SPOKANE, Wash. — Hundreds of people could descend on downtown Spokane for a march on Sunday afternoon following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The southeastern Wisconsin city became the nation's latest flashpoint in a summer of racial unrest after cellphone footage of police shooting Blake as he leaned into his SUV — apparently while three of his children were sitting in the vehicle — circulated widely on social media. The 29-year-old was hospitalized in serious condition.
Two people were shot to death and another person was wounded during a third night of protests in Kenosha on Wednesday night.
The #MarchForJacobBlake event in Spokane is expected to begin at 2 p.m. at Riverfront Park's Red Wagon. More than 150 people have said on Facebook that they will attend the march, which is organized by Occupy Spokane, Stronger Together Spokane and a handful of other activist groups, with more than 560 people who are interested in attending.
The Facebook event description mentions Tyler Rambo, who is accused of attempting to shoot a man on the Fourth of July in 2019 and pointing a gun at a woman. Eight officers with the Coeur d’Alene Police Department shot Rambo multiple times after he allegedly shot at officers following a foot chase.
Rambo has filed a tort claim that alleges officers deployed their taser into Rambo while he had his hands in the air, adding that the action was taken without warning to him or other officers.
"He [Rambo] is now the victim of a smear campaign by a racist judicial system that is trying to bury him in the system," the description for Sunday's march reads. "Tyler has court coming up in November, and his case needs to gain the attention of the national media before then. "
Kim Schmidt, who works with Stronger Together Spokane, outlined some of the organizers' goals. The activist group is one that specifically fights back against religion extremism, which Schmidt said is "closely tied" to white supremacy movements.
"I think one of our main goals is to bring attention to the fact that this [Blake's shooting] does affect us at a local level," Schmidt said.
Protesters continue to call for the cancellation of a law enforcement training from the founder of "Killology Research Group," she said. There have already been several protests in Spokane aimed at canceling the training for Spokane County Sheriff's deputies.
The training has currently been suspended but a community town hall is expected before it could be canceled.
Schmidt said protesters also want to bring attention to the fact that Black people are murdered at disproportionate rates.
Data from 2018 shows African-Americans are up to five times more likely to be arrested in Spokane than white people.
The report also shows that of the 712 arrests of African Americans in 2018, officers resorted to "use of force" 15 times, or in 2% the arrests. Theere were 79 instances of "use of force" in 5,292 arrests of white people, or 1.5% of the time.
"I think a lot of people tend to ignore it [white supremacy] or think it's not as bad as it is," Schmidt said.
Much of the backlash to the Black Lives Matter movement, Schmidt said, is "deeply rooted" in racism.
“We’re here to show our community that we don’t want fires, we don’t want vandalism...we just want police to stop killing Black people," she said.
Schmidt also expressed disappointment in people who bring up the criminal history of those involved in police shootings.
“Any time somebody gets murdered people are going to instantly look up their criminal past. Law enforcement is not judge, jury and executioner all in one," she said.
Ultimately, organizers want to see widespread changes among local law enforcement and the reallocation of resources, she said.
“I want to see changes within the Spokane Police Department. I think too much of the focus is on the sheriff’s office because Ozzie [Knezovich] wants to bring ‘Killology,'" Schmidt said.