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An update on the Jacob Blake memes, which I pointed out had jumped the gun back in August. At that point, the facts already didn’t match the initial narrative, but things have shifted even further now.
The Wisconsin DOJ will soon turn over the results of their investigation to an independent council to determine if charges need to be filed. Thus, we need to wait for the official account, but here is what is known.
3 months before the Blake shooting, officers were called to the same location for a similar reason. His ex-girlfriend called police reporting that Blake had broken in, stolen her keys and debit card, then took her car and left. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8675227/Criminal-complaint-Jacob-Blake-says-wanted-domestic-abuse-sexual-assault.html
Officers reported the woman was visibly shaken. She recounted being by Blake at 6 am, saying “I want my shit.” He then assaulted her vaginally with his finger, and made crude remarks. The officer reported she was crying and had a very difficult time recounting this.
She realized her car & debit card were missing & called police. 2 fraudulent transactions totaling $1000 were found. 3 charges, including felony sexual assault, were filed and were outstanding at the time of the August incident, and why Blake was prohibited from the residence.
This is the context to why police showed up. The police scanner shows Blake was at her home, had taken her keys & was refusing to give them back. They told officers about the outstanding warrants, meaning they were were required to take Blake into custody. https://madison365.com/kenohsa-police-opened-fire-less-than-5-minutes-after-being-called-scanner-audio/
The police attorney disputes Blake being there to break up a fight were, and that he was unarmed. They claim that Blake resisted arrest, putting one officer in a headlock and fighting off two tasers. https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/police-union-releases-statement-on-blake-shooting/article_140a3c34-d0b4-5a78-b838-e2ace80cf8dc.html#tracking-source=home-trending
They also claim he had a knife, which was found on the car floorboard. A man who filmed the encounter says he heard them say “drop the knife” but he never saw a knife. From the video, Blake appears to be carrying something, but it’s unclear what.
CNN yesterday interviewed the police attorney, who said that the officer heard a woman say, “he’s got my kid. He's got my keys” when he arrived. Thus, he believed that Blake was trying to flee and take the woman’s kid (actually 3 kids). https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/25/us/rusten-sheskey-account-jacob-blake-shooting-invs/index.html
He also claimed that Blake twisted toward the officer with the knife before the shooting. This isn’t clear from the video. The police attorney maintains that Blake was the aggressor, while Blake’s attorneys claim police were. Neither should be taken as reliable evidence yet.
A fair person would want to wait for the official investigation, but the initial narratives have fallen apart. Some facts still aren’t known; did Blake actually have a knife, twist toward the officer, what was the full context of the interaction? But the memes no longer hold up.
Remember, this incident caused nights of riots and much of Kenosha to be burned and destroyed. It caused the NBA and WNBA to cancel games in protest, while Biden and Harris even met with and praised Blake. All before the facts were known. https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/29748510/all-three-wnba-games-wednesday-postponed-part-protest-jacob-blake-shooting
