The Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times was suspended without pay for three days after his loaner gun was reported stolen from his girlfriend’s unlocked car seven months prior.
Officer Rusten Sheskey, whom Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley cleared of criminal wrongdoing in the Blake case, returned to his job March 31. He had been placed on administrative leave following the Aug. 23, 2020, shooting.
Following the incident, Sheskey turned in his service weapon as part of the investigation, and the department issued him a Glock 17. His new weapon was stolen from the glovebox of his girlfriend’s car Sept. 15, 2020 and reported the next day.
She admitted there were times when she didn’t lock her car, according to police reports.
KENOSHA POLICE CHIEF PUSHES BACK ON PROTESTERS MAD AT RETURN TO WORK OF OFFICER WHO SHOT JACOB BLAKE
B’Ivory LaMarr, an attorney representing the Blake family, told the Washington Examiner on Saturday that it was “asinine” for the police department to give Sheskey a weapon just days after he shot Blake.
“Three weeks after he is provided his loaner gun, it’s stolen because he’s placing it carelessly and not following police protocols and putting it inside his girlfriend’s glove compartment,” LaMarr said. “As crazy as that is in itself, what’s more outrageous is that this was not investigated or any action taken on it until seven months later.”
Lt. Joe Nosalik told the Washington Examiner in an email on Saturday the events during Blake’s shooting marked “an extremely difficult time for everyone involved in that incident and for our City.”
“Overnight, Officer Sheskey became the focus of anger and hate,” Nosalik said. “There were numerous, credible threats on his life. Demonstrators had found out where he lived. He was forced to pick up his family and leave his home.”
The Kenosha Police Department in the past has issued public warnings about never leaving a loaded gun in an unlocked car, and it has said that guns stolen from unlocked vehicles make up a huge percentage of crimes in which illegal weapons are used.
Sheskey was suspended for three days without pay in April.
In his memo to Sheskey, Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis said, “The circumstances that led to your action were taken into account and although they mitigate the matter, to some degree, they do not provide exemption from policy or justify the lack of appropriate security and control of the handgun.”
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Sheksey’s return to the force has been marred in controversy. A group of 40 protesters showed up at a rally Sunday to demand Sheskey’s termination and press the police department for an apology to the Blake family for failing to notify them that the man who shot Blake had returned to work.
The peaceful protests outside the Public Safety Building in downtown Kenosha ended with the arrests of three activists, including Blake’s uncle, Justin Blake; Joseph Cardinali; and Rev. Jonathan Barker of Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha.
