Black man shot multiple times by Wisconsin police

from Facebook

Marla Rose
·
In 1998, I was arrested in Kenosha, WI. It’s a long, complicated story that I don’t want to focus on because it’s not the point of this post, but just to say I was arrested doing non-violent activism at a rodeo protest. Basically, I was holding a cattle prod to show media what they use at the rodeo and I was arrested for “threatening people with a stun gun.” It was 24-hours in jail and I was out. (I had a long and expensive legal fight afterwards because – go me! – I got charged with a felony the very first time I was arrested.)
My point is, though, as a white woman, I have some experience with the Kenosha police and justice system. As a white woman, though, I had only the merest of glimpses, practically just as an observer.
Today, we are learning more about the horrific shooting of an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, in front of his three children in Kenosha. He is now fighting for his life. What happened to him is very different from my experience, but my little lens into the criminal justice system there absolutely corroborates what a nightmare BIPOC face at the hands of the Kenosha police.
Here are some of the things I learned from my experience in Kenosha.
• They had something like a 95% conviction rate when I was “in the system”. I was told by multiple Chicago lawyers that Kenosha was a “black hole” even in an already unjust legal system. If you got arrested there, it was going to stick, especially if you couldn’t afford good legal representation.
• Every single other person in my cellblock was Black or Latina, this despite the fact that Black and Latinx people make up less than 13% of the population of Kenosha.
• The guards (all white) treated me like absolute garbage, so I can only imagine how BIPOC are treated. All they know how to do is bark at people and be as mean as possible. Like literally the lights were on all night and they were having some big, loud celebration that reverberated through the cellblock to the point where it sounded like it was piped in just to be cruel. All night long.
• When one woman in the cell was transferred to prison, the others in the cellblock were high-fiving and congratulating her. I thought this was odd. It turns out it’s moving up to go from jail to prison. You have more resources. (At least that was how it was explained to me.) Many people in my block who’d been there for months were sleeping two to a room designed for one.
• When I was released the next afternoon, I saw resignation in the eyes of the women I came to know and like in my short time there. It seemed like they were saying, “Of course she’s going. She’s white.” Resignation and disgust.
• I got to move on with my life. I never thought for a second that getting arrested for a non-violent offense in Kenosha – or anywhere – could be a life-or-death matter for me. At most, it’s an interesting story. At most honest, though, it reveals just how entrenched racism is at a core, structural level.
To this day, when we drive through Kenosha, even just from the expressway, I get panicky and I don’t feel calm until we leave the city limits. Now imagine if the whole world were Kenosha, if the whole world represented a police force that could easily imprison or kill you without a second thought, a justice system that was almost guaranteed to fail you.
People are rioting in Kenosha now. A state of emergency curfew has been declared. It only makes sense. This is criminal, it is racist and it has been going on far too long. No wonder people are past the breaking point.
Kenosha to me represents the whole country to BIPOC on steroids. It is unfair, it is unjust and it is absolutely lethal.

