Department of Justice declines to charge officer who shot Jacob Blake

The Department of Justice announced Friday that it will not pursue federal criminal civil rights charges over the shooting of Jacob Blake, a 30-year-old Black man who was shot in the back multiple times by a police officer in Wisconsin in August 2020. The department said there is not enough evidence to prove that the officer who shot Blake "willfully" violated his civil rights, which is the required standard for pressing charges.  

The shooting occurred after police received a call about a domestic disturbance on August 23, 2020. Graphic bystander video of the encounter showed Blake walking away from police, before Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey grabbed his shirt as he opened the driver's side door of a parked SUV. Sheskey then shot Blake multiple times in the back. 

Blake, who was 29 at the time, survived the shooting. But at least one bullet tore through his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed, his attorneys said days later.