Black man shot, injured by police in Wisconsin city, curfew imposed

[August 24, 2020]    By Ann Maria Shibu

(Reuters) - Protests erupted in the U.S. city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, following a police shooting there of a reportedly unarmed Black man, prompting officials to impose a curfew.

A Black man was hospitalized in a serious condition on Sunday (August 24) evening after Wisconsin police shot him multiple times causing crowds to gather and demonstrate at the scene.

The victim, identified by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers as Jacob Blake, was hospitalized in a serious condition on Sunday evening after police shot him multiple times, local media reported.

Crowds gathered at the scene and threw bricks and Molotov cocktails at police, according to reports in social media.

"We stand against excessive use of force and immediate escalation when engaging with Black Wisconsinites," governor Evers wrote in a tweet.

The shooting happened at around 5 p.m. local time in Kenosha as officers were responding to a "domestic incident". The victim was immediately taken to a hospital by the police, according to a statement issued by the Kenosha police department.

No further explanation was given by the police as to what led to the shooting.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice said early on Monday that officers involved in the shooting had been placed on administrative leave.

The state's Division of Criminal Investigation is heading a probe into the shooting and said in a statement it will seek to "provide a report of the incident to the prosecutor within 30 days," U.S. media reported .

A video circulating on social media and cited by the U.S. press showed the man walking towards a car followed by two officers and one of them shooting him as he opens the car door.

Multiple fires were set at the scene by a crowd that gathered to protest against the incident, according to various U.S. media reports.

Social media posts showed large crowds marching down streets and throwing Molotov cocktails and bricks at the police, with one officer reportedly injured. The police responded by imposing a city-wide curfew until 7 a.m.

There have been ongoing protests in the United States against police brutality and racism since the death on May 25 of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

(Reporting by Ann Maria Shibu in Bengaluru; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Toby Chopra)

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