The Department of Justice announced on Friday that there would be no civil rights charges against the police officer who shot Jacob Blake, an incident taken up by Black Lives Matter activists.
Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake seven times as he resisted officers’ commands during a domestic disturbance call on Aug. 23, 2020. The incident resulted in a week of rioting and protests in Kenosha, Wis., as protests continued across the country from the outrage over the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody.
The DOJ said there was not enough evidence to charge Sheskey.
“The department makes this decision because the evidence obtained is insufficient to prove that the KPD officer willfully used excessive force,” read the DOJ statement. “Accordingly, the review of this incident has been closed without a federal prosecution.”
While anti-cop critics have characterized the incident as another white police shooting of an innocent black man, others point out that video appears to show Blake reaching in his car as Sheskey opens fire. Police later found a knife in the car.
The findings from the DOJ mirror those of local and independent investigations initiated by the Kenosha Police Department, who cleared Sheskey to return to duty in March after having placed him on administrative leave.
“Although this incident has been reviewed at multiple levels, I know that some will not be pleased with the outcome,” wrote Kenosha Police Department Chief Daniel Miskinis at the time, “however, given the facts, the only lawful and appropriate decision was made.”
Blake said in an interview in January that he intended to put the knife in his car and lay down on the ground. Police said that he had placed one officer in a headlock and refused to put down his knife before he was shot. Police also tried and failed to subdue him with the use of two Tasers.
Blake was left paralyzed from the waist down because of the shooting.
Here’s more about the Jacob Blake incident:
FULL STORY: Here’s what Jacob Blake did three months before the Kenosha police shooting, riots
www.youtube.com