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‘He Had A Knife’: Wisconsin DOJ Releases Update On Jacob Blake Shooting

August 26, 2020
Tyler Durden

‘He Had A Knife’: Wisconsin DOJ Releases Update On Jacob Blake Shooting

Tyler Durden

Wed, 08/26/2020 – 20:38

Update (2030ET): The Wisconsin Department of Justice has released a statement confirming that Jacob Blake had a knife in the driver’s side floorboard of his car, and that he was leaning into his car when he was shot seven times.

“During the incident, officers attempted to arrest Jacob S. Blake, age 29. Law enforcement deployed a taser to attempt to stop Mr. Blake, however the taser was not successful in stopping Mr. Blake,” reads the statement.

“During the investigation following the initial incident, Mr. Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession. DCI agents recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard of Mr. Blake’s vehicle.”

In 2015, Blake was charged with resisting arrest and “one misdemeanor count each of carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a firearm while intoxicated, endangering safety-use of a dangerous weapon, and disorderly conduct – and injuring a police officer” when he pulled a gun at a bar.

Update (1500ET): Kenosha Police Chief Dan Miskinis confirmed that a a teenager from Antioch Illinois was involved in last night’s incident, and that an “out of state” person is currently in custody. However, the investigation is still “very much ongoing”, he said. He wouldn’t confirm any names. “I will take complete ownership of the lack of media releases…in the past five days, I have slept 3 hours.”

The shootings are being investigated by the FBI and the city police department.

* * *

Update (1450ET): When he finally got around to last night’s shooting, Sheriff Beth asserted that people are coming all over “for the show”, and “aren’t coming to protest” – “come wear your black outfits, bring your black masks and bring your backpacks filled with molotov cocktails and rocks…and whatever else”.

Beth said that the man arrested in the shooting was part of a group that had been pressing the sheriff to “deputize” them. He said that the incident last night was a tragic example of why he wouldn’t deputize citizens with guns. He then explained that citizens walking around with guns creates opportunities for “conflict.”

Meanwhile, here’s an extended video of one of the shooting incidents that offers yet another perspective.

* *

Update (1430ET): The Mayor of Kenosha started the presser by insisting that we are “not going to allow this violence to continue”. He also clarified that the federal government hasn’t been sent in like in Portland, although the FBI and some other agents have been assisting local police.

“As a country, we are only as strong as the weakest city. We need to help stop the divide and the anger going on in this country,” Mayor Antaramian said. 

The Kenosha sheriff is up next, he recounted the events, starting from the beginning of the riots on Sunday. He said that sheriffs from all around the state had volunteered to send help. While the police likely won’t be able to detain everybody, they will try their best to arrest anybody seen causing violence and throwing objects.

* * *

Update (1400ET): The Kenosha police are holding a press briefing that’s just starting. Watch live below:

 

As we await the start of the briefing, Gov Evers has authorized 500 more national guardsmen.

* * *

Update (1323ET): Just minutes after news of Rittenhouse’s arrest hit the web, President Trump tweeted that he had “just gotten off the phone” with governor Evers, who had finally agreed to accept federal help.

“We will NOT stand for looting, arson, violence, and lawlessness on American streets. My team just got off the phone with Governor Evers who agreed to accept federal assistance (Portland should do the same!)…TODAY, I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, WI to restore LAW and ORDER!”

We imagine this will be swiftly denied by Evers.

* * *

Update (1320ET): The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that an arrest has been made following an investigation into last night’s fatal shootings.

  • MILWAUKEE J.S. SAYS ARREST MADE RELATED TO THE KENOSHA SHOOTING

Meanwhile, the Daily Dot has reportedly pulled court papers showing that 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse was arrested and charged with first degree murder and labeled a “fugitive from justice.” The complaint states that Rittenhouse “fled the state of Wisconsin with intent to avoid prosecution for that offense”

Already, conservatives are criticizing the severity of the charge.

According to the Milwaukee J-S, Rittenhouse is now jailed in Lake County, Illinois.

* * *

Update (1240ET): The Internet is scrambling to identify the young man who allegedly shot and killed two people during the mayhem in Kenosha last night, which was the third night of violence in the city where Jacob Blake was shot by a cop on Sunday.

The alleged shooter has been identified by the left-wing mob (who are trying to tarry him as a “mass shooter”) as Kyle Rittenhouse, a local teenager who reportedly has ties to local law enforcement. After the shooting, the shooter (allegedly Rittenhouse) put his hands in the air and walked over to police nearby, but what happened next isn’t exactly clear.

As of noon on Wednesday, nobody has been apprehended in the shootings, though the sheriff of Kenosha has said an arrest in the violence should be coming “soon.” Leftists are also trying to spread a “conspiracy theory” about the shooter accepting water from riot police, evidence that he was working with the local cops.

According to RT, some have tried to tie Rittenhouse to the “Boogaloo Movement” a group of alleged “white supremacists” trying to start a new American civil war. So far, there appears to be no evidence that he was affiliated with the movement, and in an interview which we shared below, but which has since gone viral, a man who appears to be the teenaged Rittenhouse can be heard saying he was there to protect property, not because of any militia affiliation.

