Wisconsin Justice Department releases initial account of Jacob Blake shooting
27 August 2020
The Wisconsin Department of Justice released its initial account describing the events before and after officers shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, last Sunday evening.
The state of play: The release says officers were sent to a residence after a woman claimed her boyfriend was on the property and was not supposed to be. Officers tried to arrest Blake, initially using a taser they say did not work.
- Blake walked to his car and Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey fired his weapon seven times into Blake's back.
- No other officer was reported to fire a weapon.
- The Kenosha Police Department does not have body cameras available for its officers.
- Blake told officers he had a knife in his possession during the investigation after the incident, and officials did not find any other weapons in his car.
The impact: Kenosha has been in a state of disarray since the shooting — which left Blake paralyzed. The incident has set off protests throughout Kenosha over police brutality.
- Authorities added that two people died after gunfire erupted during demonstrations in the area o Tuesday night.
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.