Jacob Blake quietly drops civil rights lawsuit against exonerated Wisconsin officer who shot him

According to the Associated Press, neither attorneys for Blake, nor Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey, indicated in their court filings why the lawsuit was being dropped. It is unknown if the case being dropped may have been part of a settlement.

Police were responding to a 911 call placed by Blake’s ex-girlfriend, after he came to her house in violation of a restraining order. Video showed that Blake wrestled with two officers. The shooting happened after he walked away from officers and opened up the driver’s side door of a vehicle. Sheskey shot Blake after he turned toward the officer with a knife. Blake was also wanted on a felony sexual assault warrant at the time of the incident.

Sheskey was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing and later the sexual assault charges against Blake were dropped as part of a plea deal. Prosecutors dropped a felony third-degree sexual assault charge and a misdemeanor criminal trespass charge against Blake in exchange for him pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct. He was sentenced to two years probation.

Blake’s shooting sparked the riots during which Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot two men and wounded a third while defending himself. Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges in November of 2021.

Blake filed the civil rights lawsuit in March 2021, and alleged that Sheskey had used excessive force during the arrest.

According to court records, the attorneys for the two men filed notice on Friday that they had agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice, which means Blake can’t refile it in the future.