USF students, community protest Jacob Blake shooting

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - More than 100 people took to the streets of Tampa Saturday to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, who was shot multiple times by police in Wisconsin and is now paralyzed from the waist down. USF students, along with community members, organized the rally and march because they say they want to shed a light on injustice and police brutality as a whole.

 Despite the rain, protesters with loud voices and signs in hand were front and center Saturday near the USF campus at the corner East Fowler and North 30th Street.

 "I saw it and it hurts you know what I mean so we just want things to change and the only way things can change is if people speak up," Tampa resident Hakeem Campbell said. "People don't understand as a person this hurts. If you're a human being and you watch something like this happen it has to affect you.”

The demonstrators walked down North 30th Street chanting and protesting as they made their way to the Tampa police precinct.

 "Seeing it every single day just a new person a new name to this long endless list is just ridiculous that we have to live in a society where every day there is a new video," organizer Alaa Massri said.

Massri is a sophomore at USF. She said it's not only in response to the Jacob Blake shooting but also in response to the death of George Floyd and police brutality as a whole.

 "Even if I'm here alone, I will stand here every single day showing that we need justice we need to fight and we need some real change," Massri said.