Jacob Blake, the black man whose shooting by police last month, ignited another round of nationwide protest against systemic racism and police brutality.
Blake appeared in court from his hospital bed on September 4 and entered not guilty pleas on charges stemming from a domestic incident in May 2020.
Domestic violence charges
Blake is now paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the shooting incident in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 23. He wore a blue dress shirt and a yellow tie in the video link from Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, according to Milwaukee Sentinel-Journal reported.
The shooting of Blake is being investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, which has so far provided few details about the incident.
The shooting was captured in a cellphone video, and it showed Officer Rusten Sheskey fire seven shots into Blake's back as he leaned into his car, where his three children were inside.
The video shows three officers with their weapons drawn as Blake walks around his car and opens the driver's door. As soon as he leans in, Sheskey grabs his shirt and fires.
The Kenosha Professional Police Association claims that Blake had a knife and "forcefully fought" with officers, but that is not seen in the video.
The Department of Justice said that Blake told the police officers that he had a knife in his car, and a knife was found on the floorboard of his car after the shooting.
The agency has not said whether Blake was holding the knife at any time during the incident. None of the other police offices fired their weapons, all of them have been placed on administrative leave.
Blake's arrest
According to the department, the police responded to a call from a woman, who has not been identified, who told them that her boyfriend was present and was not supposed to be on the premises, as reported by BBC.
The police tried to arrest Blake and tased him, but the agency has not said why the police tried to arrest him. However, it was later learned that there was a warrant out for his arrest after charges were filed in July 2020 regarding the domestic incident in May 2020.
The charges from the May 3, 2020 incident are one felony count of third-degree sexual assault and two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing. All the charges were filed on July 6, 2020.
The hearing that happened on September 4 was the first court action in that case, which so far has not been linked to the incident on August 23, as reported by People.com.
A court commissioner issued a $10,000 signature bond for Blake, which means he only pays the money if he fails to appear in court or violates the terms of his release.
The terms include no violent contact with the victim or her children, no contact at the victim's residence, no possession of any weapons, and no out-of-state travel except for medical treatment.
Both the defense attorneys and the prosecution agreed to the terms and noted that Blake has no prior criminal record. A pretrial conference is scheduled for October 21.
