Protesters March on Wisconsin Police Station After Shooting

Protesters gathered late Sunday in the U.S. city of Kenosha, Wisconsin after police there shot a Black man. 

A video posted on social media shows the man walking in front of a vehicle while three officers follow him with their guns drawn. As the man opens the door of the vehicle and leans inside, one of the officers grabs him by the back of his shirt and fires his gun.   

In the video, seven gunshots can be heard.  It is not clear from the video how many officers fired their weapons, nor what led up to the shooting. 

A statement from the Kenosha Police Department gives no details about the events before the shooting, saying only that the man was taken to the hospital in serious condition and that the state’s department of justice would be investigating the shooting. 

Authorities instituted an overnight curfew in response to the protests, which involved crowds marching to the Kenosha County Public Safety Building. Police used plastic shields and batons to push people back from the station. 

The shooting is the latest in a long string of police shootings of Black Americans that have drawn protests across the nation calling for law enforcement reforms and steps to address racial inequality in the United States. 

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers issued a statement in support of the man and his family, and pledging in the coming days to demand action from state elected officials “who have failed to recognize the racism in our state and our country for far too long.” 

“While we do not have all of the details yet, what we know for certain is that he is not the first Black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country,” Evers said.  “We stand with all those who have and continue to demand justice, equity, and accountability for Black lives in our country—lives like those of George Floyd, of Breonna Taylor, Tony Robinson, Dontre Hamilton, Ernest Lacy, and Sylville Smith.  And we stand against excessive use of force and immediate escalation when engaging with Black Wisconsinites.”