Jacob Blake sues Kenosha police officer after prosecutors declined to seek criminal charges
26 March 2021
An African American man who was paralyzed after he was shot in the back by a Kenosha, Wis., police officer is suing the officer after prosecutors declined to seek criminal charges.
Why it matters: The federal lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court comes during stalling efforts to massively reshape police departments nationwide after last summer's protest over systemic racism and police excessive force.
Driving the news: Lawyers for Jacob Blake accused Kenosha officer Rusten Sheskey in court documents of excessive deadly force and violating Blake's constitutional rights.
- Court documents say Sheskey shot Blake in the back with "malice, willfulness, and reckless indifference" to his rights.
- Blake's lawyers are seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
- No attorney was listed for Sheskey.
Flashback: Video of Sheskey shooting Blake last August went viral online and generated three days of violent protests in the southeastern Wisconsin city.
- Police had been called to the scene to resolve a domestic dispute.
- An investigation by the state Department of Justice claimed that Blake was armed with a knife in the moments that led up to the shooting.
- Graveley said he could not disprove Sheskey's claim that he feared for his life when he fired seven shots at Blake.
The bottom line: Activists say police mishandled the situation and didn't need to shoot Blake from behind following a scuffle. Advocates are seeking new legislation to make it easier to prosecute and sue officers for alleged misconduct.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.