Jacob Blake's family says he is handcuffed to hospital bed

African American man may be paralysed for life, say officials

Jacob Blake’s family has said the African American man shot by a police officer is currently handcuffed to his hospital bed.

After the situation in Kenosha, Wisconsin, returned to a state of at least relative calm following three days of protests and unrest in the wake of Sunday’s shooting of Mr Blake, his father said he had visited him the night before.

“I hate it that he was laying in that bed with the handcuff onto the bed,” his father, also named Jacob Blake, said on Thursday, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “He can’t go anywhere.”

There was no immediate confirmation from authorities that the 29-year-old Mr Blake was handcuffed to his bed, following a series of surgeries after he was shot seven times, all at close range.

The family has said it fears he may be paralysed for life and a lawyer for his relatives, Ben Crump, said it would be a “miracle” if he was to ever walk again. The Kenosha Police Department did not immediately respond to enquiries on Thursday.

Mr Blake said when he had visited his son on Wednesday evening, he said he thought he was hallucinating.

“I told him, ‘You thought Daddy wasn’t going to see my son’,” his father said.

“He grabbed my hand, held it real tight and started weeping, telling me how much he loved me.”

Protesters raise their fists during a demonstration against the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin (AFP via Getty Images)

He said although his eyes were swollen, he “looked and sounded like” his son.

The older Mr Blake compared the experience to walking across a desert to find someone waiting with a glass of water. “It was way more than fulfilling,” he said. “It was a feeling I can’t describe.”

His remarks came a day after the authorities in Kenosha released the name of the police officer, Rusten Sheskey, who shot Mr Blake seven times at close range on Sunday.

They also said they had arrested a white 17-year-old, Kyle Rittenhouse, on suspicion of shooting dead two men, and injuring a third, during subsequent protests in Kenosha.

Police have named the victims as Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, and Joseph “Jojo” Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha. Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis, was shot in the arm and is expected to recover.

Jacob Blake’s father refused to comment on the violence, saying he will fully address the matter when he speaks at the March on Washington in the nation’s capitol on Friday. At a press conference with relatives on Tuesday, his mother, Julia Jackson, called for an end to looting and destruction in the city.

“We need healing,” Ms Jackson said. “I also have been praying, even before this, for the healing of our country.”