Source: Brandon Bell / Getty
Looks like NBA players striking in the middle of the NBA Playoffs in the name of social justice might’ve worked a bit.
Days after Jacob Blake was shot by an unnamed police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, authorities finally released the name of the trigger happy law enforcement officer hours after the Milwaukee Bucks began a day of NBA playoff boycotting. According to The Guardian, Rusten Sheskey was finally named as the police officer who shot an unarmed and unaggressive Jacob Blake in the back in front of his children, in turn sparking days protests in the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The 7-year veteran was recorded on video holding on to Blake’s white shirt as he made his way to his car before Sheskey inexplicably pumped 7 bullets into his back after he opened the driver side door. Though police recovered a knife from Blake’s car after the shooting (using that to justify their excessive use of deadly force), the video of the shooting didn’t show the victim with a knife in his possession at the time of the shooting much less threatening anyone with it. According to witnesses, Jacob Blake was actually breaking up a fight between two white women when police showed up and decided he “deserved” their attention at the scene.
For days the police department stalled on releasing the name of the officer responsible for shooting Blake in the back, but after days of protests from it’s citizens and professional athletes, the Kenosha police department finally revealed it was in fact, Rusten Shesky.
In a statement released by the Kenosha police department, authorities painted a picture of a defiant Jacob Blake and a Rusten Shesky who feared the worst.
“During the incident, officers attempted to arrest Jacob S Blake, age 29. Law enforcement deployed a taser to attempt to stop Mr Blake, however the taser was not successful in stopping Mr Blake.
“Mr Blake walked around his vehicle, opened the driver’s side door, and leaned forward. While holding onto Mr Blake’s shirt, officer Rusten Sheskey fired his service weapon seven times. Officer Sheskey fired the weapon into Mr Blake’s back.
“During the investigation following the initial incident, Mr Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession. Division of criminal investigation agents recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard of Mr Blake’s vehicle. A search of the vehicle located no additional weapons.”
Again, Jacob Blake didn’t threaten anyone with anything at the time of the shooting and according to the family the shooting has left Jacob Blake paralyzed though doctors do not know whether it will be permanent or temporary.
The unnecessary and uncalled for shooting sparked days of protests from the residents of Kenosha and just two nights ago, 17-year-old police sympathizer and Trump supporter Kyle Rittenhouse actually drove from his Antioch, Illinois home to Kenosha to confront protestors with his AR-15 and ended up murdering two protestors and wounding a third. Though Kenosha police allowed him to literally get away with murder that night as he ran by police after the shootings, authorities eventually arrested him after an uproar over his actions and the blatant white privilege that allowed him to do so.
After the chaos that ensued on Tuesday night thanks to the Trump supporting wannabe cop, protestors continues to peacefully protest the original actions of Shesky in Kenosha but unfortunately we have a feeling this won’t be the last time people will protest the unnecessary shooting of an unarmed Black man.
