(On August 23, 2020, Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after resisting attempts to arrest him pursuant to a felony arrest warrant.
We covered the shooting at the time. See these posts for background:
As we wrote in the link above:
The initial video released of the Jacob Blake police incident picked up as Blake headed to his vehicle apparently in defiance of police orders to stop. Since its release, we now have more information about the incident, including video of the earlier part of the confrontation between Blake and police.This newly-released video shows Blake brawling with police officers before detaching himself and walking to the driver’s side of his vehicle. Reports indicate that he had a knife, and that the knife was later found in the vehicle. Blake’s attorney denied that his client had any weapons in the vehicle, something contradicted by a later Wisconsin Department of Justice update….An attempt to use nonlethal force failed when a taser reportedly “was unsuccessful.” It is not clear at this time if the taser device failed or if it discharged properly but had no impact on the target.
What followed the shooting was intense rioting and looting, putting Kenosha on the political map for weeks.
Agitators, including Wisconsin’s leftist Governor, made much of the fact that Blake was shot “in the back,” but the circumstances were murkier and fast moving. Blake was shot in the back as he reached into the vehicle for something, later revealed to be a knife.
The District Attorney just held a lengthy press conference in which the prosecutors and police laid out the facts. The National Guard was placed on alert ahead of the press conference.
He announced that no Kenosha officer will be charged, and neither will Blake. The D.A. has asked the U.S. DOJ to conduct an independent civil rights investigation.
He went through the evidence and step-by-step timeline. Blake resisted arrest, fought by police, and by his own admission, was carrying a knife, after multiple attempts to subdue him, including taser, failed. Blake was shot when he made a move with the knife, having switched it to his right hand, towards the police officer. Contrary to the popular narrative, Blake was not shot seven times in the back, three of the shots were to his side consistent with the twisting motion with the knife towards the officer. The officer’s seven shots were objectively reasonable because police are trained to keep firing until the threat is removed, which in this case was when Blake dropped the knife.
Blake lied when he said he didn’t know there was a warrant for his arrest, his phone internet records proves he knew, which would provide motive for his to resist arrest in front of his children, and makes him a not credible witness at trial. There also was a 2010 incident in Chicago where Blake similarly displayed a knife resisting arrest, and actually slashed at the officer.
The prosecutor has released an 87-page report of his findings and decision not to prosecute.
With these facts established, I do not believe the State could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Sheskey was not acting lawfully in self-defense or defense of others which is the legal standard the State would have to meet to obtain a criminal conviction in this case. I also do not believe that there are any viable criminal charges against Officer Meronek or Officer Arenas neither of whom fired a shot in this case.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY
