In A Paralyzed State, Jacob Blake, A Victim Of The Kenosha Police Shooting, Speaks For The First Time

Jacob Blake (Sumber: Twitter/@@attorneycrump)

JAKARTA - Jacob Blake, a black man who was shot by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States (US), spoke for the first time. While he was still lying on his hospital bed, demonstrations about racial injustice and police brutality continued to rock several US cities.

Launched by Reuters on Monday, September 7, Blake, wearing a green hospital uniform, described the constant pain. The shooting paralyzed her from the waist down.

"I got staples on my back, staples on my stomach," he said in a video posted by his lawyer, Ben Crump.

"It hurts to breathe, it hurts to sleep, it hurts to move from one side to the other, it hurts to eat," he added.

#JacobBlake released this powerful video message from his hospital bed today, reminding everyone just how precious life is. #JusticeForJacobBlake pic.twitter.com/87CYlgPDBj

- Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 6, 2020

The Blake shooting took place on August 23, reviving protests over racism and police brutality that has engulfed the US. Before Blake, another black man, George Floyd, was also a victim of police brutality. He died last May after a Minneapolis police officer grabbed Floyd's neck with his knee for nearly nine minutes in the neck making it difficult to breathe.

In Blake's case, the two police officers involved in the shooting have been dismissed administratively. The shooting is currently being investigated by the Kenosha county attorney's office and the Wisconsin Department of Justice's criminal investigations division.

The US Justice Department has also launched a civil rights investigation that a White House official said came at President Trump's insistence. The police union claims officers know Blake has an arrest warrant in connection with an incident earlier in the year, in which Blake allegedly entered a home illegally and sexually assaulted him. The Kenosha Professional Police Association and state investigators said two officers fired a taser which did not immobilize Blake before the gunfire.

The demonstrations that hit Kenosha also coincided with widespread upheaval over the social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The protests have also moved to the forefront of the presidential election campaign, with US President Donald Trump now focusing on law and order.

The narrative of upholding law and order was chosen by Trump in his bid to win over the people in the US Presidential Election held on November 3. In another area, precisely in Rochester, New York, the police used tear gas to disperse about two thousand protesters over the death of Daniel Prude.

Prude is a black man who died after being arrested by the police in March. A total of nine people were arrested and three police officers were treated at a local hospital for injuries sustained during clashes.

Violent clashes also rocked Portland, Oregon for the hundredth day. Protesters hurled stones and firebombs at police using tear gas, injuring at least one person and leading to more than 50 arrests.

photo: Jacob Blake. Twitter: @attorneycrump