Jacob Blake, the black man shot in the back by police in the US state of Wisconsin, has reportedly been released from handcuffs while in hospital.
Despite being paralyzed from the waist down, Blake had been handcuffed to his bed, with his family expressing outrage at his treatment by law enforcement officers.
Blake’s father, Jacob, said he had found him cuffed to his bed and had immediately expressed his outrage.
“He can’t go anywhere. Why do you have him cuffed to the bed?” the elder Blake said.
His attorney told US media that these warrants had been cancelled and that officers guarding Mr Blake had since left.
Blake, a 29-year-old black man, has spent several days in the hospital. A Kenosha police officer shot him seven times in the back on Sunday while trying to detain him.
His uncle, Justin Blake also expressed the family’s outrage at his treatment.
“This is an insult to injury. He is paralyzed and can’t walk and they have him cuffed to the bed. Why?” he said.
Andrew Yang, a former Democratic presidential candidate and CNN contributor, said Thursday Blake’s father had told him that his ailing son was “chained.”
“His father actually used the words ‘chains.’ He said my son is chained up,” Yang told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
On Twitter Yang added: “When asked what message I could share on his family’s behalf, #JacobBlake Sr. said to me, ‘Tell them my son is a human being,'”
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a news conference that he “couldn’t imagine” why Blake was handcuffed. “I would have no personal understanding why that would be necessary,” Evers said.
