US2 min(s) read
Published 16:36 26 Aug 2020 GMT
The lawyer of Jacob Blake has said that he will need a "miracle" to walk again.
On the 23rd August, 29-year-old Blake was shot seven times by law enforcement from behind while opening the door of his car in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Police officials were purportedly responding to a "domestic incident".
Three of his six young children were in the car at the time.
Blake's father, who is also called Jacob Blake, told the Chicago Sun-Times that his son has "eight holes" in his body and is paralyzed from the waist down. "What justified all those shots?" Blake said to the publication. "What justified doing that in front of my grandsons? What are we doing?"
Doctors are currently unsure if he will recover the use of his legs.
The incident has prompted widespread protests in the city of Kenosha. CNN has reported that on the third night of protests, demonstrators once again defied curfew and were met by officers in riot gear who fired tear gas into the crowd.
An overnight shooting has left two people dead, and one person with non-life-threatening injuries, per local law enforcement. The incident is currently being investigated.
In a press conference held today (August 26), Blake's family lawyer, Ben Crump, said:
"His family believe in miracles, but the medical diagnosis right now is that he is paralyzed and, because those bullets severed his spinal cord and shattered some of his vertebrae.
"It is going to take a miracle for Jacob Blake Jr to ever walk again."
Crump also detailed that Blake was left with holes in his stomach, an arm injury, and damage to his kidney and liver. Most of his colon and small intestine had to be removed.
His mother, Julia Jackson, told the press conference her son had been "fighting for his life", but said if he "knew what was going on as far as that goes, the violence and the destruction, he would be very unpleased".
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