KENOSHA, Wis.: Prosecutors on Tuesday cleared a white police officer in the Aug. 23 shooting of Black man Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, an incident that touched off deadly street protests and inflamed racial tensions in the United States.
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley found police officer Rusten Sheskey acted in self-defense while shooting Blake seven times at close range, saying Blake was armed with a knife and had resisted arrest, withstanding multiple Taser shots.
The decision against prosecuting Sheskey or the two other officers on the scene could incite more demonstrations, which have frequently broken out in the United States in recent years after police have been cleared of wrongdoing in shootings of African Americans.
Central Kenosha was empty of shoppers and pedestrians as the announcement was made, as most storefronts were boarded up in recent days in anticipation of more unrest.
“People are definitely on edge still,” said life-long Kenoshian…