Shooting Jacob Blake seven times in his back by while reaching inside his car Sunday night, Aug. 23, seven-year veteran Kensosha, Wis. Police Officer Rusten Sheskey has not yet been charged and arrested by the Wisconsin Department of Justice [DOJ] Division of Criminal Investigation. By some miracle, Blake survived the multiple shooting incident, laying in Froedtert Hospital’s intensive care unit paralyzed from the waste down. Trickling down to the NBA, the Milwaukee Bucks, only 25 miles from Kenosha, cancelled their playoffs until further notice, prompting the rest of the NBA to do the same. Speaking on the TNT’s Basketball set tonight, 55-year-old Kenny “the Jet” Smith walked off the set, saying he too would stand with players, suspending his work as an NBA analyst. Leaving anchor Ernie Harwell, Shaquille O’Neil and Charles Barkley on the set, Smith made his statement.
Rioting, looting, arson and anarchy now consume Kenosha, once the birthplace of Hollywood movie legend Orson Welles. Wisconsin’s DOJ said that Blake “admitted that he had a knife in his possession,” providing exculpatory evidence for Sheskey. DOJ officials can’t possibly think that whether or not Blake had a knife justifies shooting him seven times in the back. DOJ officials claimed that Sheskey responded to a domestic dispute where Blake violated a restraining order visiting his former girlfriend. Whatever the reason, Blake’s incident sounds similar to 19-yeaar Michael Brown who was shot in the head Aug. 9, 2014 by 26-year-old former Ferguson, Mo., cop Darren Wilson. Wilson responded to a call that Brown reportedly stole a box of Swisher Sweets cigars. Whatever happened Sunday night, it shows horrific policing, letting an incident escalate to an officer-involved-shooting.
In the wake of Minneapolis George Floyd’s May 25 murder by 44-year-old former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, the public didn’t need another incident to fan more racial hatred across the country. Cities like Minneapolis, Chicago and Portland are still smoldering from racial unrest, now worsened by Kenosha. Kenosha’s police claim before opening fire, Sheskyy used a Taser to subdue Blake, even though it didn’t work. Wisconsin DOJ officials said the Sheskey followed Blake holding onto his shirt while he walked around the vehicle and opened up its door, followed by Sheskey shooting Blake, discharging his firearm seven times in his back. Police reports indicate that no other officers fired on Blake, only Sheskey. DOJ incident report shows that Sheskey recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard with no other weapons found in the car or at the crime scene.
Sunday night’s officer-involved-shooting proves that Sheskey was not fit for duty, using excessive force to subdue a suspect. Whether that was due to racism or not is anyone’s guess. What’s known for sure is that Sheskey could have resolved the situation without pulling his firearm if he had the proper training and temperament to conduct responsible police work. Whether or not Blake had a knife, there was no excuse for Sheskey discharging his firearm seven times, when there were other ways to resolve the situation. Division of Criminal Investigation [DCI] agents confirmed the presence of a knife found in Blake’s SUV. Incidents involving officer-involved-shootings often reveal that the officer’s training or fitness for duty was lacking, leading to entirely avoidable incidents. Clearly, Sheskey had better ways to resolve the situation than to discharge his service weapon.
Wisconsin DCI currently leads the investigation with the FBI, Wisconsin State Patrol and Kenosha Count Sheriff’s Department chipping in. But unless the DCI acts quickly to suspend Sheskey and charge him with assault with a deadly weapon or attempted murder, Kenosha will burn like other cities after George Floyd’s murder. While there are differences, the main one that Chauvin leaned his knee and weight on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes before his death. Shooting Blake was a case of incompetent policing, using excessive force when there were other ways to deal with Blake’s arrest. Whether racism had anything to do with Sheskey’s actions isn’t know at this point. Certainly the African American community could make a strong case for racism, something 35-year-old Los Angeles Lakers’ shooting guard LeBron James said today expressing his disgust.
If Wisconsin’s DCI doesn’t provide a timely report, Kenosha could be in for some rough nights until justice is served. Waiting the normal 30 days won’t work given the recent history with George Floyd and Breonnna Taylor. While no one wants a rush to judgment, giving all parties due process, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what to do. Sheskey must be terminated immediately and charged with assault and attempted murder. No rational person can think that it’s appropriate to shoot a suspect seven times in the back when there were other ways to handle Blake’s arrest. What’s lost in the highly charged public atmosphere is that police work is messy business requiring cool heads to prevail. When officer-involved shootings occur, it’s necessary to assess immediately the competence and temperament of the officer, making a timely decision what to do next.
