Jacob Blake
On August 23, 2020, Wisconsin police officers shot 29-year-old Jacob Blake multiple times in the back, and he survived. Officers were called to a domestic incident that evening, which Blake was reportedly trying to de-escalate. He was shot as he entered the driver's side of an SUV, while his children watched. A video shows Blake walking around the front of an SUV with two officers behind him, one with his gun trained on Blake's back. As Blake entered the car, the closest officer grabbed his shirt and seven shots were heard. Two of the police officers were placed on leave, while state authorities conducted an investigation. It was revealed that Blake was shackled to his bed in the hospital, despite being paralyzed (Chavez, Nicole, et al.). In January 2021, Kenosha County district attorney Michael Graveley announced that charges would not be brought against the police officer who shot Blake, officer Rusten Sheskey. The reasoning was that it would be difficult to prove a case against the officer because Blake had admitted to holding a knife. Later, in October 2021, the Justice Department said it would not pursue federal charges against the officer who shot Blake due to lack of sufficient evidence (Morales).
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Kyle Rittenhouse
At protests in Kenosha on August 25, 2020, protestors fought with counterprotestors. These counterprotestors were armed and claimed to be protecting the town from looters. Two protestors were killed and a third was wounded by then 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who came to Kenosha from Illinois. Rittenhouse was arrested and charged with six criminal counts, and went on trial in November 2021 (Morales). Rittenhouse said that he intended to "help protect private property" with his AR-15-style rifle. Rittenhouse said that he feared for his life when the men he killed and injured began to chase him, leading him to shoot. Prosecutors claimed that Rittenhouse put himself in these situations by choosing to come to Kenosha with a dangerous rifle, but the jury ultimately acquitted him. This acquittal has sparked outrage across the country (Sullivan).