Aug. 23 is the Jacob Blake shooting anniversary. It has been one year since the justified shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha police officer, who used self-defense to protect himself and children in Blake’s car. The media are using the anniversary to continue the drumbeat of the false narrative of police brutality with another round of misleading stories about the Blake shooting.
Jacob Blake Shooting Anniversary Media Coverage
The liberal Milwaukee Journal Sentinel even started its anniversary story with an inflaming factual error, writing, “It’s been a year since Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back.” So did the liberal Wisconsin Examiner, which wrote, falsely, “Neighbors took a cell phone video as Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey fired eight shots into Jacob Blake’s back. ”
False. What’s the truth? “Officer Sheskey shot Jacob Blake seven times in total. There were four entrance wounds to Jacob Blake’s back and three entrance wounds to his left side (flank),” reads the Kenosha County District Attorney’s report on the shooting, which resulted in the exoneration of the officer.
Facts matter. We believe the rush to judgment against Sheskey – by Gov. Tony Evers, by Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, and the media – helped incite the riots that culminated in parts of Kensoha being burned to the ground and the Kyle Rittenhouse shootings.
But even after the DA’s thorough exoneration of the officer, the media are still pushing false narratives. WISN-TV framed the Jacob Blake shooting anniversary through the opinions of Blake’s father. The Kenosha News covered a “Justice for Jacob Blake STILL” rally. Fox6 focused on how the officer acting in self-defense led to “police reform.”
“No charges were filed against Sheskey, who contended he acted in self-defense because he feared Blake would stab him,” the Journal Sentinel wrote. No, he didn’t just “contend” this – the District Attorney DETERMINED that he acted in self-defense in conjunction with a respected, retired former black police chief, who conducted an independent review of the incident.
The Examiner noted, “there were clashes between the protesters and right-wing, self-styled armed militias,” leaving out the fact that some of the left-wing rioters were also openly armed (we were there, and we saw this with our own eyes. Watch our live stream as Kenosha burned here.)
Their passage on the Rittenhouse shooting fails to mention that the first man shot, Joseph Rosenbaum, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a criminal complaint accused him of the anal rape of young boys. Rosenbaum, who just prior to chasing down Rittenhouse, (Confirmed by both video and eyes witness accounts) was very agitated, using a racial slur, concealed his identity and had a chain in his hand.
The second man Rittenhouse shot, Anthony Huber, was rushing him and struck Rittenhouse with a skateboard as he chased him down.
The third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, was moving toward him with a gun.
In light of those facts, we thought it was necessary to remind our audiences of the actual “Factual and Legal Conclusions” in the DA’s report on Blake (we’d note, for what it’s worth, that the DA is a Democrat).
The DA’s report says, “Based on all of the material gathered in this investigation by DCI, the evidence establishes the following facts:”
· On Sunday, August 23, 2020, at approximately 5:10 pm, Laquisha Booker, the mother of Jacob Blake’s children, called the police reporting that Jacob Blake had taken the keys to her rental vehicle which he would not return to her. Laquisha Booker stated that she was afraid that Jacob Blake was going to take her vehicle and crash it as, she stated, he had done before. As a result of this call, Officer Sheskey, Officer Meronek, and Officer Arenas were dispatched to Laquisha Booker’s residence located at 2805 40th St. in the City of Kenosha.
· Responding officers were told that this was a “family trouble” call involving a dispute over car keys between Jacob Blake and the mother of his children.
· Jacob Blake had a felony warrant for his arrest.
· The involved officers knew Jacob Blake had a felony warrant for his arrest and knew
that the warrant involved domestic violence charges and a sexual assault charge. Officer Sheskey obtained a description of Jacob Blake and knew he would have to
arrest Jacob Blake on the warrant if he encountered him.
· When officers arrived, Laquisha Booker flagged them down and shouted statements
identifying Jacob Blake as the other person involved and indicating that he was trying
to take her car, stating, “My kids are in the car.”
· Officer Sheskey saw Jacob Blake and saw him putting a child in the back of the
vehicle in question, a gray Dodge SUV.
· Officer Sheskey immediately attempted to arrest Jacob Blake based on his active
warrant and was quickly assisted by Officer Arenas and Officer Meronek.
· Jacob Blake knew there was a warrant out for his arrest.
· Jacob Blake did not comply with the verbal commands of officers as they attempted to arrest him.
· When the officers attempted to physically restrain Jacob Blake, he resisted, physically struggling with officers.
· Officers brought Jacob Blake to the ground, but he was able to get off the ground and
to get away from the officers trying to arrest him.
· During this struggle, Officer Sheskey and Officer Arenas both attempted to subdue
Jacob Blake by deploying their tasers.
· Both times that Jacob Blake was struck with the tasers, he ripped out the taser
wires/prongs making the tasers ineffective against him.
· Officer Sheskey also attempted to drive stun Jacob Blake with his taser by applying
the taser to Jacob Blake’s neck/back area, but that too was ineffective.
· As he resisted arrest, Jacob Blake was armed with a knife.
· By the time he was walking in front of the SUV, the knife was opened and the blade
was exposed.
· Jacob Blake did not comply with police commands to drop the knife.
· Jacob Blake tried to enter the driver’s door of the SUV. The SUV had been rented by Laquisha Booker in her name and Laquisha Booker had indicated to police that Jacob Blake did not have permission to drive the vehicle.
· There were children in the SUV who Laquisha Booker had yelled were her children.
· Jacob Blake had the opened knife in his right hand and was attempting to escape from Officer Sheskey’s grasp and enter the driver’s side of the SUV.
· Both Officer Sheskey and Officer Arenas stated that in the moment before Officer
Sheskey opened fire, Jacob Blake twisted his body, moving his right hand with the
knife towards Officer Sheskey.
· Two citizen witnesses saw Jacob Blake’s body turn in a manner that appears
consistent with what the officers described.
· Officer Sheskey shot Jacob Blake seven times in total. There were four entrance
wounds to Jacob Blake’s back and three entrance wounds to his left side (flank).
· Officer Sheskey stated that he fired shots until Jacob Blake dropped the knife. Noble
Wray explained this is consistent with law enforcement training where officers are
instructed to continue shooting until they stop the threat.
