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On August 23, 2020, the white cop Rusten S. shot the black Jacob Blake seven times in the back. Now, more than four months after the raid in the US city of Kenosha, prosecutors have announced that they will not charge any of the police officers involved. The responsible prosecutor Michael Graveley justified the decision with the right of the civil servants to the legitimate defense.
Graveley said that under current law, particularly the police officer’s right to self-defense, a conviction in court would have been highly unlikely. During the operation, the policeman feared that Blake would attack him with a knife and therefore shoot him. Police officers were called to the scene of the dispute and also knew that there was an arrest warrant for Blake.
Blake, who was 29 at the time, survived the shooting badly injured and has been paralyzed ever since. In Kenosha, Wisconsin, serious protests and riots broke out after the Blake shooting.
Killed in protests: Sagittarius pleads not guilty
Two people were killed in protests in Kenosha. Kyle R., then 17, is suspected of pleading not guilty in court Tuesday. This was reported by National Public Radio and the Associated Press news agency, citing an online audience. Therefore, the shooter, who is now 18 years old, invokes the right to self-defense. The prosecution charged him with two murder cases. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
Kyle R. said he had come to Kenosha because of the protests and wanted to protect property there from looting. During the riots, he is said to have shot two people with an assault rifle and wounded another. After his arrest in neighboring Illinois, R. was sometimes styled as a hero by right-wing circles. Even the president of the United States, Donald Trump, defended him in the election campaign and suggested after the incident that he had acted in self-defense. R. is free on bail.
The shooting of Jacob Blake took place in an already heated political climate; just about three months earlier, the black George Floyd had been killed in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd’s death sparked protests across the country by the Black Lives Matter movement against police violence and racism.
The Kenosha city council feared protests in the city over the impeachment ruling in the Jacob Blake case and therefore approved a temporary emergency declaration on Monday, which is now valid for eight days. Governor Tony Evers said he had approved the dispatch of 500 members of the National Guard to Kenosha. The soldiers will help support local emergency services, guarantee the right to safely protest and protect infrastructure, the governor said.
