Prosecutors in Kenosha, Wisc., filed no charges against police officers in the shooting of Jacob Blake, a knife-wielding assailant with an extensive criminal history who refused to be subdued when officers attempted to use a non-lethal Taser.
Blake was lunging for a knife in his car when officers shot him in the back. The shooting, which occurred amid widespread race-riots over the death of Minneapolis drug-abuser George Floyd, resulted in massive riots in the mid-size city, halfway between Milwaukee and Chicago on Lake Michigan.
Leftist media hacks helped perpetuate the false narrative that Blake was unarmed at the time.
But Gravely dispelled that claim during a press conference in which he addressed the details of the case, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
“It is absolutely incontrovertible that Jacob Blake was armed with a knife,” he said. “All the discussion that he was unarmed contradicts what he himself has said to investigators.”
Blake, who survived the shooting, pled guilty to lesser charges, but he will not be charged for resisting arrest, said District Attorney Michael Gravely in announcing the decision.
His claim of innocence was far more tenuous, however, than the officers’ defense that they were behaving properly in the line of duty.
“In this particular case I would call it extreme actively resisting,” said Noble Wray, an independent expert hired to review the case.
Although he admitted he was brandishing a knife, he denied that he intended to use it against the officers.
“Why would I pull a knife on a cop? What am I? A knife thrower? I ain’t going to pull no knife on no damn cop,” Blake reportedly told investigators.
So-called social justice advocates expressed disappointment in the decision, ignoring the facts of the case to claim the outcome was a predetermined exercise in “systemic” racism.
If you’re surprised that no charges will be brought against the police officer who shot and paralyzed Jacob Blake, or any other officers involved, you haven’t been following American history.
— Joy WE VOTED!! WEAR A MASK!! Reid ?) (@JoyAnnReid) January 5, 2021
This isn’t the news we hoped for, but our work is not done and hope is not lost. We must broaden the fight for justice on behalf of Jacob Blake and the countless other Black victims of racial injustice and police brutality. #JusticeForJacobBlake
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) January 5, 2021
Already, some were bracing for a new round of riots. Within minutes of the announcement, protesters had gathered outside the Bradford Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Kenosha for a vigil.
The city’s mayor, and police chief said in a video statement that they respected protesters’ First Amendment rights as long as they maintained the peace.
But Mayor John Antaramian said officials “will not—cannot—tolerate” any further escalation of crime and violence.
“I want to make this clear. We respect your right to peacefully protest and will protect peaceful demonstrations,” Antaramian said.
“Our overriding concern is for the safety of our community, those who live and work here in Kenosha, and those who have gathered here to express their opinions,” he said.
During the summertime riots, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse shot three violent assailants who were pursuing him, killing two of them in self defense.
Rittenhouse, in a separate proceeding Tuesday, entered a not-guilty plea for several felony charges including intentional homicide.
