WASHINGTON, DC (WSAU) — The US Department of Justice has announced that no charges will be filed against the officer who shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha last year.
A release from the DOJ says investigators have not found sufficient evidence to show officer Rusty Sheskey used “excessive force.”
“Insufficient evidence exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the KPD officer willfully violated the federal criminal civil rights statutes. Accordingly, the review of this incident has been closed without a federal prosecution,” the DOJ said in the release.
Blake was shot in the back seven times by Shesky as he was holding onto the back of Blake’s shirt. According to police, they believed Blake was reaching for a knife in his vehicle just before the shooting. Attorneys for Blake have maintained that he wasn’t armed.
Blake survived the shooting but has been paralyzed. Earlier this year state officials declined to file charges in the incident as well.
