. He hadn’t swung at them, kicked at them, charged at them. He certainly didn’t try to run them over as he wasn’t in the van yet.

As we wait for more news about both Mr. Blake’s condition and the context around what actually happened yesterday in Kenosha, the US is now faced with another example of how African Americans’ contacts with law enforcement, as well as those of other people of color, all too often end violently with the violence directed at the African Americans or people of color. And we’re faced with this example, and the responses it will engender, as the Republican Party begins its nominating convention. A nominating convention that was already expected to focus on unwavering, unflagging, and unconditional support for law enforcement and harsh condemnation of any criticism of law enforcement and how they actual interact with African Americans and people of color.

What has become exceedingly clear is that no one should be policed the way African Americans and people of color are policed. And by policed I do not just mean how law enforcement interacts and deals with them, but how our entire criminal justice system from law enforcement to the courts to corrections is applied. We are in serious need of reform across recruitment, vetting, hiring, initial education, continuing education, policing unions, as well as what prosecutors and judges authorize, tolerate, and do. And we certainly need to rethink how law enforcement should respond, and who within law enforcement should do the responding, to domestic disturbance and welfare check calls.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

28Comments

  2. 2.

    Adam L Silverman

    @sanjeevs: He preemptively did an interview about this with a very credulous Washington Examiner reporter trying to set the cognitive hook. He gave it away in the article when he said that the pool boy in Miami is working with a different reporter to trash him by indicating he was involved in the affair that he claims his wife had with the pool boy. It has long been rumored that Falwell and his wife are basically in a swinging relationship with other men and that Falwell participates. It is unclear if this participation is Falwell being a submissive and mostly passive participant where his kink is gratification from watching his wife cheat while he has to watch or whether he is a more active participant. Apparently the pool boy and the reporter the pool boy is working with are going with the latter story.

  3. 3.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    I agree Adam. I’ve said this before, but shit like this makes me never want to call the police. I don’t want to be responsible, even indirectly, for somebody dying unnecessarily like George Floyd or getting hurt like Jacob Blake.

    And fuck Trump, the Republicans, and all the mindless “Back the Blue” assholes.

    How the fuck do the “Back the Blue” pieces of shit square the circle of being pro-police brutality and being all about freedom?

    The only way to deal with these people is to scream them down and hector them about what mindless, hypocritical, authoritarian drones they truly are

  4. 4.

    Adam L Silverman

    I’m racking out. I don’t have much more to say about this as there really isn’t any new information. Catch everyone on the flip.

  6. 6.

    UncleEbeneezer

    We had a similar killing here in Pasadena recently where a passenger of a traffic stop, Anthony McClain was being asked out of the car and tried to run. Police say he had a gun but neither video shows it. A gun was found (or planted) on the scene but when I watched the videos it looked like McClain tried to throw something small like a baggy as he began to run away. They shot a man in the back. There have been a few protests but nothing like Kenosha, thankfully. Tomorrow the City will likely vote to form a Civilian Oversight Committee but the Independent Police Auditor would answer to the same City Attorney that also defends the City and the Police. Also, the Police Union managed to get a clause in there that reports/info from the IPA can NOT be used for any disciplinary or personnel decisions. It’s probably because of our damn CA Police Officers’ Bill of Rights that makes it incredibly hard to hold police accountable. But still, most of us who have organized on this for years are pretty damn disappointed and unimpressed. And after November our City Council will likely get even more pro-police…ugh

  7. 7.

    brantl

    I don’t understand how our police in this country can’t keep themselves from turning into Barney Fyfe, on meth. I just don’t get this shit. Has anyone done a study about how many of these guys might be undiagnosed PTSDed military vets? Because something is triggering all these guys, and those events at that van shouldn’t have done that. If nothing else they should have had him in an arm-bind in the van, face-planted on the floorboards.

  8. 8.

    gwangung

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):How the fuck do the “Back the Blue” pieces of shit square the circle of being pro-police brutality and being all about freedom?

    Oh, easy. It’s Black and brown people they’re being brutal with, and not white people.

    That’s all there is to it.

  10. 10.

    Ruckus

    @Adam L Silverman:

    I had some training and exposure, 2 of my close buddies in HS became cops, I rode with one of them one Friday night, that was the last time I saw him because I was so disgusted by what I saw and heard. Nothing like this but absolutely an illegal search and arrest, which he admitted to and said “The DA will throw it out but that guy spent the weekend in my jail.” The other buddy was a cop for 30 yrs, we had lunch after he retired. He said retirement couldn’t come soon enough, that law enforcement had changed so much by that time that he hated the job he used to love.

    All that is to say that your view of the incident and mine are in sync. The cops weren’t even paying that much attention to him when he walked away. It looked like they just gave up control of the situation, they weren’t in a hurry till they got to the front of the car, but had pulled out their guns and gotten into shooting position. That second cop, in front of the open door looks like he was surprised as anyone at the shooting.

  11. 11.

    RaflW

    Among many things, I think it has to be acknowledged that reform is too weak, and too freighted a term for what has to happen.

    I say freighted, because for as long as I’ve been paying attention (+/- 35 years) reform of taxes has mostly meant tilting towards the already rich.

    Reforming government agencies has mostly meant removing the guardrails that limited corporate malfeasance.

    But really, reforming police (and I do appreciate that you spell out policing as cops and DAs and jails and so on), when a wholesale re-imagining, removal and replacement sort of strategy is needed.

    I know. That scares white suburban and especially exurban and rural voters. We have to find ways to persuade some of them, and marginalize the voting impact of the unpersuadable.

  12. 12.

