by Jake Johnson, Consortium News:

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said 29-year-old Jacob Blake’s children were in the car he was attempting to enter as police fired seven shots at his back.

Protests broke out in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the state’s Justice Department launched an investigation Sunday evening after police officers shot 29-year-old Jacob Blake in the back multiple times at point-blank range as he tried to enter his vehicle.

Witnesses told local reporters that Blake was attempting to break up a fight prior to being shot by the officers, who closely followed Blake to his car and fired seven shots after he opened the driver-side door. According to civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Blake’s children were in the car when the officers shot their father.

Blake is reportedly in serious condition. “He is out of surgery and in the ICU,” tweeted Daniel Poneman, a friend of Blake’s family. “He can make it through this. He is fighting for his life.”

Watch [warning: the following video is disturbing]:

WARNING: Police fire several shots at point blank range towards the back of an unarmed Black man walking away and into a car in #Kenosha Wisconsin. Neighbors report that he was trying to break up a fight between 2 women. Why the use of lethal force? pic.twitter.com/Y0RWQ1y9Jn

— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) August 24, 2020

In a statement posted to Twitter after cellphone footage of the police shooting circulated on social media, Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said: “Tonight, Jacob Blake was shot in the back multiple times, in broad daylight, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kathy and I join his family, friends, and neighbors in hoping earnestly that he will not succumb to his injuries.”

“While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country,” Evers said. “We stand with all those who have and continue to demand justice, equity, and accountability for Black lives in our country — lives like those of George Floyd, of Breonna Taylor, Tony Robinson, Dontre Hamilton, Ernest Lacy, and Sylville Smith.”

Following the police shooting, hundreds of Wisconsinites marched through the streets of Kenosha and gathered outside the Kenosha County Public Safety Building chanting, “No justice, no peace!”

At police station right now in protest of Black man shot several times in the back in Kenosha, Wisconsin by police he has not been confirmed dead but in serious condition, state DOJ will probe officer. pic.twitter.com/Yg625gxRW0

— Philly (@divahustle) August 24, 2020

As the Washington Post reported, Kenosha police quickly arrived at the site of the demonstration “with riot gear and armed with rubber bullets.”

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