Jacob Blake’s family said he is now handcuffed to his bed.
On Thursday, Blake’s uncle said in a CNN report that his father visited the Wauwatosa, Wisconsin hospital where his son is recovering from at least one surgery. He was “heartbroken” to see that his son was handcuffed.
“This is an insult to injury,” Justin Blake, the uncle of the victim, said. “He is paralyzed and can’t walk and they have him cuffed to the bed. Why?”
The victim, Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, has spent several days in the hospital. A Kenosha police officer shot him seven times in the back on Sunday while trying to detain him, state investigators said.
Andrew Yang, a former Democratic presidential candidate said on Thursday that he spoke with Blake’s father. He told Yang that he’s glad to see that his son is awake, but is angry that he’s restrained.
“His father actually used the words ‘chains.’ He said my son is chained up,” Yang said in a CNN report.
When speaking to his father for the first time since the shooting, Yang said that Blake asked why was he shot so many times.
Yang tweeted about his conversation with Blake’s father saying: “When asked what message I could share on his family’s behalf, #JacobBlake Sr. said to me, ‘Tell them my son is a human being,'”
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a news conference that he “couldn’t imagine” why Blake was handcuffed.
“I would have no personal understanding why that would be necessary,” Evers said. “I would hope that we would be able to find a more, a better way to help him … in recovering. That seems counterintuitive. It seems to be bad medicine.”
Blake’s shooting has sparked nightly demonstrations and a boycott across the sports world. On Wednesday, the Wisconsin law enforcement officials leading the investigation finally offered their first version of events, leaving gaping holes in its timeline.
Local officials in Wisconsin have not discussed many details about Blake’s shooting but continue addressing the nightly protests in Kenosha, especially after two people at a protest were killed and a third was seriously injured this week.
On Thursday afternoon, an all-White group of local officials held a press conference to praise peaceful protesters and discuss the law enforcement response to prevent rioting in the city.
“Last night was very peaceful,” Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said. “Tuesday night — not quite so peaceful, but it wasn’t too bad. Monday night was our big night. Hopefully, we’re over that hump of what we have to face.”
After speaking, the Kenosha mayor, Kenosha County executive, Kenosha police chief, Kenosha County sheriff, and Wisconsin National Guard’s adjutant general all declined to take questions.