from Facebook

Marla Rose
·
In 1998, I was arrested in Kenosha, WI. It’s a long, complicated story that I don’t want to focus on because it’s not the point of this post, but just to say I was arrested doing non-violent activism at a rodeo protest. Basically, I was holding a cattle prod to show media what they use at the rodeo and I was arrested for “threatening people with a stun gun.” It was 24-hours in jail and I was out. (I had a long and expensive legal fight afterwards because – go me! – I got charged with a felony the very first time I was arrested.)
My point is, though, as a white woman, I have some experience with the Kenosha police and justice system. As a white woman, though, I had only the merest of glimpses, practically just as an observer.
Today, we are learning more about the horrific shooting of an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, in front of his three children in Kenosha. He is now fighting for his life. What happened to him is very different from my experience, but my little lens into the criminal justice system there absolutely corroborates what a nightmare BIPOC face at the hands of the Kenosha police.
Here are some of the things I learned from my experience in Kenosha.
• They had something like a 95% conviction rate when I was “in the system”. I was told by multiple Chicago lawyers that Kenosha was a “black hole” even in an already unjust legal system. If you got arrested there, it was going to stick, especially if you couldn’t afford good legal representation.
• Every single other person in my cellblock was Black or Latina, this despite the fact that Black and Latinx people make up less than 13% of the population of Kenosha.
• The guards (all white) treated me like absolute garbage, so I can only imagine how BIPOC are treated. All they know how to do is bark at people and be as mean as possible. Like literally the lights were on all night and they were having some big, loud celebration that reverberated through the cellblock to the point where it sounded like it was piped in just to be cruel. All night long.
• When one woman in the cell was transferred to prison, the others in the cellblock were high-fiving and congratulating her. I thought this was odd. It turns out it’s moving up to go from jail to prison. You have more resources. (At least that was how it was explained to me.) Many people in my block who’d been there for months were sleeping two to a room designed for one.
• When I was released the next afternoon, I saw resignation in the eyes of the women I came to know and like in my short time there. It seemed like they were saying, “Of course she’s going. She’s white.” Resignation and disgust.
• I got to move on with my life. I never thought for a second that getting arrested for a non-violent offense in Kenosha – or anywhere – could be a life-or-death matter for me. At most, it’s an interesting story. At most honest, though, it reveals just how entrenched racism is at a core, structural level.
To this day, when we drive through Kenosha, even just from the expressway, I get panicky and I don’t feel calm until we leave the city limits. Now imagine if the whole world were Kenosha, if the whole world represented a police force that could easily imprison or kill you without a second thought, a justice system that was almost guaranteed to fail you.
People are rioting in Kenosha now. A state of emergency curfew has been declared. It only makes sense. This is criminal, it is racist and it has been going on far too long. No wonder people are past the breaking point.
Kenosha to me represents the whole country to BIPOC on steroids. It is unfair, it is unjust and it is absolutely lethal.

Jonathan Lemire@JonLemire
KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Father of a Black man shot by Kenosha, Wisconsin, police tells Chicago Sun-Times that son is paralyzed from waist down.

Olayemi, Esq.@msolurin
Jacob Blake wasn’t committing any crime. Instead of asking why he didn’t comply, ask why an officer who was called to the scene for 2 white women fighting somehow shifted his attention to this Black man, drew his gun on him, and shot him 7 times in the back.

For the record: original reports were stating that officers were called to the scene for 2 white women fighting + recent reporting has just stated women fighting, no specification as to race. Regardless, the question remains. He shouldn’t have become a focus + we know why he did

Jacob Blake wasn’t committing any crime. Instead of asking why he didn’t comply, ask why an officer who was called to the scene for 2 white women fighting somehow shifted his attention to this Black man, drew his gun on him, and shot him 7 times in the back.

There was no reason for an officer to be stopping him, there was no reason for a gun to be drawn on him, there was no reason he should’ve been given orders to have to comply with.

3 Shot, 2 Fatally, In Kenosha, Wis., As Protests Continue Over Police Shooting

https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/08/26/906145086/3-shot-1-fatally-in-kenosha-wis-as-protests-continue-over-police-shooting

Three people were shot, two fatally, during protests Tuesday night in Kenosha, Wis., over Sunday’s police shooting of Jacob Blake.

In a statement, the Kenosha Police Department confirmed two people had been shot and killed and one shot with non-life-threatening injuries. No further details were released.

Earlier, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth told the Kenosha News newspaper that at least one man opened fire on protesters with a long gun. Beth said both the shooter and one of the people killed were white males, though he could not say whether the person killed was an adult.

The third night of protests began peacefully with most protesters dispersing after the city’s 8 p.m. CT curfew. Wisconsin Public Radio reporter Rachael Vasquez said a small group of protesters arrived later and threw objects at police.

The Kenosha News reported scuffles that did not result in gunfire took place between armed men and a group of Black Lives Matter protesters.

The Kenosha Police Department said the shooting occurred about 11:45 p.m. CT.

The protests began Sunday evening after a Kenosha police officer shot Blake seven times in the back during an encounter. Blake, who is Black, is said by his family to be partially paralyzed and is hospitalized in serious condition.

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The #Kenosha shooter openly collaborating with the police earlier.

