No charges. No accountability. No semblance of Justice.

By Jazmyn Taitingfong, Esq.

On August 23rd, 2020, Officer Rusten Shesky shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back in Kenosha, Wisconsin, while he walked to his car. Three of his children watched it happen. The shooting occurred after police responded to, what they called, a “domestic incident.” Police allege that Jacob, who had an outstanding warrant, was carrying a knife. Jacob’s attorney denies that allegation. While in the hospital, and now paralyzed from the waist down, Jacob was handcuffed to the hospital bed.

Like with the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota, mere months earlier, a bystander recorded the shooting on their cell phone. It was shared on every medium and seen across the world. There were protests. There were calls for justice. There were calls to action. Again, people chanted, “Black Lives Matter.”

Yet yesterday, Kenosha County’s District Attorney, Michael Gravely, announced that there would be no state charges against Officer Shesky, who shot Jacob. In that announcement, he also stated that Jacob, the person who was shot in the back seven times while walking away from police, would not be charged. History repeats itself. As with Breonna Taylor, we hear the same rhetoric and victim blaming. We see that police are seemingly above the law and shielded by a system that treats Black life as expendable.

No charges.
No accountability.
No semblance of justice.

Again, we offer our support and a safe space for our members, and the Black community, as we manage the trauma associated with police violence, the loss of Black lives, and systematic racism.

We send our thoughts and prayers to Jacob Blake as he continues to recover, and the family and friends who support him during this time.

Again, we demand radical structural change in policing in America. We continue to demand accountability. Black Lives Matter.