TAMPA, Fla — Peaceful protesters gathered in South Tampa Saturday to call for social justice following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.
Around 50-60 people gathered at Swann Circle Park as part of a demonstration with the group Black Collective Movement Tampa. They painted white t-shirts with bullet holes. They also spray painted the names of people who have been shot by police.
Officers with the Tampa Police Department were present and were said to be kind, respectful, and helpful.
Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey was responding to a domestic abuse call on Sunday when he is accused of shooting Blake seven times in the back. Blake is paralyzed from the shooting, his family said and is recovering in a Milwaukee hospital.
The shooting, which was captured on cellphone video, sparked new protests against racial injustice and police brutality, just three months after the death of George Floyd within Minneapolis police custody.
Protesters have filled Kenosha’s streets every night, and on Tuesday, two people were killed by an armed civilian. The commander of the National Guard said Friday that more than 1,000 Guard members had been deployed to help keep the peace, and more were on the way.
Investigators have said little about what led to Blake's shooting. The Kenosha police union said Blake had a knife and fought with officers, putting one of them in a headlock as two efforts to stun him with a Taser were unsuccessful.
The man who recorded the video, 22-year-old Raysean White, said he heard police yell at Blake, “Drop the knife! Drop the knife!” before gunfire erupted. White said he didn't see a knife in Blake's hands. State investigators have said only that officers saw a knife on the floor of the car.
Ben Crump, an attorney for Blake's family has said Blake did nothing to provoke police and has called for Sheskey's arrest.
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