This archive report was first published on 25 August 2020.
Published on August 25, 2020, the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has left the community reeling and sparked widespread protests.
According to eyewitnesses, the shooting occurred after a confrontation between Blake and police officers, who were responding to a domestic disturbance call.
"There's been a growing disconnect here for years," said Mr. Neumann, a local resident. "There's always been an underlying distrust for the police."
Neighborhood resident Erik Adams, who is Black, expressed his fear of the police after witnessing the shooting. He had received several phone calls from friends who were worried that he might have been the one who was shot.
"I understand why people are angry," Adams said. "Black people want justice."
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul vowed to "vigorously and fully investigate the facts of this case," but said he was not ready to comment on the details, including information about the officers on the scene.
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael D. Graveley said his office would decide whether to press charges based on the evidence gathered by outside investigators.
"We are going to try to do this as quickly as we can," Graveley said. "But these kinds of huge decisions, in a community that is hurting as badly as we are today, are not decisions that can be made in haste, and they are not decisions that can be made before we have the complete information."
