August 24, 2020

Wisconsin Police Shot Jacob Blake in “Broad Daylight”

Protests erupted overnight in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Morry Gash/AP

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Protests erupted overnight in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot multiple times by at least one police officer as Blake attempted to enter a car. 

A video of the encounter shows Blake walking away from two officers who have their guns drawn. As he opens the door of a gray SUV, an officer appears to grab Blake by the shirt before seven shots can be heard. Blake was transported to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, where he remains in serious condition.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) confirmed the incident on Twitter overnight, adding that Blake had been shot in the back multiple times in “broad daylight.” Evers also condemned the use of excessive force by police. “While we do not have all of the details yet,” Evers said in a statement, “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.” 

The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, a statement from the state’s attorney general said. 

It’s unclear exactly what events led up to the shooting, but the Kenosha Police Department said that officers had been responding to a reported domestic incident. Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Blake’s family, said in a statement Monday that Blake had been helping deescalate a dispute when police drew their guns. Crump said that Blake’s three sons “were only a few feet away and witnessed police shoot their father.”

As protests broke out, a city-wide curfew was imposed until 7 am.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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