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Jake Blake.
Dear friend, we’re sending you this message with a heavy heart this Monday afternoon. Jacob “Jake” Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot multiple times in his back by a Kenosha, WI police officer on Sunday.1 Jake was calmly walking away from officers and trying to get into his car when one officer shot him at point-blank range in his back at least 7 times. And it all happened in broad daylight in front of his small children, who sat in the car traumatized as they witnessed their father being shot in front of them.
Police were called to Jake’s neighborhood due to a domestic dispute. When police arrived on the scene, they encountered Jake, a 29-year-old father. Witnesses say Jake had just broken up a fight between two women in the neighborhood.
Cellphone video footage shows Jake walking away from two police officers, and both officers have their weapons drawn on him as he attempts to enter his vehicle. Once Jake opened the door of his vehicle, one officer grabbed his shirt and began firing off shots.
Jake was savagely shot by a racist cop who saw his Blackness as a threat. As of now, we don’t know what took place before the viral video starts -- and we don’t need to know. Because what we all saw in the video was an attempted execution, period.
The officer who fired the shots must be held accountable. We’re calling on District Attorney Michael Graveley, Mayor John Antaramian, and Attorney General Josh Kaul to immediately fire and arrest the cop who attempted to murder Jake.
Justice can’t wait another second.
We are tired. And we know you are too.
Black people are still reeling from the deaths of so many other Black folks at the hands of police violence this summer -- Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Tony McDade -- and the thousands of other names we don’t know. The thousands of other Black people who just want to breathe and live free of the terror from state violence.
In the 12 hours since Jake was shot, Kenosha officials are already attempting to stop our fight for justice. A city-wide curfew was put in place to stop anyone from rightfully protesting. And the Kenosha Police Department released a vague statement absolving their department of wrongdoing.
We have to fight for Jake just as hard as we’ve been fighting for Breonna and her family. We must fight for his small children, his family, his friends, and all the other Black folks who deserve to live in a just society.
We’ve witnessed police officers shoot and kill Black folks too many times. And each time, we feel the hurt. This is not normal. We can’t let it ever become normal and we refuse to stand idly by as police officers kill us with impunity. Stand with us in the fight.
Until justice is real,
Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Madison, Leonard, Ernie, McKayla, and the rest of the Color Of Change team.
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Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Please help keep our movement strong.
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