NBA is Silent After Cop Who Shot Jacob Blake Wasn t Charged, Teams Play On
On 1/5/21 at 10:44 PM EST
The NBA tipped off five games Tuesday night with no boycotts, or protests, of a ruling handed down in Kenosha, Wisconsin, earlier in the day. The shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha police officer last August set off a firestorm of nationwide protests, and ultimately a boycott of NBA playoff games by its own players last summer.
On Tuesday afternoon, prosecutors in Kenosha said they would not file criminal charges against Rusten Sheskey, a white officer who shot Blake, a Black man, seven times in the back during an Aug. 23 confrontation that was caught on video.
Oskaloosa News Recap For January 6th, 2021
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The Wisconsin pharmacist who was arrested for destroying more than 500 doses of the COVID vaccine was a “conspiracy theorist” who believed the “shots would mutate human DNA,” according to prosecutors.
Steven Brandenburg, 46, allegedly took the vials out of refrigeration overnight on Christmas Eve and then again on Christmas night. He initially said it was on accident, but then later admitted to doing it intentionally. The spoiled doses were worth as much as $11,000.
Brandenburg was arrested last week and held on $10,000 bond.
Prosecutors need to determine the extent of the damage before filing criminal charges in the case.
Associated Press
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) A Wisconsin prosecutor declined Tuesday to file charges against a white police officer who shot a Black man in the back in Kenosha, concluding he couldn’t disprove the officer’s contention that he acted in self-defense because he feared the man would stab him.
The decision, met with swift criticism from civil rights advocates and some public officials, threatened to reignite protests that rocked the city after the Aug. 23 shooting that left Jacob Blake paralyzed. Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, called the decision “further evidence that our work is not done” and called for people to work together for equity. Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is Black, was more pointed on Twitter: “I wish I could say that I’m shocked. It’s another instance in a string of misapplications of justice.”
Reuters Reuters
7 January, 2021, 9:05 am
Justin Blake, uncle of Jacob Blake a black man left paralyzed after being shot by a Kenosha Police officer on August 23, 2020, speaks to the media after it was announced no charges will be filed in the case in Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. January 5, 2021. REUTERS/Daniel Acker
KENOSHA, Wis. (Reuters) -Wisconsin prosecutors on Tuesday cleared a white police officer of criminal charges in the shooting a Black man from behind in the presence of his young children, leaving him paralyzed and triggering deadly protests that inflamed racial tensions.
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley found officer Rusten Sheskey acted in self-defense while responding to a domestic dispute last Aug. 23 and shooting Jacob Blake seven times at close range, saying Blake was armed with a knife and had resisted arrest, withstanding multiple Taser shots.
Jan 6, 2021
The Washington Post falsely repeated the debunked claimed that Jacob Blake was unarmed . They had a narrative they need to push.
The paper tweeted out the headline, Police officers won t be charged in shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man who was shot 7 times in the back in Kenosha, Wis.
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley explicitly stated that Jacob Blake was in fact armed with a knife.
Graveley said “I continue to hear.he was unarmed. It is absolutely incontrovertible that Jacob Blake was armed with a knife during this encounter.” He added that Blake himself admitted multiple times to investigators that he was armed.