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WUWM's Teran Powell reports on race and ethnicity in southeastern Wisconsin.

As The Kenosha DA Decision Nears, Jacob Blake’s Family Continues To Demand Charges

Teran Powell
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Justin Blake (center) leads a group of marchers through downtown Kenosha.

Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley is expected to annouce his decision Tuesday afternoon on whether to charge the officer responsible for shooting Jacob Blake last summer leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. 

Credit Teran Powell
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Jacob Blake Sr. (left) is joined by his brother, Justin (center), and their supporters as they address the media.

On Monday, the Blake family and Kenosha community leaders held a press conference to demand Officer Rusten Sheskey be fired, charged and convicted. A few dozen supporters joined them.

Blake’s father, Jacob Blake Sr., said he wants him charged with attempted murder. 

"He tried to kill my son. He didn’t try to take my son down," Blake Sr. said. "He tried to kill my son and could’ve killed my grandchildren."

After the press conference, a car caravan escorted marchers through the streets of downtown Kenosha toward Civic Center Park — across the street from the Kenosha County Courthouse.

They chanted “No justice, no peace” and “Say his name, Jacob Blake."

People have been regularly gathering for protest as they await a decision. Some businesses are still boarded up, and some streets have been closed off. 

Credit Teran Powell
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Protestors demand justice in the shooting of Jacob Blake.

Out of concerns for public safety, Gov. Tony Evers has once again mobilized the National Guard. 

Nights of unrest followed Blake’s shooting last summer; businesses and vehicles were burned, and two protestors were killed by an armed teen from Illinois.

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Teran Powell joined WUWM in the fall of 2017 as the station’s very first Eric Von Broadcast Fellow. She became WUWM's race and ethnicity reporter in 2018.
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