Wisconsin Governor declares state of emergency after Jacob Blake protests

The campaign of Democratic nominee Joe Biden issued a similar statement Tuesday night. “Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. It’s an utterly American response,” said Senior Adviser Symone Sanders. “But burning down communities and needless destruction is not. Violence that endangers lives is not. Violence that guts and shutters businesses that serve the community is not.”

Doctors operated Tuesday on the victim, Jacob Blake, who suffered a severed spinal cord, a shattered vertebra and damage to his stomach, kidney and liver, Blake lawyer Patrick Salvi said at a news conference at the Kenosha County Courthouse.

People walk past a lot with burned out used cars after a night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

“It is going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake Jr. to ever walk again,” Ben Crumb, another Blake lawyer, said, adding that the injuries were the result of the “brutal use of excessive force, once again, on an African-American.”

The lawyers said they planned to file a civil lawsuit seeking police accountability and the resources necessary for Blake’s medical recovery.

The shooting of Blake, 29, reignited the political debate over police violence and protests. U.S. Representative Karen Bass, a Democrat and chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, compared the police treatment of Blake and that of Dylann Roof, who killed nine people at a church in South Carolina.

Meanwhile Republican Karen Handel, who’s trying to win back the suburban Atlanta seat she lost to Representative Lucy McBath, launched a campaign ad trying to link her Democratic opponent to violent demonstrations.

Night two of the Republican National Convention opened with a prayer for “peace to come over the hurting communities in Wisconsin tonight,” as well as for healing to Blake and his family and protection for law enforcement patrolling the streets.

Three months after the killing of Floyd prompted companies across the world to reassess the racist roots of their brand names, the California ski resort that hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics said it would “drop the derogatory and offensive term ‘squaw.’” Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows said it would announce a new name next year.