In the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, many are asking whether the police officer was justified in shooting him.
During an appearance on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Rep. Val Demings (D-Fl.), a former police chief, was asked if Officer Rusten Sheskey was justified in shooting Blake.
“I think what we have to do is all take a deep breath,” Demings said. “If we want justice served, we’ve got to wait until a thorough and complete investigation is done.”
“We do not want to play judge, jury, and executioner, whether we’re talking about Mr. Blake or we’re talking about the police officer. We want the facts, and we must have all of them if we want to see justice served,” she added.
Watch the video below:
Is there any justification for what happened to #JacobBlake?
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 30, 2020
Former Orlando PD Chief @RepValDemings tells @margbrennan: “We all have to take a deep breath if we want justice to be served we have to try to wait until a thorough and complete investigation is done" pic.twitter.com/oepWOBcjQi
Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Kamala Harris told NBC’s “Today” that she does not have all the evidence to determine if Sheskey was justified in shooting Blake.
However, she said, “The man was going to his car. He didn’t appear to be armed. And if he was not armed, the use of force that was seven bullets coming out of a gun at close range in the back of the man, I don’t see anybody could reason that that was justifiable.”
When asked if she believes Sheskey should be charged, Harris said, “I think that there should be a thorough investigation. And based on what I’ve seen, it seems like the officer should be charged.”
Blake, a Black man, was shot several times from behind by Sheskey on August 23 after officers were dispatched to a domestic incident call.
Officers reportedly tried to use tasers to subdue Blake., however, they were ineffective.
A video of the incident that surfaced online shows Blake walking to the driver’s side of a vehicle, opening the door, and leaning into the car. Officers can be heard yelling for Blake to stop as he walked around the vehicle.
As Blake leaned into the car, Sheskey fired his service weapon.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice said that officials recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard. However, Blake’s lawyer has questioned if his client was in possession of a knife.
As of Sunday afternoon, no charges have been filed against Sheskey and multiple agencies are investigating the incident.