Black Lives Matter‘s crusade for Jacob Blake, a knife-wielding criminal who attacked cops, died with a whimper on Tuesday night.
After Kenosha District Attorney Michael Graveley announced on Tuesday afternoon that police officer Rusten Sheskey would not be charged in the shooting death of Blake, a small group of peaceful protesters marched along the streets.
About 50 protesters on foot and about 30 cars moved through Library Park and Allendale, Kenosha News reported.
The protesters gathered at 8 p.m. and dispersed by 10 p.m.
Authorities did not report any violence or arrests.
In preparation for violent protests, business boarded their windows and the government erected a chain-link fence around the courthouse.
Protesters shouted “Wake up Kenosha” and “No justice, no peace,” but the Kenosha Police and the Wisconsin National Guard maintained calm, TMJ4 reported.
They also said, in call-and-response fashion, “What’s his name?” “Jacob Blake!”
A small group of protesters have begun marching back and forth on the street outside from where the Blake Family press conference was held. pic.twitter.com/JsTImdvEca
— James Groh (@JamesGroh_) January 6, 2021
“It was peaceful. That was all that matters,” said Kejuan Goldsmith, a Racine-native protest leader.
Police officers did not have a strong presence as the protesters moved through the streets, but when they arrived at the Kenosha County Courthouse, National Guard members formed a line.
“Does this look like a violent assembly to you? Because you all look pretty stupid right now,” a woman said to the guardsmen.
“That right there let us know A. What the decision was going to be; B. that we were going to be disappointed; and C. they basically assumed that an entire race of people were going to be so upset that they were going to cause unrest and destruction,” Penelope Bailey, an Oshkosh resident, said of the precautions.
“What they fail to realize is that unrest isn’t caused until you try and breach our rights to gather and protest,” she said.
