In his first public comments since the shooting, Jacob Blake delivered a message from his hospital bed to his supporters how everything can change in just an instant. His attorney, Benjamin Crump, posted to twitter the 57-second video of Blake from Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee last Saturday.
Mr. Blake, a father of six children, was shot seven times by Rusten Sheskey, a white Kenosha police officer, last August 23 in the US state of Wisconsin. The 29-year old Blake, a black American, was shot while being arrested as he tried to get into the car where his three children, ages three, five, and eight, were seated. The officers responded and tried arresting him after a woman called 911, saying, “Her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on-premises.” The woman, however, has not been identified, and there was still no confirmation that Blake was the subject of the complaint.
“I just want to say, man, to all the young cats out there, and even the older ones older than me, it’s a lot more life to live out here, man. Your life and not only just your life, your legs, something that you need to move around and move forward in life, can be taken from you like this, man.”
Jacob Blake
According to his family, the shooting had left Blake paralyzed from the waist down, and may never walk again. But Blake still hopes to turn this tragedy into something constructive.
“I’ve got staples in my back, staples in my damn stomach. You do not want to have to deal with this s—, man. Every 24 hours, it’s pain, it’s nothing but pain. It hurts to breathe; it hurts to sleep; it hurts to move from side to side. It hurts to eat… Please, I’m telling you, change y’all lives out there. We can stick together, make some money, make everything easier for our people out here, man, ’cause it’s so much time that has been wasted”
Jacob Blake
The investigation for the shooting is still ongoing, and charges have yet to be filed in connection with the incident. Investigators have not given any explanation of why the officers arrested Blake and why Sheskey had to fire many times.
Crump said Blake helped damp down a domestic incident when the police officers pulled out their weapons and tasered him. Jacob Blake’s family is calling for the firing of officers and charging Sheskey with attempted murder.
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