The police say “Thank you” to him and his other militia buddy, and offer him water. pic.twitter.com/chUjteQwdN

— Friendly Antifa Union Rep (@savantifa) August 26, 2020

Here, a militia member says cops told them they would "push" the protestors towards them because they knew they could handle them. pic.twitter.com/S6lzmJfOJe

— Rebecca Kavanagh (@DrRJKavanagh) August 26, 2020

The Police Chief of Kenosha says: 17yr old white male took AR-15 to a protest, to resolve the issues. This is an ABSURD and DANGEROUS for him to say. 😡😡😡 https://t.co/jSJZvVLbUQ

— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) August 26, 2020

Kenosha Police Chief Blames Protesters for Their Own Deaths, Defends Vigilante Groups

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/08/kenosha-police-chief-daniel-miskinis-blames-protesters-for-own-deaths.html?fbclid=IwAR0QUlFBpQtJYGNLbGu6u97JFfg4JVrwWSCKjD3bmzS0jnJFlRqs3x-BeVw

On Wednesday, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse was arrested in Illinois on charges of first-degree murder after allegedly shooting and killing two protesters the night before during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake earlier this week.

During the Kenosha Police Department’s first press conference in response to the Blake shooting and subsequent protests, Chief Daniel Miskinis blamed the unidentified victims in Tuesday night’s shooting for their own deaths, saying the violence was the result of the “persons” involved violating curfew:

Persons who were out after the curfew became engaged in some type of disturbance, and persons were shot. Everybody involved was out after the curfew. I’m not going to make a great deal of that, but the point is the curfew is in place to protect. Had persons not been out involved in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened.

“It is the persons who were involved after the legal time, involved in illegal activity, that brought violence to this community,” Miskinis added later, seeming to blame protesters who were on the streets because a member of Miskinis’ department, who was identified late on Wednesday as Officer Rusten Sheskey, shot Blake seven times in the back as his children watched. *

Miskinis would not give the names of the “persons” who were the victims of Wednesday’s murders, but did say they were “a 26-year-old Silver Lake resident and a 36-year-old Kenosha resident.”

In describing the shooting of two protesters, Miskinis also declined to call it a homicide and instead referred to it by various euphemisms often used to describe killings by a police officer, which Rittenhouse is not. He said that the shooter “was involved in the use of firearms to resolve whatever conflict was in place” and that there was a “disturbance that led to the use of deadly force.”

Additionally, Miskinis refused to comment on the video of Blake’s shooting, but offered that there may have been a reasonable explanation for the man being shot seven times in the back, which has reportedly left him paralyzed and in critical condition. (The officer has been put on administrative leave and has not been fired or arrested.)

“I’m not going to address that because it is one snippet of a very large situation and much as what’s happened across this nation for a long period of time, it’s focused on what you see in this much of an incident,” Miskinis said, apparently alluding to other police shootings of unarmed Black men. “It’s unfair to everybody involved, whether you’re the person using force or the person being arrested that the picture isn’t painted.”

Video taken on Tuesday before the shooting showed Rittenhouse gathered with what appeared to be members of armed militia groups. Those vigilante groups had gathered on Tuesday night, it was reported by CNN and the Verge, in response to calls on Facebook for “any patriots willing to take up arms and defend our city tonight from the evil thugs.”

When asked about the vigilante groups, Miskinis defended them as civilians out to protect property and “exercise their constitutional right.”

“Across this nation there have been armed civilians who have come out to exercise their constitutional right and to potentially protect property,” he said. “Am I aware that groups exist? Yes, but they weren’t invited to come.”

Miskinis’ views of the gathering of vigilante groups that reportedly led to the killing of two local men appears to be very much in line with those of his department. Before the shooting, officers in armored vehicles could be seen giving water to armed men gathered with the alleged shooter and telling them, “We appreciate you guys, we really do.” After the killings, the alleged shooter walked slowly past a series of police vehicles with his arms raised and was allowed to simply walk away. (It’s not yet clear what the officers knew about the shooting at the time, but the shots were audible in nearby footage.)

When asked why his officers had given the armed men water and thanked them, Miskinis said, “Our deputies would toss a water to anybody” and “You’re asking me to tell you what one person did. I can’t tell you that.” In explaining why his officers were able to show such restraint with Tuesday’s shooter, he blamed the “high stress” situation on the scene and possible “tunnel vision” on the part of his officers.

“I’m not making an excuse. I’m just telling you from personal experience what could have done that,” he said.

Toward the end of his comments, Miskinis was asked about the vigilante groups and again compared them to the protesters who had violated curfew, saying both sides were to blame.

“It’s no different than those on the protesters’ side who are walking around armed and those who are counterprotesters, or those who are just witnessing, to be armed, so I’m not going to address any more issues relative to that,” he said.

When asked if he wanted the vigilante groups to be present again after Wednesday night’s curfew, Miskinis refused to reply.

“I just said I’m not going to answer any more questions,” he said.

