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We are in Kenosha waiting for an announcement from the District Attorney about the shooting of Jacob Blake. Please follow @RicoReporting @writerbarton @mdesisti @RoryLinnane & our @journalsentinel team.
Kenosha District Attorney Michael Graveley says this will be a lengthy announcement, and that he and Noble Wray expect to talk for about 2 hours.
“This was a tragedy first and foremost for Jacob Blake.”
Graveley says he spoke to Jacob Blake shortly before the news conference.
Graveley apologizes for keeping the timing of the announcement secret, adding it was “possibly the worst kept secret” in the history of secrets.
He adds that he feels “inadequate in this moment” and has not had to face racial bias.
He adds that he feels “inadequate in this moment” and has not had to face racial bias.
Graveley adds that he has about three decades of experience as a prosecutor & has devoted his career to trying to keep people safe.
BREAKING: No charges will be filed against any of the officers involved in the Jacob Blake shooting.
Graveley says that none of the officers will be charged, adding that Jacob Blake will not be charged.
Graveley says that once he saw the video of Jacob Blake being shot he knew he would have to do the most independent investigation possible.
Graveley says his first conversation with Jacob Blake was “minutes before” this news conference.
Graveley says the question was essentially whether Rusten Sheskey had a reasonable belief that he was in danger of being stabbed by Blake, or whether someone else was in imminent danger.
“This case is really all about self defense,” Graveley says.
After playing the 911 call, Gravely plays the dispatch call to the squad car Officer Sheskey was a passenger in.
Officers reported hearing Jacob Blake say, “I’m taking the kids and I’m taking the car.” Graveley talks about a history of domestic violence complaints against Blake from the woman who called 911, as well as her previous sexual assault complaint against him.
“There are many commands disobeyed... and there are multiple ways the officers try to bring him into custody,” Graveley says of Blake. He adds three attempts were made to tase Jacob Blake.
Graveley says it is “incontrovertible”that Jacob Blake was armed with a knife. He says the officers saw the razor blade type knife, and that Jacob Blake admits that he had a knife. “All the discussion that he was unarmed contradicts what he himself has said to investigators.”
Graveley says Officer Sheskey grabbed Jacob Blake’s shirt because he didn’t know whether he would try to drive off with children in the car & end up in a high speed chase with kids in the car.
Graveley says officers and witnesses saw Jacob Blake twist his torso as he was trying to get into the car just before he was shot by Officer Rusten Sheskey.
Graveley says Jacob Blake was shot 4 times in the back and 3 times in the side.
Graveley also says Jacob Blake knew there was a warrant for his arrest, pointing to texts he sent to the woman who called 911 as well as Internet searches he did on his phone for the warrant.
Graveley says the woman who called 911 - he is naming her, but we are not - has not been available to investigators in the case. He adds that there is separate investigation but will not say more about the nature of that investigation.
Noble Wray, the former Madison police chief, is now speaking at the news conference. He was tapped by the state Department of Justice to review the investigation into Jacob Blake’s shooting.
Noble Wray says Jacob Blake was “extreme actively resisting,” adding that Blake had the knife on him.
Noble Wray says that at one point Blake dropped his knife, picked it up and was then tased a second time. Wray says Blake again ripped off the taser prongs.
Noble Wray says that all three officers involved saw the knife, adding that two saw it at the beginning of the confrontation and were giving commands to Blake to “Drop the knife.”
Wray says the SUV blocked portions of the struggle between officers and Jacob Blake so witnesses could only see portions of it.
Wray says officers could not allow Jacob Blake to leave with a child in the car, addicting that officers did not know whether or not it was his child.
Wray: “This was a difficult case... it was hard for me to get involved in this for a variety of reasons.”
“Our ultimate obligation is truth,” Wray says.
“I would have hoped there would have been an opportunity for dialogue,” Wray said, He adds that Blake could have made different decisions, such as not arming himself again after dropping the knife.
Graveley says body cameras would have “dramatically” assisted the investigation. He says that every law enforcement in Kenosha County should have body cameras.
At with that, they stopped taking questions and ended the news conference. Please stay tuned for updates from Kenosha.