* * *

Update (1030ET): A second cell phone video of the officer-involved shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake on Sunday has emerged, showing the incident in a slightly new light.

The footage showed Blake fighting with officers before he took off and ran to the driver’s door of his vehicle with police on his heels (video showed). The video suggests he may indeed have had a knife, and had ignored orders to drop it, before being shot.

It also suggested that Blake’s girlfriend lied to police when she claimed he hadn’t been hostile.

Another witness filmed part of the encounter between Kenosha police and Blake on his cell phone from across the street, but that video didn’t show any scuffle with police.

* * *

Update (0950ET): Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth held another press conference Wednesday morning to discuss the deadly shootings, and other crimes committed across the city during a third night of violence.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported that police expect to make an arrest in a case stemming from the shootings “soon”, and that the FBI has been “assisting” local investigators, implying that the shooter will likely be taken into custody.

No one has been apprehended, but Beth said he believed at least one person would be taken into custody soon based on video footage police have reviewed.

“I feel very confident we’ll have him in a very short time,” Beth said.

Beth attributed the progress to the “resources” provided by the FBI.

The investigation of the latest shooting is being conducted by the Kenosha Police Department with the assistance of the FBI, Beth said.

“We’ve got a lot of resources that are helping us pull this stuff together,” Beth said of the shooting investigation.

Roughly 250 law enforcement officers and 250 National Guard members were on hand Tuesday night to try and quell the unrest, and property damage was much less intense during the third night of unrest – however, clashes between militia groups and hard-core progressive groups that resembled street violence appeared to play out in the streets of Kenosha.

The shooter

Two of the three men who were shot in one photo

The shooting took place right in the heart of the city, according to  MJS.

The incident happened on Sheridan Road in the heart of Kenosha near the Froedert South hospital building. Many people were still on the streets in protest just before the shooting, walking up and down Sheridan Road, where protesters had been driven after being expelled from Civic Center Park.

Here are some more interesting tidbits from the report.

A Journal Sentinel reporter earlier in the evening observed a group of armed men with long guns standing guard at a dry cleaning business on Sheridan Road near 59th Street, some on the roof.

Police told them to get off the roof and a person shouted back: “Officer, this is our business.” Police did not ultimately order them off the roof. Police did not ultimately make them get off the roof.

[…]

It is unclear if the men seen by the reporter were members of the Kenosha Guard, or whether Beth, in his comments, was referring to that group, or similar groups of people.

Before the shooting, someone from Kenosha suggested to Beth that he deputize ordinary citizens to help contain the unrest. Beth said he refused.

“I said, ‘There’s no way I’m doing that,'” Beth said.

Meanwhile, GOP Senator Ron Johnson, who represents Wisconsin in the Senate alongside Democrat Tammy Baldwin (who hasn’t said much of anything), urged Democratic Gov Tony Evers to accept President Trump’s offer for federal reinforcements.

* * *

Already, the riots in Kenosha inspired by the police shooting of unarmed Jacob Blake, who was shot in the back while trying to enter a car with his children in the back seat (Blake was hit by 4 of the 7 shots, some reports said he had been armed at one point), have led to the deaths of at least 2 people.

Despite the governor’s decision to declare a state of emergency after a second night of violence, police and the national guard were once again largely absent in a stream of horrifying video from last night’s riots, which at times devolved into open street warfare between groups of rioters and armed people allegedly there to protect property.

Several videos of at least one of the fatal shootings flooded Twitter last night.

While video of the other, allegedly involving the same shooter, who was confronted by several other armed citizens.

Police confirmed to the press that they responded to two fatal shootings and at least one non-fatal shooting during the third night of protests inspired by the shooting of Blake.

Evers said he authorized 250 Wisconsin National Guard troops to protect critical infrastructure and assist Kenosha authorities, but once again, these reinforcements stayed clear of local businesses and offered almost no assistance in the protection of private property.

Kenosha officials said another 100 law enforcement officers from surrounding areas were brought in to assist local police. An 8pm curfew was in effect for the area.

“We will continue to work with local, state and federal law enforcement in holding those criminals who are destroying our city responsible,” Kenosha Mayor John Antamarian said in a statement.

And former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani had a response.

Kenosha police said early Wednesday that they had responded to a report of multiple gunshots just before midnight. Authorities said two people were killed in the shooting, and a third gunshot victim was transported to the hospital with serious, a story that is more or less consistent with the videos we shared above. 

An investigation into the shooting is reportedly ongoing. Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth told the NYT that police are investigating whether the shooting resulted from a conflict between demonstrators and a group of armed men there to protect local businesses. CNN reported that armed riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray into the crowd, while Blake’s family pleaded for calm on Tuesday.

One Twitter user shared what she alleged was an interview with the shooter (who can be seen above being chased by another man with a gun) from before the attack. In the interview he can be heard saying he is armed with live ammunition.

The protests have triggered gatherings of armed citizens, some of whom said they were protecting property against looting. Videos shared widely on social media have shown storefront after storefront ablaze, along with dozens of cars – rampant, indefensible, mayhem. And if the government won’t stop it – for whatever reason – sometimes people take responsibility into their own hands, which is one of the reasons the second amendment was enshrined in the constitution via the Bill of Rights.