When asked again, he again refused to say. “I’m done talking about that,” Miskinis said.

At the end of the press conference, Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian clarified whether the city wanted armed vigilante groups patrolling the street after the killing of two civilians. “No, I don’t need more guns on the street in the community,” he said.

Originally posted by Jack in a different thread.

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Jacob Blake and Kyle Rittenhouse: Should police have used different tactics?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53954181?SThisFB&fbclid=IwAR3n0DJxQWGVQe88ORMlv3N5T7I8XF9FxibSQi_8PJlY8tvGqFWvI6imdY8

Two incidents have turned Wisconsin into the latest epicentre of America’s police protests. What can the footage from two different shootings tell us about US policing?

The first saw Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black father, shot several times by a white officer, leaving him paralysed in hospital. The second followed in the unrest sparked by Mr Blake’s shooting, where white 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse allegedly shot and killed two protesters.

We asked two law enforcement experts for their take on the viral footage: New York Law School criminal law Professor Kirk Burkhalter, who served 20 years in the New York City Police Department, and Brennan Center national security fellow Michael German, who was an FBI agent for 16 years.

First, let’s break down the two videos.

What do we see in the Blake video?

In a bystander-filmed clip of the police shooting, Mr Blake is seen walking around to the front of his vehicle. One of the two officers following him at this point has a weapon drawn. It is unclear what the police officers said before the shooting.

What do we know about Jacob Blake’s shooting?

Blake opens the door and leans into the car. The officer grabs his shirt and opens fire. The other officer also draws his gun.

Seven shots can be heard in the video, as witnesses scream.

Just before the first video that was released begins, police reportedly wrestled and tased Mr Blake. Investigators said a knife was later uncovered from the floor on the driver’s side of Mr Blake’s car.

What can we see in the Rittenhouse videos?

Mr Rittenhouse has appeared in a number of different videos from Tuesday night’s Kenosha protest. In one, he speaks to police, who offer him water.

Later, he is seen in footage running from a group of people, one of whom appears to fire into the air.

Who is US teen accused of Wisconsin protest murders?

Mr Rittenhouse appears to shoot a man who tries to assail him. As he flees and is chased again, he falls to the ground and shoots again. A man falls to the ground, and many shots can be heard.

Following this incident, Mr Rittenhouse approaches police vehicles with his arms in the air, his weapon slung across his chest.

A bystander calls out that the teenager “just shot” people, but the police vehicles pass by to attend to the injured protesters.

Should police have responded differently?
With Jacob Blake…

While there is no specific rule for every single scenario, both experts note that as far as we know, Mr Blake was not being arrested or wanted for any heinous crime (like mass murder).

The whole encounter played out in around seven seconds.

“The effort to prevent him from getting into his car and driving away is what led to the violence,” says Mr German. “They had his licence plate number, if they needed to go arrest him later, he would be easy to find.”

Prof Burkhalter adds that in the moments leading up to the shots, officers “passed through several decision points where, arguably, they could have made more effective decisions”, like tackling him or tasing him again.

“When someone resists arrest and they attempt to walk away, which happens often…that in and of itself is not carte blanche to use deadly physical force, period.”

The retired detective adds that if Mr Blake threatened deadly force, drawing weapons could be justified. But he says it’s “particularly disturbing” that an officer grabbed his shirt with one hand and fired with the other.

“It didn’t appear to be life threatening at that particular point and holding someone in place so you can shoot them, unless they are actually armed at that time, seems wildly problematic.”

There’s also a lack of situational awareness, Prof Burkhalter points out, calling it “an absolute miracle” that none of the seven shots ricocheted to strike the children in the car.

…and Kyle Rittenhouse?

Prof Burkhalter begins: “It is absolutely ridiculous that, confronted with this person, the police would not take action.”

Rendering aid, he says, is of course the number one priority.

“However, there were a significant number of police officers on this street. I would guess that some of those officers could have rendered aid and others could have pursued this man.”

And as Mr German notes: a rifle shot is loud. For officers to respond and see anyone walking towards them with a rifle is a “serious violation of police safety protocol”.

“To let that person go behind the police line is astonishing,” he says.

How do the responses compare?

There are clear differences for Prof Burkhalter. One man who may or may not have been reaching for a knife was “corralled, [an officer] holding his shirt like he’s some type of animal” and shot multiple times, he says, while the other was walking down the street with an assault weapon.

