The father of a Black man shot in the back by police says his son was handcuffed to a hospital bed earlier this week. By Friday, the man, who was shot by police several times Sunday, was no longer restrained.
When Jacob Blake, whose son is his namesake, visited the 29-year-old in a Kenosha, Wisconsin, hospital Wednesday, his son was handcuffed to a hospital bed, Blake told the Chicago Sun-Times on Thursday. Over the weekend, the junior Blake was shot seven times in the back after police received a call about a domestic disturbance. Witnesses say Blake was breaking up a fight when police arrived. Details about what led up to the shooting have been scarce.
“I hate it that he was laying in that bed with the handcuff onto the bed,” Blake said Thursday. “He can’t go anywhere. Why do you have him cuffed to the bed?”
Reportedly, the 29-year-old had felony warrants against him, but since they were vacated, Blake is no longer being cuffed to the bed, according to a CNN correspondent Sara Sidner. Blake’s lawyer Patrick Cafferty also told the news outlet that officers were no longer guarding him at the hospital.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers made a comment on Blake’s report about his son being handcuffed to the hospital bed Thursday, admitting he was concerned about that.
“I would have no personal understanding why that would be necessary,” the governor said. “I can’t imagine why that’s happening, and I would hope that we would be able to find a ... better way to have him get better and recover.”
Blake, whose children were in the car during the shooting, is paralyzed from the waist down. His shooting, which many consider yet another example of police brutality, has sparked another round of searing protests in Wisconsin and beyond. Protests quelled later in the week after a 17-year-old was arrested for shooting two protesters and injuring another one.
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley filed the charges against Kyle Rittenhouse on Thursday afternoon. The charges include one count of first-degree intentional homicide; one count of first-degree reckless homicide; one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide; and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment. All those charges are felonies.
Blake’s lawyers are working to ensure that Blake returns home after his hospitalization, his father said Thursday.
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