Kenosha’s City Council has denied Jacob Blake’s pursuit of monetary damages to compensate him for his injuries related to the incident that led to a police shooting and left him paralyzed. Kenosha News tweeted “Kenosha’s City Council rejects Jacob Blake’s $50k claim for medical expenses, lost wages and ‘pain and suffering and disfigurement’ as filed by Chicago-based attorneys March 11 with the office of the city’s clerk-treasurer.”
According to reports, the Kenosha City Council voted 17-0 in favor of rejecting the claim seeking damages for Blake in connection with the August 23rd 2020 shooting. On March 11th, a Chicago-based law firm filed a claim with the city of Kenosha seeking “special damages” amounting to $776,614.67 for injuries Blake sustained during the shooting incident.
However, City Administrator John Morrissey noted state law caps claims at $50,000 when it is an “individualized municipality” named in the claim.
Law Enforcement Today reports:
Earlier in 2021, Blake’s legal team filed a federal lawsuit that names Officer Rusten Sheskey, the officer who shot Blake in August of 2020, alleging that Officer Sheskey employed excessive force during the incident.
In January of 2021, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley declined to file criminal charges against Officer Sheskey in connection with the shooting, citing that the state wouldn’t be able to disprove that Officer Sheskey acted in self defense as Blake was armed with a knife during the shooting:
“I do not believe the state…would be able to prove that the privilege of self-defense is not available.”
Back when the federal lawsuit was filed against Officer Sheskey in March of 2021, City Administrator Morrissey noted that the city will “vigorously defend” against the civil suit brought forth against Officer Sheskey:
“The incident has been thoroughly examined by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, and former City of Madison Police Chief and use-of-force expert Noble Wray. Based on their findings and independent reports, the City of Kenosha will vigorously defend this case.”
On March 31st, days after the federal lawsuit was filed against Officer Sheskey, the officer had returned from administrative leave and was not facing any disciplinary action , according to Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis.
Chief Miskinis noted in a press release on April 13th that Officer Sheskey was cleared of wrongdoing at the department level and by prosecutors, which was why the decision to have him return to duty was reached:
“The Kenosha Police use of force incident on August 23, 2020 was investigated by an outside agency; has been reviewed by an independent expert as well as the Kenosha County District Attorney. Officer Sheskey was not charged with any wrongdoing.
