On August 23, 2020, a 29-year-old African-American man was shot and seriously injured by a police officer by the name Rusten Sheskey in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Officer Sheskey fired at Jacobs back seven times at the time of his arrest. Jacob was shot immediately he opened the door to his SUV and leaned in it. At the time of his shooting, three of Jacob’s sons were at the back seat of his car. It is believed that during an earlier encounter with the officers, Jacob had been tasered and had made an attempt to fight back the officers.
Jacob’s shooting was followed by protests which included marches, rallies, arson, property damage, and confrontations with the police. During the protests, two protesters were also fatally shot.
Jacob’s name got invoked in protests held in other cities and was termed as part of the Black Lives Matter Movement.
The shooting.
On August 23, Kenosha police were informed of a domestic incidence that needed their aid at around 5.11 pm. The 911 call was from a female who referred to to Jacob as her boyfriend. The female said that Jacob was mot permitted to be at the premises and he had forcefully taken her car keys with no intention to return them.
The police dispatcher informed the officers that at the same address there was someone wanted under the police code 10-99 with a warrant under the charge of a third-degree sexual assault, disorderly conduct, and trespassing. It is believed that the same woman who had called the 911 reporting that Jacob had taken her car keys is the same woman who had previously filed a criminal complaint that alleged Jacob Blake of sexually assaulting her.
When the police got to the site, they made attempts to subdue Jacob as two of the officers used a taser on him. A bystander who was recording a video said that he heard the officers shout, “drop the knife”. The bystander also said that he didn’t see any knife and that Jacob was neither violent. The police union also claimed that he had a knife on his left hand, but the officers never saw it.
After the initial scuffle, Jacob Blake went to the driver’s side if his SUV followed by officer Rusten followed by another officer with handguns drawn towards Blake. Officer Rusten attempted to grab Jacob, and immediately Jacob Blake opened the SUV door and leaned in, officer Rusten fired seven shots towards him of which four of them directly hit Blake.
Blake was immediately airlifted to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. Later on August 25, Blake’s father announced that his son was paralyzed from the waist region down to the legs and it was not yet known if the condition would be permanent. He had also suffered a gunshot wound on one of his arms and significant damage on his liver, kidney, and stomach. He had to have most of his large and small intestines removed as a result of the damage from the gunshot.
Blake was initially handcuffed on his hospital ned as a result of the previous warrant but was soon freed after he posted a bond under the offense.
