Out of Kenosha, Wisconsin, Kenosha District Attorney Michael Graveley announced during a Tuesday afternoon press conference that no Kenosha police officers involved in the Jacob Blake shooting will be charged. This decision to not press charges came after weeks of studying the investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation and a review by an independent use of force consultant. The key factor in this major decision not to press charges is that Blake was indeed armed with a weapon (despite the constant rumors he was not) and Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey believed that he was turning toward him with that knife and thus why Officer Sheskey responded by firing his weapon in self defense.
"It is absolutely incontrovertible that Jacob Blake was armed with a knife during this encounter." That's it, that is Jacob Blake's downfall right there. The second he pulled that knife and turned towards Officer Sheskey, he decided his own fate. Whether you like it or not, if you grab a weapon and actively move towards or charge a police officer, that officer has every right to defend themselves and the surrounding community by using the weapon of their choice to take you down. I know many disagree with that notion but that is legal. You know why that's legal? 1) The officer has a right to defend him or herself when threatened with a lethal weapon, and yes a knife is considered a lethal weapon. 2) If that officer goes down, so does his weapon. In other words, the perpetrator has access to that weapon easily and use it to either kill the officer and/or surrounding citizens. In my personal opinion, I have no idea why anyone would think it's a great idea to grab a weapon and aim it at a police officer when they are being questioned or arrested. You don't like being arrested and the consequences of that, but is that a reason to grab a weapon when you know and I know that careless decision by you could get you killed? How many times are we going to have to learn the hard way? It seems pretty common sense to me. Now half the country might think the officer was racist in his decision and he shot Jacob Blake because he was black. I think that's BS. I think if someone grabbed a weapon and had intent to take me out, I don't give a you know what color you are, I'm doing to defend myself.
We have a huge problem with community policing in this country and I do not need to be the one who takes on the role of Captain Obvious. Half this country thinks anyone with a badge and a gun is racist. The other half understands the difficult task these officers take on every single day of their lives. How do we bridge the gap? How do we get those who are prejudiced against police to respect and understand police? Then how do we get police to put themselves in the shoes of these minority groups? It's not an easy task and I think we are always going to have some divide but we need to shorten the gap or we're going to keep having riots and protests in the streets that can turn violent.
If you want change, you want a different style of policing, you are going to have to push for legislative change because what is happening right now is legal. What happened in Kenosha, as we now know, was legal. I think you need more education for communities on policing. How many people in this country actually understand the law and what police are not only tasked with but have every right to do like defend themselves? You can't just pull out a weapon and expect police to lie down and take it, let's be realistic here. Communication is going to be key here. Know that your decisions and actions have consequences. We are a country of law and order. We the people elected officials to make these rules and in turn we hire and pay for officers to enforce these laws. We need greater understanding of each other. Here's to hoping we can work on that.
-Producer Lightning