On Sunday afternoon, a police-officer involved shooting sparked anti-police rioting and protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. According to local Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin officials identified the shooting victim as Jacob Blake, a Black man. He was in serious condition at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee as of early Monday morning, law enforcement said.
At 8:20 pm the Kenosha Police Department tweeted out a Media Release, "At 5:11 pm Kenosha Police Officers were sent to the 2800 block of 40th Street for a domestic incident and were involved in an officer-involved shooting.
Officers provided immediate aid to the person. The person was transported via Flight for Life to Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee. The person is in serious condition.
Kenosha Sheriff's Department and Wisconsin State Patrol were requested immediately so that the scene could be turned over to an agency, other than Kenosha Police.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ), Division of Criminal Investigation(DCI) will be investigating this officer-involved shooting. Further media releases will com directly from DCI. Inquiries should be directed to dojcommunications@doj.state.wi.us".
The County of Kenosha declared a state of Emergency Curfew for 10:15 p.m., saying "the public needs to be off the streets for their safety." It will be enforced until 7 a.m. By 2:00am The Kenosha Police Department Tweeted a public safety alert, issuing a curfew and asking 24-Hour businesses to close: "The City of Kenosha has issued a city-wide curfew until 7:00 am, 24-hour businesses please consider closing due to numerous arm robberies and shot fired calls".
As per continued reporting from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, at 11:05 police, began backing up in a cordon around the front doors of the police station and then set off teargas canisters as people ran in fear, trying to wipe their eyes.
Large crowds soon gathered at the scene of the shooting. A livestream from podcaster Koerri Elijah showed small fires in the street and a person, possibly an officer, lying prone on the ground, surrounded by officers.
The crowds began moving away from the scene, and the video showed people walking down the sidewalk and street, some on bicycles with some vehicles accompanying them, occasionally chanting. The video showed people kicking at police vehicles and later it appeared some fireworks were set off.
"Things have been very heated, tons of damage to cop cars, an officer was actually knocked out," the person taking video said.
A crowd of about 100 had reached the Kenosha County Public Safety Building by 10:15 p.m. and were chanting "no justice, no peace."
Drew Hernandez and Ian Miles Cheong tweeted out videos of armed "Protesters" blocking a police vehicle, the burning of both a restaurant and a car dealership.
Shipwreckedcrew reported for RedState "Kenosha is a city that is 83% white, and only 8% African-American. The incident is going to spark serious racial animosity due to the very small percentage of the population that is African-American, yet it is an African-American male who is on the receiving end of 8 shots".
"What started as only demonstrations early in the evening progressed to vandalism, wide-spread property destruction, and looting. The local police were simply too few in number to stop the violence without resorting to deadly force which they did not do."
Kenosha County issued a statement via Twitter this morning that the courthouse and administration buildings will be closed, "The Kenosha County Courthouse and Administration Building will be closed to the public today - Monday, August 24 - due to damage sustained during last night's civil unrest. Court hearings will not be held today, but other county services will remain available online or by phone."
