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UN Condemns US Police Shooting of African American Jacob Blake

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - The U.N. human rights office has condemned the shooting of
   African American man Jacob Blake and said the use of force by police
   may violate international law.
   Riots broke out in the city of Kenosha in the U.S. state of Wisconsin
   in the wake of Sunday's police shooting of Blake, which has left the
   29-year-old African American man partially paralyzed.
   The U.N. human rights office views the shooting as a painful reminder
   of the heightened risk African Americans run when engaging with law
   enforcement in the United States.

   Agency spokesman Rupert Colville said the episode reaffirms the need
   for urgent action to eradicate links between structural racism and
   policing.
   "From the images available that we have seen at this point, the police
   appears to use force against Jacob Blake that would seem to be
   excessive and it does not appear the law enforcement officers abided by
   the international standards of the intentional use of lethal force with
   a firearm," Colville said.
   A statement from the Kenosha police union said that based on officers'
   inability to gain compliance and control from Blake after using verbal,
   physical and less lethal means, the officers drew their firearms.
   Colville said it seems highly possible the force used against Blake
   could have been discriminatory in nature.
   The human rights spokesman also said he was aghast at the presence of
   vigilantes at the protests in Kenosha that followed the police shooting
   of Blake. He said he found the killing of two people and injury of
   others by a 17-year-old gunman of particular concern.

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