No charges will be filed against any of the Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man who was shot seven times in the back and paralyzed from the waist down after an altercation with law enforcement over the summer.
Blake was shot by white Officer Rusten Sheskey on Aug. 23, sparking over a week of protests over racial justice in the city that descended into violence. Now, the city is braced for more unrest.
What are the details?
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced the decision during a news conference Tuesday, explaining that the determination was made “based on the facts and the laws.” Graveley also noted that Blake himself would not face any charges from the incident.
The Washington Post reported that “Graveley said the decision was based on a review of more than 40 hours of squad video, and more than 200 reports totaling over 1,500 pages.”
The independent investigation was conducted by the Department of Justice.
Prosecutor declines to charge police officer who shot Jacob Blake
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Benjamin Crump, attorney for the Blake family, condemned the DA’s decision in a statement, telling
Fox News, “We are immensely disappointed in Kenosha District Attorney Michael Graveley’s decision not to charge the officers involved in this horrific shooting. We feel this decision failed not only Jacob and his family, but the community that protested and demanded justice.”
The Post noted that witnesses claimed Blake, who survived the shooting, “had been trying to break up an argument between two women, was unarmed and shot as he walked back toward his vehicle” during his run-in with police who were responding to a 911 call regarding a domestic dispute.
As
TheBlaze previously reported:
Officers reportedly said they saw a knife on the floor of the car. Blake’s three children were in the backseat.
Kenosha Police Union attorney Brendan Matthews told
WCCO-TV that Blake was reportedly at the residence of his ex-girlfriend, who accused him of a violent sexual assault in May.The unnamed woman reportedly called authorities on that fateful day, alleging that her ex was attempting to steal both her keys and her vehicle.
Reports say that because of the alleged May assault, Blake was not supposed to be at her residence at all.
The
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that authorities were braced for unrest in anticipation of Tuesday’s announcement, noting that “Gov. Tony Evers (D) called out the National Guard Monday afternoon as business owners boarded up their windows and government workers put up fences and concrete barriers around the courthouse.”
Heavy national guard presence here in #Kenosha. Including several standing on the steps of the dinosaur museum. https://t.co/pUDuV0DSEg
— Mike De Sisti (@Mike De Sisti)1609875451.0
Blake is now home after months of hospitalization and rehab, one of his co-counsels said, according to the Journal Sentinel.
Anything else?
Graveley’s announcement was not the only development related to Kenosha on Tuesday.
Hours before the news conference, Kyle Rittenhouse — the teen facing homicide and attempted homicide charges for fatally shooting two and wounding another during a Kenosha protest — pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
Rittenhouse’s attorney claims his client, who was 17 years old at the time of the incident, was acting in self-defense after being attacked.
In a separate story, thee Journal Sentinel reported that Rittenhouse and his attorney appeared via Zoom before the Kenosha County court commissioner. The teen is free on $2 million bail, and is staying at an undisclosed location with his mother and attorney.
This was the correct decision even though it took way too long to make that decision. Blake was threatening his family with a knife and ran to his vehicle that held more family members refusing to stop as Police demanded and it was reported to the Police that Blake had a firarm under the seat of that vehicle and when he reached under the seat is when he was shot. Completely justified!
I guess you’re not biased at all. You better check your facts, Sherlock. There was no gun in the car. It would be impossible to look on the car floor. Check out the video. I guess you’re not a racist. So this man deserved to be shot 7 times in the back? Would you talk like that if the victim was white?
If it was reported that he had a gun and he was reaching under the seat, would you wait until he showed his hands again?
PIGS get away with murder yet again.
Sorry, Attempted Murder.
you must be a muzzie you hate pigs. If the laws are obeyed none of this shit would happen.
Who is the racist here? It seems that you are more racist than the police, or as seen through your eyes, all whites. Funny how that term is tossed around. I can remember when you might of heard that term once or twice a week, but now, people of all colors are called racist every time they don’t agree with what the other person says or writes, regardless of their color. Pelosi has spent more time and money removing terms, like son, daughter, grandfather, grandmother, etc than she has to rid the world of one most foil words in our language, racist or racism. Let’s rid the world with that term, that might help to bring us all a little closer together, rather what it does, pushing us all further apart. Let’s agree to disagree and work together to make this country a better one. Our major problems come from dishonest, corrupt people who are more interested in themselves, and if you don’t agree with what they say, your a racist. Friends, let’s clean up our country for our children, what our veterans have fought for, and start with cleaning up our Congress (House and Senate) by getting rid of those people who have forgotten us years ago, make up laws (but the laws won’t pertain to our Representatives and Senators for years after office), and that’s to protect them. Let’s have a maximum age requirement for retirement for the Congress, and limit the number of terms each House be elected to. Maybe then, we can clean up the dirt and crap coming from those places, and finally rid ourselves of the terms like racist.
If blake would have just obeyed the law none of this shit would have happened.