Jacob Blake's family, attorneys, witness dispute Kenosha police union's account of shooting


The Kenosha Professional Police Association, the union representing police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin, released what they called "the actual and undisputed" account of the events that preceded the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot by officers multiple times on Sunday, CNN and NPR report.
The account says Blake had a knife and "forcefully fought" the officers trying to arrest him, putting one in a headlock. The statement also said the officers failed to subdue Blake after twice shooting tasers at him. The union said "most" narratives about the incident are either inaccurate or "purely fictional" and that a statement released by the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation, which is leading the investigation into the shooting, is "riddled with incomplete information," NPR reports.
Blake's uncle, Justin Blake, said the union's version was "garbage" and his nephew didn't have a weapon (per CNN, state investigators said a knife was found on the driver's side floorboard of his vehicle), while legal defense argued Blake was not an "imminent threat" to the officers who "were essentially beating him." Raysean White, a witness who recorded a brief video of the incident, told CNN that Blake did not pose a threat and it was actually the officers who put Blake in a headlock while one "punched him in the ribs."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Blake survived the shooting, but is paralyzed from the waist down. His attorneys said Friday that he is no longer shackled to his hospital bed after his father revealed that had been the case because of an outstanding arrest warrant for three domestic abuse-related charges even though Blake was unable to walk and has been heavily medicated. Read more at CNN and NPR.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California
-
Suspect charged after 11 die in Vancouver car attack
Speed Read Kai-Ji Adam Lo drove an SUV into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival
-
Kenya arrests alleged ant smugglers
speed read Two young Belgians have been charged for attempting to smuggle ants out of the country to exotic pet buyers