The Justice Department announced Friday it will not pursue criminal civil rights charges against the Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back as he entered a vehicle.
Why it matters: The shooting led to days of mass protests that ended in violence and death after an armed group faced off against demonstrators.
- Rusten Sheskey, the white officer who shot Blake, returned to duty earlier this year.
- Blake was paralyzed as a result. His children had been in the back of the vehicle when he was shot.
What they're saying: The DOJ said it was unable to determine that Sheskey "willfully used excessive force."
- "Under the applicable federal criminal civil rights laws, prosecutors must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that an officer 'willfully' deprived an individual of a constitutional right, meaning that the officer acted with the deliberate and specific intent to do something the law forbids," DOJ said in a release.
- "After a careful and thorough review, a team of experienced federal prosecutors determined that insufficient evidence exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the KPD officer willfully violated the federal criminal civil rights statutes."
Worth noting: Kenosha police did not start wearing body cameras until this September.
The big picture: Blake sued Sheskey after the Kenosha County district attorney declined to bring criminal charges, accusing him of excessive deadly force and violating Blake's constitutional rights.
