The Officer Who Shot Jacob Blake Will Not Face Civil Rights Charges

Welp, this is f***ing ridiculous.

Source: KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / Getty

In “disappointed, but not surprised,” news, the Justice Department is not filing federal civil rights charges against the Wisconsin officer who shot Jacob Blake, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

According to reports from the Chicago Sun-Times, after launching its own investigation into the incident, the DOJ announced on Friday, October 8 that it will not be pursuing charges against Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey, saying there was not enough evidence to prove he used excessive force or violated Blake’s civil rights.

“Accordingly, the review of this incident has been closed without a federal prosecution,” the Justice Department said in a news release.

Blake was shot multiple times on August 23, 2020 as he attempted to enter a vehicle with his young children. The officers were initially called to the scene over a domestic incident between two women, but, unsurprisingly, ended up targeting someone else. Sheskey tried to stop Blake from entering his car by pulling on his shirt, which is when Blake reportedly turned around and came toward the officer with a knife. He was shot seven times.

As previously reported, Sheskey was not charged by state prosecutors for the shooting. The officer told authorities that he used deadly force during the shooting because he was afraid Blake was trying to kidnap a child in his vehicle, but the children present were Blake’s biological kids.

In March, Jacob Blake filed a lawsuit against Sheskey for unspecified damages over the injuries he sustained during the shooting. In the suit, he said one of the cop’s seven gunshots severed his spinal cord, resulting in his paralyzation.

Since the incident, he has not been able to work or perform daily tasks and says he’s still confined to a wheelchair after months of surgeries and physical rehabilitation.