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Police used a Taser and grappled with Jacob Blake before shooting him, witnesses say

Aug 25, 2020, 19:59 IST
Insider
A still from video posted to Twitter, showing police following Jacob Blake.@davenewworld_2/Twitter
  • Witnesses to Jacob Blake's shooting have said that police used a Taser and wrestled with him prior to the shooting, according to multiple sources.
  • Raysean White, who took the widely-shared video of the incident, told CNN that police also tussled with him before he started recording. Another witness gave the Chicago Sun-Times similar details.
  • New footage taken from another angle, published by TMZ, is unclear but also appears to show the struggle.
  • Kenosha Police have urged the public to withhold judgment before the full investigation determines the facts in this "highly dynamic incident," CNN reported.
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Police used a Taser on Jacob Blake and tussled with him on the ground prior to shooting him in Kenosha, according to several witness accounts.

A video showing a different angle of the confrontation between Blake and officers also emerged, and appears to support claims of an extended dispute.

Raysean White, one of Blake's neighbors, told CNN that he watched the situation unfold on Sunday before pulling out his phone to video police.

White described the part before he recorded, saying: "One of them had him in a headlock and was punching him in his ribs, the other had him in a headlock on the other side of him and was pulling his arm."

"After they punched him in his rib, the female officer tased him and Jacob kind of leaned on the car and they proceeded to wrestle him toward the back of the car and he went to the other side of the car."

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"When they were on the other side of the car on the ground, I had to pick up my camera and start recording."

The second video was published on Tuesday by TMZ. It shows the scene from the other side of the car. This post from TMZ shows a still from the footage:

https://www.facebook.com/TMZ/posts/10164814336885713

The footage mostly appears to show Blake walking around his car and being shot. An unclear portion at the beginning appears to show Blake on the ground in a tussle with officers.

Another witness, who did not give their name, also told the Chicago Sun-Times that Blake was hit with a Taser.

They told the paper that an officer grabbed Blake and "they start to wrestle."

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"The officer is punching on him," the witness continued. "Two officers come to assist. They get him down on the curb behind his vehicle. Somehow he manages to get up. They said he has a knife."

Then, the witness said, all of the officers pulled out their guns and one told Blake to get out of the car, before shooting.

The witness told the Chicago Sun-Times that he never saw a knife.

The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave while an investigation is ongoing from the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

A comprehensive picture of the full event has not yet emerged. Until the outcome is determined, Kenosha Police asked CNN viewers to hold back from judging what they saw in White's video.

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Kenosha Police told CNN: "As always, the video currently circulating does not capture all the intricacies of a highly dynamic incident. We ask that you withhold from passing judgment until all the facts are known and released."

Insider has asked the department for to confirm whether a Taser was used but did not immediately receive a reply.

Jacob Blake lies on the street after he got shot following a police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S., August 23, 2020 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video.Incident Response/Reuters

Another witness, an 80-year-old grandmother who gave her name as Annie, told the Chicago Sun-Times that she did not see Blake jostling with officers before he was shot.

"He wasn't struggling at all," she said, adding that he was "just getting into his car."

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