In Kenosha, Wisconsin, Jacob Blake is lying on a hospital bed, potentially paralyzed from the waist down after a police officer shot him seven times in the back while he was getting into his car. Blake’s sons witnessed the shooting of their unarmed parent as they were seated in the car when it happened. 

His assailants are now on an ‘administrative leave’ according to the police department. 

While Blake recovers from the bullets in his body and tries to restart life paralyzed, civil unrest has continued now for two nights in the aftermath of his shooting, which was captured on video. 

Blake’s father, who shares the same name as his son, told the Chicago Sun-Times that when he spoke with his son on Sunday morning, he was getting ready to celebrate his own son’s 8th birthday. 

Just hours after speaking, Blake Sr. was told his son had been shot eight times by law enforcement. Minutes later, he saw the viral video.

“What justified all those shots? What justified doing that in front of my grandsons? What are we doing?” said Blake Sr.

Currently, he. is making the trip from Charlotte, North Carolina to Kenosha to be at his son’s bedside. 

“I want to put my hand on my son’s cheek and kiss him on his forehead, and then I’ll be OK. I’ll kiss him with my mask. The first thing I want to do is touch my son,” he said.

Meanwhile, his destination in southeastern Wisconsin is now the latest boiling point of protest around racial inequality and police brutality in a long summer that has captured numerous encounters similar to Blake’s on camera  for the world to see. 

The videos show how racist and flawed America’s criminal justice continues to be, and the uprisings have forced politicians to do more than just put a band-aid over the long-standing issues. 

Police tear gassed activists on Monday in Kenosha after 8:00 p.m., when the curfew took effect to disperse crowds chanting “no justice, no peace.”

To no surprise, they were confronted with a line of officers standing shoulder to shoulder, wearing protective gear and guarding their coveted courthouse entrance.

Tensions flared as protestors did not stand down and stood their ground lit fires.