Jacob Blake, paralyzed from waist down, no longer shackled in hospital after warrants vacated

Jacob Blake, the 29-year-old Black man shot multiple times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has had the handcuffs removed from his bed at Froedtert Hospital.

Blake’s felony warrants have also been dropped and the deputies guarding his hospital room have been ordered to leave.

It remains unclear why Blake was shackled to his bed throughout the week while he has been unable to walk and is on heavy medications.

Breaking News: Jacob Blake's attorney just told WISN-12 News Terry Sater the felony warrant against Blake has just been vacated, handcuffs removed in his hospital bed, and the deputies have left his room at Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa. @WISN12News #jacobblake pic.twitter.com/u7Bps247PJ

— Terry Sater (@noozdude1) August 28, 2020

After being shot seven times by Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey, Jacob Blake has a damaged spinal cord, spine, stomach, kidneys and liver, while losing most of his colon and having no bowel or genital function.

Blake’s father, Jacob Blake Sr., revealed his son’s condition on Thursday.

“There was the cold steel on his ankle. He is shackled to the bed, but he cannot get up, he could not get up, he is paralyzed,” the elder Blake told CNN.

News that Blake remained in handcuffs raised concerns about the shooting victim’s continued mistreatment at the hands of the state and was the subject of widespread media coverage on Thursday and Friday.

When asked by reporters about whether he was concerned about the shackling of Blake to his hospital bed, Gov. Tony Evers responded “Hell yes.”

“I would have no personal understanding why that would be necessary,” Evers said. Certainly, he’s paid a horrific price already being shot seven or eight times in the back. I can’t imagine why that’s happening.”

Local station WISN reports that the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department released Blake from his handcuffs after his warrants were vacated when he posted bond for the felony warrants related to his arrest.

Police shot and critically wounded Blake on Aug. 23 while he attempted to enter the driver side of his small SUV as his three sons watched, according to officials and a bystander’s video that quickly went viral. The shooting came after police tried and failed to use a taser on Blake.

Police had been called to the scene after a domestic incident call by a woman reporting that “her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises,” according to Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul.

A dispatcher told the officers that a woman who called for police had explained, “Jacob Blake isn’t supposed to be there and he took the complainant’s keys and is refusing to give them back.”

Blake faces charges July 6 for felony third-degree sexual assault and misdemeanor trespassing and disorderly conduct. The woman involved in the case was an adult, contrary to widespread false claims that have gone viral among pro-police social media users.

A number of claims have also spread across social media claiming that Jacob Blake was holding a knife or reaching for a gun prior to Officer Sheskey firing into his back, but these claims have been denied by state investigators.

Blake has since told investigators that he had a knife in his possession that was “recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard,” according to Kaul.

The shooting led to days of explosive unrest in Kenosha, which included looting, the burning down of a state Department of Corrections facility, and the killing of two protesters by Kyle Rittenhouse.