Jacob Blake seeks reparations in lawsuit against Wisconsin officer who shot him

Jacob Blake, who was involved in a police confrontation-turned-shootout in the Kenosha region of Wisconsin in August 2020, has filed an official lawsuit against the police officer who shot him seven times. The lawsuit has been filed in a US federal court on the grounds of “using excessive force.”

According to CNN, in a statement after the near-fatal shootout, Officer Rusten Sheskey said that the 29-year-old Black man was allegedly kidnapping a child and attempted to flee the crime scene. However, later in January 2021, the District Attorney of Kenosha stated that both the parties will not be charged in the incident. 

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The lawsuit filed against the police officer seeks reparations for the outcome of the shooting, which resulted in Blake being partially paralyzed. The demands, which are stated in the court filing, ask for a “fair and just amount sufficient to compensate for the injuries” in addition to a separate amount for “punitive damages”, reported CNN. 

The lawsuit goes on to blame Sheskey for taking the action while being indifferent towards the rights of Blake. 

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Weeks after the incident, when Blake was still recovering from the injuries, his father and lawyers jointly announced that the 29-year-old was attending a birthday party in the area and was unarmed. Jacob Blake Sr. said, “They shot my son seven times. Seven times. Like he didn’t matter. But my son matters. He’s a human being, and he matters.”

The incident added fuel to the Black Lives Matter protests in the US, which were already in full swing and focused on highlighting the alleged institutionalised racism in the US.