Why is Jacob Blake handcuffed to his hospital bed?
JACOB Blake, a black man who was shot seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and paralyzed, is reportedly handcuffed to his hospital bed.
Blake’s shooting on Sunday caused nights of protest that turned violent and resulted in two people being fatally shot and a getting third seriously wounded on Tuesday.
Here’s more on Blake and why he is handcuffed despite his condition.
What happened to Jacob Blake?
Kenosha officers attempted to arrest Blake, 29, after a woman called police dispatchers saying “her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises,” according to investigators with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation.
A dispatcher on the call named Blake and said he took the complainant’s keys and “isn’t supposed to be there” and would not leave.
Police officers used a Taser to try to stop Blake, who walked around his vehicle and opened the driver’s side door and leaned forward.
Officer Rusten Sheskey allegedly held Blake’s shirt and fired seven times onto his back.
Blake was airlifted to the Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee.
Why is he handcuffed to his hospital bed?
Blake’s father, also named Jacob Blake, visited his son at the hospital on Wednesday and said he has been handcuffed to bed even though the gunshot wounds left him paralyzed from the waist down.
On Thursday afternoon, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said he was concerned when he heard that the younger Blake was handcuffed.
“I would have no personal understanding why that would be necessary,” Evers 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.”
What have his family said?
The elder Blake said of his son’s situation, “I hate it that he was laying in that bed with the handcuff onto the bed.”
The father added, “He can’t go anywhere. Why do you have him cuffed to the bed?”
What happened during the Kenosha protests and who died?
Blake’s shooting led to several nights of unrest in Kenosha.
On Tuesday night, Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was caught on video clutching a semi-automatic rifle and appeared to say he “just killed somebody” as he ran away from a man shot in the head.
Police identified Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, as two protesters who were fatally shot.
Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, was shot in the arm and sustained a serious injury.
Has Kyle Rittenhouse been arrested?
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Rittenhouse was arrested on Wednesday in Lake County, Illinois.
He has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide.
Rittenhouse’s extradition hearing is scheduled to take place on Friday.