JACOB BLAKE

Gov. Tony Evers has defeated Republican Tim Michels to keep battleground Wisconsin under a Democratic governor heading into the 2024 presidential election.

A former suburban Chicago police officer who was fired after he shot into a car two years ago, killing a Black man and seriously wounding the man’s girlfriend, has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter.

Conservative author and journalist Julio Rosas lambasted the media's rush to judgment on news stories that fuel racial tension during a speech at the National Conservatism conference.

An uncle of Jacob Blake filed a federal lawsuit alleging sheriff’s deputies in Wisconsin unjustly arrested and tortured him during a protest over the 2020 Kenosha police shooting of his nephew.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is proposing a $600 million annual tax cut, an election year proposal that Republican legislative leaders are rejecting as a “vote-buying ploy.

Republican Tim Michels, a multimillionaire construction company co-owner who last ran for office nearly two decades ago, has launched his campaign for governor in Wisconsin.

Patrick Lyoya’s father says he and his family have a right to know the name of the white officer who fatally shot the 26-year-old Black man.

Two of the NBA’s most significant dynasties emerged in the second decade of the 2000s.

A Wisconsin father is demanding that prosecutors charge an off-duty police officer who appears to have briefly pressed his knee into his 12-year-old daughter's neck similar to how Derek Chauvin restrained George Floyd.

Wisconsin officials have destroyed the rifle Kyle Rittenhouse used to shoot three people during protests in Kenosha in 2020.

Five women and four men who call themselves the “Laquan Nine” are facing fines for loitering in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in the Loop as ex-cop Jason Van Dyke was being released from prison last week.

Rittenhouse was acquitted last year after killing two people and injuring one during unrest in Kenosha, Wis., in 2020.

A judge has approved an agreement by lawyers to destroy the assault-style rifle that Kyle Rittenhouse used to kill two people and wound a third during a 2020 street protest in Wisconsin.

Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois man acquitted of fatally shooting two men and wounding a third during street protests in Kenosha in 2020, has filed papers in court to recover property seized by police after his arrest, including the gun he used in the shootings.

The man who bought an AR-15-style rifle for Kyle Rittenhouse has pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison.

Headlines announced Trayvon Martin was the new Emmett Till. Till, a Black 14-year-old from Chicago vacationing in Mississippi, was lynched for allegedly whistling at a White woman in 1955. Again, commentators compared the police shooting of Michael Brown to the lynching of Emmett Till. No charges were brought against the officer that shot Blake. Afterward, when Derrick Johnson, the president and CEO of the NAACP, was asked about the Rittenhouse verdict, he said, “This was worse than the Emmett Till trial.

Kyle Rittenhouse has clapped back at LeBron James after the NBA star mocked the teen during his murder trial last […] The post Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse slams LeBron James for trial comments appeared first on TheGrio.

Since a jury found him not guilty, Kyle Rittenhouse has met with various top right wing operatives and leaders, including former President Donald Trump himself.

Kyle Rittenhouse says in a new interview that he believes the jury that acquitted him of murder came to the right verdict, and he's now hoping to lay low for a while.

Several dozen people gathered below the wind-whipped Wisconsin flag at Kenosha’s Civic Center Park and warmed up with chants for justice before taking to the streets in protest of the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse.

Across much of the United States, it has become increasingly acceptable for Americans to walk the streets with firearms, either carried openly or legally concealed.

The trial in Georgia is being watched closely for how self-defense laws are applied.

"Who walks into a courtroom that was going to jail for 25 to life and walks away clear and free?" Justin Blake said.

Protesters convened downtown to protest Friday’s acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenage gunman who fatally shot two men and wounded a third during last year’s racial justice protests in Kenosha.

Activists opposed to the jury's acquittal gathered in several cities across the country, including Chicago, New York and Oakland. Authorities in Portland declared a riot.

An attorney for Kyle Rittenhouse said after his client’s acquittal that he was determined to steer away from the most polarizing parts of the case.

Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges related to shooting three people — two fatally — during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

While the not-guilty verdict ends the criminal cases against the 18-year-old, the legal fallout from the 2020 shootings will continue.

The teenager shot and killed two men during racial justice protests but was cleared of homicide after claiming self-defence.

Kyle Rittenhouse has been acquitted of all charges after testifying he acted in self-defense in the deadly Kenosha, Wisconsin, shootings that became a flashpoint in the nation’s debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice.

The jury at Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial has completed a third day of deliberations without reaching a verdict.

Some of the last words jurors at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial heard before starting deliberations were about the mental health of Joseph Rosenbaum.

The rawness of these past few months in Kenosha spills out onto the Kenosha County Courthouse steps as people wait for the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict.

As Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial has played out, moments of apparent deference to the defendant by the judge have struck observers as curiously different from other murder proceedings.

Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorneys have asked the judge to declare a mistrial, saying the defense received an inferior copy of a key video from prosecutors.

Kyle Rittenhouse could spend the next several decades of his life behind bars or soon walk free from a Kenosha, Wisconsin courthouse.

The jury deliberated a full day on Tuesday without reaching a verdict at Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial after two weeks of testimony in which they were given starkly different portrayals of his actions the night he shot three men on the streets of Kenosha.

Kyle Rittenhouse played a direct role in choosing, albeit randomly, the final 12 jurors who are deciding his innocence or guilt in the murder trial over his killing two protesters and wounding a third last summer.

Prosecutors say Kyle Rittenhouse provoked bloodshed on the streets of Kenosha by bringing a semi-automatic rifle to a protest and menacing others.

