Jacob Blake was shot seven times on Aug. 23, 2020 by Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey. A year later, he feels nothing is different in terms of policing and the general divisiveness of the world, but he’s determined to change that.
Rusten Sheskey
Kenosha, Wisconsin erupted with violent protests for several nights after Jacob Blake was shot by a police officer in August. Hundreds were arrested, and multiple businesses were destroyed.
Law enforcement and the National Guard prepared for a possible repeat of the August protests after a Wisconsin prosecutor declined Tuesday to file charges against a white police officer who shot a Black man. Activists reacted with anger and disappointment, but initial protests were subdued.
Officer Rusten Sheskey’s shooting of Jacob Blake on Aug. 23, captured on bystander video, turned the nation’s spotlight on Wisconsin during a summer marked by protests over police brutality and racism.
The Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times last month told investigators he thought Blake was trying to abduct one of his own children.
The Kenosha police union on Friday offered the most detailed accounting to date on officers’ perspective of the moments leading up to police shooting Jacob Blake seven times in the back, saying he had a knife and fought with officers.