Justice Department Declines to File Federal Civil Rights Charges Against Officer who Shot Jacob Blake in Back Seven Times
Photo Courtesy: Wisconsin Department of Justice Rusten Sheskey |
According to a statement released by the Justice Department this conclusion was reached after a team of experienced federal prosecutors from the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office conducted a detailed and lengthy analysis of numerous materials obtained by state investigators and the FBI.
#JacobBlake released this powerful video message from his hospital bed today, reminding everyone just how precious life is. #JusticeForJacobBlake pic.twitter.com/87CYlgPDBj
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 6, 2020
The team determined that insufficient evidence exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the KPD officer, Rusten Sheskey, willfully violated the federal criminal civil rights statutes after examining the evidence which included police reports, law enforcement accounts, witness statements, affidavits of witnesses, dispatch logs, physical evidence reports, photographs and videos of some portions of the incident.
“Accordingly, the review of this incident has been closed without a federal prosecution,” concluded the Justice Department statement.
The decision followed one made earlier this year by state officials not to charge Sheske citing video of Blake — who is paralyzed from the incident and had his children nearby in the back of his vehicle when he was shot — wielding a knife before the incident.
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