A protester faces off with police in riot gear outside the Kenosha County Courthouse late on Monday.Credit:AP
Wisconsin is one of the most racially divided states in the country. While about 7 per cent of the state's population is black,in Kenosha about 12 per cent of residents are black,based on 2019 Census data. Both the mayor and police chief are white.
Since the shooting,anger has spilled into the streets of Kenosha and other cities,including Wisconsin's capital of Madison and in Minneapolis,the epicentre of the Black Lives Matter movement following Floyd's death.
Hundreds of protesters in Kenosha set fire to several buildings downtown on Monday night,including a furniture store and a community corrections building. They defied an 8pm curfew and clashed with officers in riot gear,including 125 members of the Wisconsin National Guard,who deployed tear gas as they guarded the courthouse. Protesters set fire to cars and dumpsters,threw bottles and shot fireworks.
A city block was cordoned off on Tuesday,so officials could survey damage and firefighters could address smouldering fires. Several store fronts were badly damaged,including a computer store where the windows were broken. It appears merchandise was removed from its shelves. Smoke filled the air and visibility was low as firefighters used water cannons on the buildings.
Earlier on Monday,when Kenosha Mayor John Antarmian moved a news conference from a park to inside the public safety building,hundreds of protesters rushed to the building and a door was snapped off its hinges before police in riot gear pepper-sprayed the crowd.
In Madison,about 500 protesters marched to the state Capitol on Monday night,breaking windows,stealing from stores and spraying graffiti along the way. Police used tear gas and pepper spray on the crowds and six people were arrested,according to Madison police.
In Minneapolis,11 were arrested after breaking windows at the county jail on Monday night. One police officer suffered a broken hand in an altercation with demonstrators,the sheriff's department said.
A flag flies over a Department of Corrections building as it burns in Kenosha.Credit:AP
Wisconsin Democratic Governor Tony Evers was quick to condemn the shooting in Kenosha and on Monday called on the Republican-controlled Legislature to take up a package of police reform bills in a special session next week. But Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said instead he is creating a taskforce to study policing and racial injustice issues.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden,citing other recent shootings of black people by police,said:"Those shots pierce the soul of our nation."
Police in Kenosha,a city of about 100,000 in between Milwaukee and Chicago,said they were responding to a call about a domestic dispute when they encountered Blake on Sunday.
The man who said he made the mobile phone video,22-year-old Raysean White,said he saw Blake scuffling with three officers and heard them yell,"Drop the knife! Drop the knife!"before the gunfire erupted. He said he didn't see a knife in Blake's hands.
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In the footage,Blake walks from the footpath around the front of his SUV to his driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns pointed and shout at him. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV,an officer grabs his shirt from behind and opens fire while Blake has his back turned. Seven shots can be heard,though it isn't clear how many struck Blake or how many officers fired.
Police did not say whether Blake was armed or why police opened fire,they released no details on the domestic dispute,and they did not immediately disclose the race of the three officers at the scene.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice is leading the investigation into the shooting,which is expected to take several weeks.
AP