No charges against cop in shooting of Jacob Blake

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The Kenosha police officer who shot Jacob Blake in August will not be criminally charged, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced Tuesday.

Neither the officer who fired, Rusten Sheskey, or any others will be charged, Graveley said during a Tuesday news conference. His decision was based on evidence that could not be seen on cellphone video of the incident, which showed Sheskey shooting Blake, 29, as he got into a vehicle with his children inside.

Blake, who was shot in the back, was left paralyzed. The video, which was widely shared on social media, sparked protests, vandalism and arson.

"It’s a narrow task today, it’s a legal and professional task," Graveley said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

Blake’s attorney, B’Ivory LaMarr, said Graveley was subverting the will of the people by failing to charge Sheskey. There was clearly probable cause to believe a crime had been committed, LaMarr said, and the case should be brought before a jury.

Kyle Rittenhouse, a young gunman facing criminal charges in the killing of two men and the serious injury of a third this summer in Kenosha, Wis., entered not guilty pleas to all charges during an arraignment Tuesday.

Rittenhouse, now 18, appeared before Kenosha County Circuit Court Commissioner Loren Keating by video link from the office of his attorney Mark Richards. He is free on $2 million bail, largely provided by donors.

The charges facing Rittenhouse include first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide and attempted first-degree intentional reckless homicide. An additional charge of violation of curfew the night of the shootings was added last week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.