US: African-American shot by police in Wisconsin might be paralysed for life

The Black man shot in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, earlier this week was left paralysed and “fighting for his life,” his family and lawyers said.

Jacob Blake Jr was shot seven times on the back as he tried to enter an SUV on Sunday. In the vehicle were his three sons—aged 3, 5 and 8.

Blake's father said, “They shot my son seven times ... seven times like he didn't matter, but my son matters," Jacob Blake Sr. said. "He's a human being and he matters."

After the third night of unrest spurred by the shooting, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared a state of emergency, saying he would deploy additional National Guard troops in a bid to restore order in the town, while the mother of the man who was shot, publicly appealed for calm. Blake, a father of six, was followed by police with guns drawn as he walked away from officers to his car and opened a door to the vehicle.

Julia Jackson, Blake's mother, said her son “has been fighting for his life,” but called for unity, saying she was praying for police officers. She also said she was disappointed by the damage to the city.

“It doesn't reflect my son or my family,” she said. “If Jacob knew that was going on as far as that goes, the violence and the destruction, he would be very unpleased”.

Benjamin Crump and another lawyer for the family, Patrick Salvi II, said bullets shattered some of Blake's vertebrae, leaving him paralysed from the waist down, possibly permanently. According to them, Blake has also suffered gunshot wounds to his stomach and gastrointestinal tract, requiring surgeons to remove most of his colon and small intestine, and sustained damage to his kidney, liver and one of his arms.

Crump said it was possible that Blake's three sons would suffer “psychological problems for the rest of their lives”.

"Clearly you can see right now that I have beautiful brown skin but take a look at your hand and whatever shade it is, it is beautiful as well," Blakes’ mother Julia Jackson said. "How dare we hate what we are. We are humans."

The shooting is under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Kenosha police have referred all questions to the state investigators.