Kenosha Pummeled By Protests Following Jacob Blake Police Shooting, At Least One Business Closes Permanently: ‘The Place Was Destroyed’

Kenosha, Wisconsin was pummeled by protests Monday evening following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was shot in the back multiple times. At least one business announced it was closing permanently.

Blake was shot by police officers at close range as he was getting inside his car on Sunday, while his three sons were in the backseat. He was been hospitalized and is in stable condition but is reportedly paralyzed, according to his father.

Monday marked the second day of protests after the shooting, similar to the response to the police killing of George Floyd in May, which also sparked nationwide demonstrations.

Protests have become increasingly more destructive to the city, leading to the permanent closing of at least one business. Video game store Gravity Gaming Lounge, which had recently reopened after closing amid the pandemic, was reportedly looted and severely damaged.

“We got looted,” they wrote in a Facebook post. “Everything in the store was taken and the place was destroyed.”

This place in Kenosha, WI re-opened on July 9 after having been closed since March due to COVID. Now closing permanently after catastrophic riots. Don’t whine about large multinational corporations taking over all commerce if you turn a blind eye to this pic.twitter.com/8Ym7UpfhEl

— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) August 25, 2020

CNN’s Omar Jimenez, who was on the ground in Kenosha, initially reported that the protests had been relatively peaceful, but has since noticed a change in attitude, as multiple locations were being burned to the ground.

“What you are seeing now, these images, came and come in stark contrast to what we saw over the day time hours in Kenosha and into the early evening, which were largely peaceful demonstrations in the face of law enforcement,” Jimenez said.

“It wasn’t until night fell that things began to get a little bit more contentious. Things were thrown back and forth. Police started using those crowd dispersal tactics like tear gas, even playing very loud sounds to push them out. And then, what you are seeing, the common theme that is tying all of this together is an expression of anger and frustration over what people feel like has become an all too familiar story playing out in place from across the country, not just here in Kenosha, Wisconsin.”

Jimenez additionally reported that multiple locations have been burning in Kenosha throughout the night as the protests continue for a second night.

The reporter also took to Twitter to compare images from the beginning of the protests to those from the second night of demonstrations.

These images come in stark contrast to the peaceful demonstrations that defined much of the late afternoon and early evening outside the Kenosha County courthouse. #JacobBlake https://t.co/QCXMRo5Hv1

— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) August 25, 2020

A furniture store was also engulfed in flames during the protests, according to The Daily Caller’s Shelby Talcott.

A closer look at just one of the buildings (the local furniture store) currently up in flames in Kenosha tonight: pic.twitter.com/2EvasISbN1

— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) August 25, 2020

Watch above, via CNN.