    Ruckus

    @brantl:

    As others have said, in different ways, if you are not white and have any interaction with cops, your life is in jeopardy. Cops have shot enough people of color that they expect retaliation at all times. And if you are not white, you know that they will quite often shoot first without provocation. Or beat the crap out of you. Or put a knee to your carotid to cut off the blood to your brain and kill you. At this point it seems to me that the ratio of police interaction to becoming dead if you are black or walking away is very heavily leaning towards dead. Cops think they are at war with the black community, that it is always going to be them or the perp. And if they aren’t thinking that, they sure seem to be working that way.

  14. 14.

    J R in WV

    Cop Killers, aren’t they?

    You have to read that the correct way… Cops who are stone cold reflexive killers!  You can’t predict it,  they don’t even know it’s going to happen until they hear that first BAM! Then it’s too late to stop…

  15. 15.

    scav

    I bet Trump and the GOP have just found their newest set of convention speakers.  O! the applause they’re expecting! The cheering delegates! The on-stage preemptive pardons and maybe even medals! The Ratings!

  16. 16.

    Redshift

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    How the fuck do the “Back the Blue” pieces of shit square the circle of being pro-police brutality and being all about freedom? 

    Because they’re authoritarian followers. According to George Lakoff, they define “freedom” as “freedom to do the right thing.” If you want to do wrong things and go against “the natural order,” you’re “abusing your freedoms.”

    If that sounds like the opposite of freedom, you’re not an authoritarian follower.

    (Also, racism.)

  17. 17.

    opiejeanne

    @brantl: Barney Fife didn’t carry a gun, or at least not a loaded one.

    I can’t decide if police are recruited because they are bullies, or if something in the job changes them.

  19. 19.

    Chetan Murthy

    @opiejeanne

    I can’t decide if police are recruited because they are bullies

    We do know that they are routinely able to defuse far more violent situations involving white people, without killing them.  Routinely.  It’s not as simple as “they’re bullies”.  They’re racists.

  20. 20.

    piratedan

    @opiejeanne: i think its been a gradual subversion. They used the tools of the union to shield themselves and the rich have perverted justice to treat their possesions and position as having more value than the life of someone else.

  21. 21.

    Martin

    @opiejeanne: People choose jobs that fit their personality. Because police have utterly shed their ‘public service’ responsibilities, it’s basically now a place for people who want to be authoritarians to go.

    And of course, the job does change people by normalizing various behaviors. So those that weren’t authoritarian inclined became so, or became more so.

    I don’t think existing police agencies – at least large ones – can be reformed. It’s the culture now. You need to burn it down and start over.

  22. 22.

    prostratedragon

    @opiejeanne: Sheriff Taylor wouldn’t let him have more than one bullet, and if he messed up –usually a careless or clumsy accident– he had to surrender the gun. Without Andy’s regulation, Barney was a possibly dangerous wannabe like a lot of our ammosexuals now, though a more mild-mannered person much of the time.

  23. 23.

    Amir Khalid

    @prostratedragon:

    I have to disagree on that. Andy Taylor was generally pretty laidback, to the extent that he let Aunt Bee decorate the one-cell lockup with lace doilies. He certainly didn’t believe dick-waving had any place in law enforcement.

    And Barney Fife was no ammosexual, just a painfully timid fellow who compensated for it with comical bluster. Barney would be too frightened to fire a gun in the line of duty, not that he’d have occasion to in Mayberry.

  24. 24.

    Xenos

    So is this how accountability works going forward? You can’t stop cops from randomly killing people, so you have to burn down a precinct house to get them to notice that you want them to stop it, already?

  26. 26.

    taumaturgo

    @Xenos:  Blacks have for many decades have been telling the white dominant culture that there is something definitely wrong with policing. Seeing their children and youth decimated by the police acting as judge and jury they have pleaded, voted, requested, marched, and yes, riot in an effort to be heard. So far the answer seems to be a bullet in the back as they run away. I for one, understand the cry, “No justice, no peace.”

  27. 27.

    ballerat

    @opiejeanne: I suspect being a cop appeals to a lot of bullies and sadists and people with strong authoritarian tendencies.

    But I also know the process of becoming a cop is one of conformancy. It shapes people. It is intended to do that. The question is, to what ends.

    As it has become, if most cadets weren’t necessarily a bully or a sadist before, they either found those latent tendencies in themselves amplified and encouraged, or more likely, they only made it through the weed-out process because of their willingness to go along with that behavior (and cover for it) in others.

    The nazi concentration camp guards were selected and promoted specifically for their brutality. It became a self-perpetuating thing: select and promote brutality, and the brutal will come.

    The recruitment, training, enculturation and promotion of our police have become similar.

    Our police are either Nazis themselves or collaborators. And for the record I think most of them are collaborators. But for non-whites in the community the result is the same.

    Ultimately, the bullies and sadists and brutal authoritarians are there because most of white community tolerates and even approves of that behavior. For the Same reason with the nazis: the Good Germans tolerated or approved of it because the brutality was directed toward Those People.

  28. 28.

    SteverinoCT

    I had a shore duty stint as Master At Arms for a Navy training school in Orlando FL, first stop out of boot camp for nuclear power rates. I was in charge of keeping the first deck of our building clean, using the people waiting for their class to begin. It also meant I was one of the guys tapped to escort any Bad Actors to the brig at Jacksonville NAS since there wasn’t one in Orlando. Pretty rare, but it happened. I realized I was a Nice Guy and far too sympathetic to these guys who did not GAF about me or the service, and watching the brig in action ordering them around made me understand that I wanted nothing to do with it and how it would inevitably corrupt me. Cured me of wanting to be a cop when I got out. That, and overhearing a response to a domestic disturbance on a scanner– who would want to get involved in THAT?

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