The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that there would be no charges brought against the police officer who shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back in August 2020. A Wisconsin prosecutor said that they would not bring charges against officer Rusten Sheskey after he shot Blake in Kenosha this past summer. The shooting left Blake paralyzed and sparked a series of protests in the Kenosha area.
Sheskey’s shooting of Blake was captured on video by a bystander. The shooting immediately sparked protests in the area, as the incident came amidst increased attention on the Black Lives Matter movement. The Associated Press reported that more than 250 people were arrested in the days that followed the shooting. One of the arrested individuals was 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who is charged with the fatal shootings of two men and the wounding of a third (Rittenhouse recently pleaded not guilty on those charges).
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Despite the officer’s shooting of Blake, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Gravely said that they would not be moving forward with charges against Sheskey on Tuesday. Gravely said that he “would have to disprove the clear expression of these officers that they had to fire a weapon to defend themselves.” He added, “I do not believe the state … would be able to prove that the privilege of self-defense is not available.” Gravely added that he had informed Blake about this news shortly before it was made public.
The incident in question took place on Aug. 23, 2020. At the time, Sheskey was one of the officers who responded to a woman who reported that her boyfriend was not supposed to be around. A video captured by a bystander shows that Blake was walking to the driver-side door of an SUV as officers followed him with their guns drawn, shouting at him during the ordeal. Blake then opened the door of his vehicle and Sheskey grabbed his shirt from behind and opened fire. The Kenosha police union claimed that Blake was armed with a knife and that Sheskey asked him to drop it several times. Brendan Matthews, Sheskey’s attorney, even claimed that the officer fired his weapon after Blake started running towards him with a knife. However, state investigators have said that the officers on the scene only saw a knife on the SUV floor. They didn’t mention whether Blake threatened anyone with it.
