Video shows destruction after violent protests over Jacob Blake shooting
Footage has emerged showing the devastating impact of days of unrest in Kenosha after the shooting of Jacob Blake by police.
Melanie Hawkins made the film driving around the Wisconsin city which has been rocked by angry protests since Mr Blake was shot seven times in the back on August 23.
The film starts with an image of a charred pile of bricks described as ‘where they beat the 70-year-old man who was trying to put his livelihood out with fire extinguishers.’
It shows the remains of a mattress shop that was torched on Monday. Press reports said the owner was beaten up by looters while trying to protect his shop.
Melanie goes on to film dozens of boarded up and destroyed shop fronts which she describes as a ‘small amount of what has been affected’
While the scale of the devastation is clear, the film also shows people painting the wooden boards with pictures of flowers and slogans including the words ‘stronger together.’
Later, Melanie moves uptown, an area she describes as ‘the most destroyed part of our community’. Here again she shows several buildings completely devastated by fire some of which are still smouldering.
One of the buildings is described as a multi-storey furniture store which collapsed after being set on fire.
Driving down a hight street littered with destruction, Melanie and her friend remember other shops that have been lost including a beauty salon, a computer repair shop and a Mexican supermarket that were all ‘locally owned’ by small business owners.
There were days of violent protests in Kenosha following the shooting of Jacob Blake and unrest spread around the rest of the United States.
Hundreds of people initially gathered outside police headquarters in Kenosha on Sunday. Cars were set alight, armed robberies were reported and a night-time curfew was put in place.
On Tuesday, the violence escalated and two Black Lives Matter protestors were allegedly shot by vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, who has been charged with two counts of murder.
Mr Blake is paralysed from the shooting, his family said, and is recovering in a Milwaukee hospital.
His lawyers have said he had been trying to ‘de-escalate a domestic incident’ when police drew their weapons.
The police officer who shot him, Rusten Sheskey, said Mr Blake was armed with a knife. He’s been stood down, pending an investigation.
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