Jacob Blake and the Aftermath

News | By: Hannah Graham

On August 23, 2020, Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times by police officers. While this case is still being investigated, there are some things we do know. The police were called from a woman saying Blake was on the premises and was not supposed to be. He had taken the complainants keys and refused to give them back. A neighbor was quoted to say that Blake had been around for his son's birthday party. Blakes three sons were in the car when the police showed up. The police unsuccessfully tried to taser him but he continued to walk to the other side of his car. When Blake leaned in, Officer Rusten Shesky shot him in the back 7 times. It was admitted that Blake did have a knife in the car. He was not reaching for it and he had not hurt or fought with any of the police officers, he was just trying to leave.

A popular rumor began to spread that Blake had sexually assaulted a 14 year old girl. While he had been charged in a domestic abuse case and had an active arrest warrant out for disorderly conduct and trespassing, there was nothing to do with assault on a minor.

Blake was sent to the hospital and is still alive but he is paralyzed. It was revealed by his father that he had been shackled to the hospital bed until the 28th and his lawyer says he can barely move without excruciating pain. He had suffered injuries to his abdominal, arm, and spine. Two bullets made contact with his spine which created nerve related injuries. All three officers present during the shooting have been placed on leave but have yet to be fully fired or charged.

This instance created another shoot up of protests. One in particular happened in Kenosha, where Blake had been shot. A crowd was gathered near a car dealership when they came face to face with Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old who had come all the way from Illinois armed with an AR-15 style rifle. After a protester threw a plastic bag at him, Rittenhouse began to open fire. Rosenbaum, who was unarmed, tried to approach Rittenhouse but he shot four times and Rosenbaum fell. He tried to grab the gun away but Rittenhouse fired again and Rosenbaum was killed. Anthony Huber, armed with only a skateboard, approached Rittenhouse to try and get the gun away from him so he wouldn’t cause harm. When he reached for the gun, Rittenhouse raised it and shot him. Huber was killed too. A man named Gaige Grosskreutz sustained injuries but is still alive. Rittenhouse fled the scene and made it back to Illinois before he was detained there.

It is a wonder how Rittenhouse was seen carrying a gun throughout the crowd, and was not stopped by police. Many have compared it to Tamir Rice, who was shot and killed by police at 12 years old because he had a toy gun. Rittenhouse had a real gun that he used to commit murder and was not stopped by police, but Rice was deprived of his life for playing with a toy one. Many police have been noticed to abuse their power, and this is just one of the instances where it has gone to the greatest extent. If you take the badge off, they are just people, and people should get the same repercussions no matter what title they have.