Civil Rights Leaders Demand Accountability in Kenosha police Shooting

Caught on bystander video, Jacob Blake being shot fuels a night of protests; State Department of Justice will investigate

Anger boiled overnight into the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, where local civil rights leaders and citizens are demanding transparency from police and other officials following the police shooting of a 29-year-old Black man Sunday.

Jacob Blake, 29, was in serious condition at Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee on Monday after being shot by officers in what police said was a response to a “domestic” incident report.

Few details about Blake’s shooting have been released but bystander video posted on social media enraged local residents, who took to the streets Sunday night to demand answers. It appeared in the video that Blake was walking in front of a vehicle to try to get into the driver's seat when officers fired their weapons, shooting Blake in the back several times.

Anthony Davis, president of the NAACP Kenosha branch, told NBC News on Monday that distrust in leadership is at the heart of the protests that erupted overnight.

“We’re looking for some leadership somewhere, to make some changes, to make the people feel that they’re part of this country and part of this community and part of this state,” Davis said.

Davis was among a group of local civil rights leaders who were supposed to speak with Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian on Monday. But a last-minute change to an indoor location, where protesters were not allowed, erupted in chaos as residents demanded the right to be present.

The local NAACP leader said that residents' emotions have run high in Kenosha and that they want to be heard.

“The African American community here always feels that we’ve been left out when it comes to things of this nature,” Davis said. “This kind pushes a lot of African American away, one of the biggest things in this community, it drives them away from voting because there is no trust. No matter who is in office, they feel like they don’t trust them.”