Jacob Blake's father: "My son has not been afforded the rights of a human"
28 August 2020
Jacob Blake's father, Jacob Blake Sr., told CNN on Friday that his son has not been "afforded the rights of a human" after being shot in the back by a police officer at least seven times while reaching into his car in Kenosha, Wis.
Why it matters: His comment comes as Blake's family said that the 29-year-old, who is now paralyzed from the waist down, has been handcuffed to his hospital bed. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) said at a press conference on Thursday that he "would have no personal understanding why that would be necessary."
- "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," Evers added.
What he's saying: "He's a person. He's a human being. He's not an animal," the elder Blake said.
- "But my son has not been afforded the rights of a human. He's not been treated like a human. He's a father. He's not a deadbeat dad, he's a father that's with his children every day."
- "Sometimes you get a little angry, sometimes more than a little angry, because we've been going through this for so long. And it's only the brown faces ... that get treated in this way."
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.