The U.N. human rights office said on Friday that the images of the shooting of Black man Jacob Blake in Wisconsin appeared to show that the police officer had used “excessive” force that was likely discriminatory in nature.
Sunday’s shooting, captured on video, showed Blake was shot in the back by a white police officer as three of his young children watched. The footage has gone viral and set off angry protests.
“We’re not going to allow them to come back a week later and talk about some type of weapon being involved after they temporarily paralyzed my nephew,” Blake said Friday. “As his uncle, that’s insulting.”
The Sunday shooting of Blake, a Black man, put the nation’s spotlight on Wisconsin and triggered a series of peaceful protests and violence, including the killing of two people by an armed civilian on Tuesday. Blake is paralyzed from the shooting, his family said, and recovering in a Milwaukee hospital.