Atlanta Precinct Damaged, Eight Arrested In Protests Over Shooting Of Jacob Blake

Protests in Atlanta against the shooting of an unarmed Black man by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, turned violent Tuesday night.

According to the Atlanta Police Department, protesters shot off fireworks and threw frozen water bottles and rocks near the Zone 5 precinct. One officer was injured after being sprayed with Mace and eight people were arrested.

Protesters gathered at Woodruff Park in downtown Atlanta to show their support for Jacob Blake. The shooting of the 29-year-old on Sunday in Kenosha — apparently in the back while three of his children looked on — was captured on cellphone video and ignited new protests over racial injustice in several cities, some of which have devolved into unrest. It came just three months after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police touched off a wider reckoning on race.

Blake is paralyzed and it would “take a miracle” for him to walk again, his family’s attorney said Tuesday, while calling for the officer who opened fire to be arrested and others involved to lose their jobs.

WSB-TV reports that shortly after gathering, protesters took to the street and marched to the Atlanta police Zone 5 precinct, where police said a window was shattered by the protesters.

The unrest started when someone started spray-painting the walls of the police precinct.

According to the station, a police officer stepped in to stop it, and a crowd of protesters swarmed around them and protesters threw fireworks at officers. Officers in riot gear then stepped in and broke up the crowd.