Late Sunday afternoon in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Jacob Blake was the victim of another disgusting act of police brutality.
Within full view of his 3 children seated in the backseat, Blake was shot 7 times in the back while walking away from police officers and opening his car door.
Within full view of his 3 children seated in the backseat, Blake was shot 7 times in the back while walking away from police officers and opening his car door.
With each of the seven shots fired, police made their intent clear — they believed they had the right to kill an unarmed Black man for the crime of walking away from them.
The police department’s statement after said that they provided “immediate medical aid.”
But rendering first aid is a basic obligation.
It is offensive to act as if not letting Jacob Blake bleed out was an act of grace, rather than a mandatory response to their own violence.
But rendering first aid is a basic obligation.
It is offensive to act as if not letting Jacob Blake bleed out was an act of grace, rather than a mandatory response to their own violence.
The reasons that led to this shooting can’t be changed with more money thrown at police departments to find ways not to murder the members of the communities that they are supposed to be serving.
The fact that police violence like this — the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Eric Garner, and countless others — have become commonplace shows that the very institution of American policing is rotten at its core.
Policing is a crisis in and of itself, and we can no longer throw money and resources at an institution as hopelessly broken as this and expect to get different results.
