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Last Sunday, Rusten Sheskey, a white police officer in Kenosha Wisconsin, fired seven shots, at point-blank into the back of 29-year-old African American Jacob Blake as Blake leaned into his car. Inside the car were Blake’s three sons, aged 3, 5 and 8. While Blake miraculously survived, a viral video of the shooting, reminiscent of George Floyd’s police killing in Minneapolis, sparked an uprising in Kenosha against racism and police brutality. Police unleashed tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets to suppress the growing Black Lives Matter protests. A militia group dubbed The Kenosha Guard circulated a call on Facebook to “any patriots willing to take up arms and defend our city tonight from evil thugs” to “take up arms and lets defend our CITY!” Scores of armed white vigilantes answered the call, and one of them allegedly shot and killed two of the anti-racist protesters, seriously wounding a third.
The video of Jacob Blake’s shooting came not from a police body camera but from a bystander’s cell phone. “Kenosha city council passed an ordinance in 2017 requiring all officers wear body cams. But they never bought them,” civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Blake, tweeted. “They’re in the budget…in 2022. If it weren’t for a neighbor’s video, the police shooting of Jacob Blake would’ve vanished & no officers would be held accountable.”
This is not the first controversial police shooting in Kenosha. On November 9th, 2004, Kenosha Police stopped Michael Bell, a white 21-year-old man, in his car in front of his parent’s home. Bell dashed up the driveway, and was grabbed from behind by two officers who pinned him against a parked car. Another officer pulled his weapon, placed it against Bell’s head and pulled the trigger, killing him.
The Kenosha Police Department conducted its own review, completely exonerating the officers. Bell’s father, Michael Bell, Sr., commissioned an independent inquiry ... Read More →
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