Demonstrators Gather In Evanston In Support Of Jacob Blake

EVANSTON, IL — Hundreds of demonstrators marched through Evanston Tuesday in support of a man shot by police in Wisconsin over the weekend.

Jacob Blake III, 29, comes from a family with deep-rooted connections to Evanston. He attended Nichols School in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and Evanston Township High School before moving to Wisconsin a few years ago. The father of six remained hospitalized two days after being shot by a Kenosha police officer.

A widely shared cellphone video clip of Sunday's incident appears to show officers follow the man around his car before shooting him several times in the back after he opens up its door. The incident has so far prompted two nights of peaceful protests and marches followed by arson and rioting after dark.

Demonstrators gathered outside an affordable housing development named in honor of Blake’s grandfather Tuesday evening. Speakers including organizers William Eason and Bobby Burns, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, 5th Ward Ald. Robin Rue Simmons and Blake’s middle school girlfriend addressed the assembled crowd before it marched through the neighborhood.

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The Wisconsin Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the shooting, and the officers involved, whose names have not been disclosed, have been placed on administrative leave. No charges have been filed in connection with the incident.

Blake's grandfather, the Rev. Jacob Blake Sr., was a leader in the struggle for fair housing in Evanston, serving as the pastor of Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal Church and organizing demonstrations in support of affordable housing. Blake's cousin is a pastor in Detroit and helped uncover the water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, according to AME officials.

Following the April 1968 assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Evanston pastor lead a march of an estimated 3,000 people through Evanston in support of the Fair Housing Act, according to the Evanston History Center.

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"The shooting of Jacob Blake, in the back several times, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in a car filled with his family including three children, ages 3, 7, and 8, has the nation in an uproar," church leaders said in statement.

"The inhumane treatment of another person of color, in the shadow of the assassinations of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and the recent shooting death by police of Trayford Pellerin in Lafayette, Louisiana," it said, "are just more examples of the political tyranny and insensitivity inflicted on people of color in this nation."

Blake is currently paralyzed below the waist after suffering eight gunshot wounds, his father told the Chicago Sun-Times. He said Blake has six children between the ages of 3 and 13. Blake's uncle told the Chicago Tribune he played basketball and football at Evanston Township High School.

Court records indicate an arrest warrant was issued for Blake last month by Kenosha County authorities on charges of sexual assault, trespassing and disorderly conduct.

Blake and his family are being represented by civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump. According to Crump, Blake was helping to deescalate a domestic incident when police drew weapons on him and tasered him. In a statement, Crump said Blake was walking away to check on his children, and his three sons were just a few feet away from him when he was shot in the back by police.

Related: 'It Hurts': Neighbors Recount Jacob Blake Kenosha Police Shooting

"Their irresponsible, reckless and inhumane actions nearly cost the life of a man who was simply trying to do the right thing by intervening in a domestic incident," Crump said. "It's a miracle he's still alive."