But while a lot of emphasis is placed on the actions of a single officer, Prof Burkhalter says “there’s often a lot of blame to go around”. In both incidents, he asks: “Where is the supervisor who was responsible for these actions?”

Letting an armed individual walk behind the line of cars “is astonishingly dangerous for the police officers themselves,” Mr German points out.

These two incidents highlight the ways “police are trained to be afraid of certain situations and not others,” he says.

The first shooting took place in broad daylight on a residential street. The second, in the middle of the night in a chaotic civil unrest environment.

“The situations are just so opposite in how the police should have responded compared to how they did.”

So how should police training change?

Mr German criticises the development of a “warrior cop mentality” in the last two decades – the idea “that police officers in their daily work are at extreme threat from the communities they serve and…treat very incident as one that could end their lives”.

He says research shows that fear of death creates a mind-set that “demonises out-groups”. Acknowledging the existence of conscious biases and racism will be key to reforming US law enforcement, he says.

And there’s another problem Mr German – who did undercover work with far-right groups – has seen play out in recent years.

White supremacist groups and armed militias have been seen interacting with police at protests. “It’s astonishing that even at the leadership level, they don’t recognise the danger they’re putting their officers in by suggesting those far-right militants aren’t the bigger threat,” he says.

US white supremacist propaganda ‘rose in 2019’

For Prof Burkhalter, it’s time to throw out the book on policing altogether, and pen a new one for the 21st century.

In lieu of six-month academies, he suggests officers have a more undergraduate-style training: two years where trainees learn from department personnel and civilian academics about history, psychology, immigration law, sociology, and participate in on-the-street training with guided reflections.

Policing standards should also be set at the national level, and there should be a national registry. Pay increases could also help attract a wider range of prospective candidates, he adds.

With this dream in mind, Prof Burkhalter thinks the movement to defund the police – that is, to cut police funding and redistribute money to social programmes – “would only compound the problem”.

“Revising departments and the training, the education that I’m talking about – that requires funding.”

This is why Jacob Blake had a warrant out for his arrest

https://nypost.com/2020/08/28/this-is-why-jacob-blake-had-a-warrant-out-for-his-arrest/

The cops involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake — which touched off a fresh wave of angry, anti-police sentiment across the country — were attempting to arrest him for violating a restraining order stemming from an alleged sexual assault, The Post has learned.

Blake, 29, was forbidden from going to the Kenosha home of his alleged victim from the May 3 incident, and police were dispatched Sunday following a 911 call saying he was there.

The responding officers were aware he had an open warrant for felony sexual assault, according to dispatch records and the Kenosha Professional Police Association, which released a statement on the incident on Friday.

That police union statement also claimed that Blake was armed with a knife at the time of the shooting — and had put one cop in a headlock and shrugged off two Taser attempts while resisting arrest.

Blake, who was paralyzed in the shooting, had been handcuffed to his hospital bed due to the warrant, which was vacated Friday, according to a statement released by his lawyer, Benjamin Crump. His restraints were removed, but he is still facing the criminal charges, Crump said.

Blake is accused in the criminal complaint, which was obtained by The Post, of breaking into the home of a woman he knew and sexually assaulting her.

The victim, who is only identified by her initials in the paperwork, told police she was asleep in bed with one of her children when Blake came into the room around 6 a.m. and allegedly said “I want my sh-t,” the record states.

She told cops Blake then used his finger to sexually assault her, sniffed it and said, “Smells like you’ve been with other men,” the criminal complaint alleges.

The officer who took her statement said she “had a very difficult time telling him this and cried as she told how the defendant assaulted her.”

The alleged victim said Blake “penetrating her digitally caused her pain and humiliation and was done without her consent” and she was “very humiliated and upset by the sexual assault,” the record states.

She told police she “was upset but collected herself” and then allegedly ran out the front door after Blake, the complaint says. She then realized her car was missing, checked her purse and saw the keys were missing and then “immediately called 911,” the complaint alleges.

The alleged victim told cops she has known him for eight years and claims that he physically assaults her “around twice a year when he drinks heavily.”

Police filed charges against him for felony sexual assault, trespassing and domestic abuse in July when a warrant was issued for his arrest.

On Sunday, within three minutes of responding to the 911 call, Blake was shot 7 times in the back as he attempted to get into his car.

Calls to Blake’s fiance, Crump and the Kenosha Police Department have gone unreturned.