No charges against Kenosha officers in Jacob Blake shooting News
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No charges against Kenosha officers in Jacob Blake shooting

Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced Tuesday that charges will not be laid against Rusten Sheskey, the Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer who shot and paralyzed Jacob Blake on August 23. The other officers involved will also not be charged.

Officers were dispatched to a residence on August 23 after a woman called 911 with what was described by police as a domestic complaint. State officials say that the officers twice tried to use a taser on Blake, who had allegedly admitted to having a knife in his possession. Sheskey, a white police officer, then fired seven shots at Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. The other officers present did not fire any shots.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) conducted an investigation into the shooting. The DCI and FBI interviewed witnesses, collected evidence, reviewed videos and were issued search warrants. The DCI provided prosecutors with the investigative report.

Addressing the decision not to charge the officers, Graveley argued that if Sheskey were to claim self-defense, prosecutors could not disprove it. Under Wisconsin law, a person can fire a weapon if it is reasonably believed to be necessary to avoid injury or death. Graveley stated in a press conference that, “if you don’t believe you can prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, you have an ethical obligation not to issue charges.”

Blake’s attorney, Benjamin Crump, wrote in a tweet that the decision not to charge the officers “failed not only Jacob and his family but the community that protested and demanded justice.”

A federal civil rights investigation regarding this incident is ongoing.

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