A jury will soon deliberate whether Kyle Rittenhouse is guilty of charges, including murder, for shooting three people in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

When Kyle Rittenhouse took the stand to testify about his actions the night he shot three men on the streets of Kenosha — sobbing and seemingly unable to continue as he approached the critical moment where he shot the first man — it was one of the most compelling moments in his two-week murder trial.

The jury that will decide Kyle Rittenhouse’s fate will be allowed to consider some lesser charges if they opt to acquit him on some of the original counts prosecutors brought.

Rittenhouse is charged with fatally shooting two men and injuring a third during protests demanding justice for the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The Chicago Police Department has canceled one regular day off this weekend for all full-duty officers to "enhance public safety," a decision reportedly made to brace for possible upheaval ahead of a possible verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.

The defense has rested its case at the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.

Attorneys for Kyle Rittenhouse have requested a mistrial based on several issues, including claims that prosecutors acted in bad faith and that the state gave them an inferior copy of video that may be a key piece of evidence in the case.

Kyle Rittenhouse took the stand in his murder trial, acknowledging he used deadly force when he shot three people during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin last year.

Jurors in Kenosha, Wisconsin watched high-definition drone footage, showing the moments leading up to Kyle Rittenhouse killing the first of two men.

Prosecutors have concluded testimony at Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial after calling more than a dozen witnesses, some of whom appeared to help the defense more than the prosecution.

Prosecutors wrapped up more than a week of testimony at Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial after calling more than a dozen witnesses — some appearing to help the defense more than the prosecution. The onus was on prosecutors to counter Rittenhouse’s self-defense claim in shooting dead two protesters and wounding a third at a protest in Kenosha last year following the shooting of Jacob Blake, who is Black, by a white police officer. The defense team began their case on Tuesday.

Legal experts say Kyle Rittenhouse held his own on the witness stand.

Kyle Rittenhouse testified Wednesday that he was under attack when he shot three men during a turbulent night of street protests in Kenosha.

Rittenhouse lawyers present witnesses; Jacob Blake's uncle shares frustration

People streaming live video have become ubiquitous at protests, seeking to provide an unedited view into the most violent clashes.

A forensic pathologist says the first man killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during a night of turbulent protests in Kenosha was shot at close range of just a few feet and had soot injuries that could indicate he had his hand over the barrel of Rittenhouse’s gun.

A protester acknowledges in court he was advancing with gun drawn on the teen when he opened fire.

President Joe Biden has welcomed the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks to the White House.

A protester and volunteer medic wounded on the streets of Kenosha by Kyle Rittenhouse says he was unintentionally pointing his own gun at the rifle-toting Rittenhouse when the young man shot him in the arm.

Prosecutors trying to convict Kyle Rittenhouse of murder are trying to paint the Illinois man as an inexperienced teen who misrepresented his age and medical training to other armed civilians in his group on the night he shot three men during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin last year.

Attorneys spent the first week of Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial sparring over who provoked whom, with prosecutors portraying Rittenhouse as the aggressor and the defense working to show that the men he shot had threatened him.

Attorneys spent the first week of Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial sparring over who provoked whom, with prosecutors portraying the Illinois teenager as the aggressor and the defense working to show that the men he shot had threatened him. The stakes are enormous as jurors weigh whether Rittenhouse fired in self-defense because he legitimately felt threatened or whether he overreacted. “To establish self-defense, the first prong is the defense must show there was going to be interference with Rittenhouse and that Rittenhouse had a belief that could result in great bodily harm,” said former Milwaukee County prosecutor Daniel Adams, who isn't involved in the case.

Nearly three hours of testimony came from a video producer for a right-wing news site who filmed Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wis. Prosecutors also called two men who wanted to "protect" businesses.

The killing of Joseph Rosenbaum has emerged as one of the most crucial and disputed moments of the night.

The juror, a retired white man, told a court police officer a joke about the Black man whose shooting by police in 2020 sparked the protests where Rittenhouse killed two and wounded a third.

The juror dismissed from Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial apparently was trying to be funny when he cracked to a court security officer about the shooting of a Black man that set off the protests where Rittenhouse shot three people.

Judge Bruce Schroeder said it was important to maintain public confidence in the case, and removing the juror was necessary.

Witnesses at Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial say the first man shot on the streets of Kenosha was “hyperaggressive," threatened to kill Rittenhouse and another man who were patrolling with guns, and later lunged for Rittenhouse’s gun in an attempt to take it away.

Judge in Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial goes on the attack against media coverage of his rulings

The jury at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial over shootings on the streets of Kenosha watched one of the central pieces of video evidence Wednesday — footage of a man chasing Rittenhouse and throwing a plastic bag at him just before the man was gunned down.

A prosecutor says Kyle Rittenhouse instigated the confrontation that led him to shoot three people on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, during a turbulent protest against racial injustice.

The Wisconsin judge presiding over Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial opened jury selection with a round of “Jeopardy!”.

Family of one man killed by Kyle Rittenhouse wary of hostilities directed at them -- "they are afraid to be there in person,” attorney says

Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old Illinois man accused of killing two people and wounding a third during a protest over police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year.

Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old Illinois man accused of killing two people and wounding a third during a protest over police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year.

A jury has been seated in the homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three people during a protest against racial injustice on the streets of Kenosha last year.

From the moment Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people on the streets of Kenosha during protests over the police shooting of a Black man, he’s been the personification of America’s polarization.

Kyle Rittenhouse, the aspiring police officer who gunned down three people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during a protest in the summer of 2020 against racism and police brutality, is white.

When Kyle Rittenhouse goes on trial Monday for shooting three men during street protests in Wisconsin last summer, the case may turn on how Rittenhouse's self-defense claim stacks up against prosecutors' argument that he acted recklessly and dangerously by being on the streets of Kenosha with a rifle.

Good morning, Chicago. Here are some of the top stories you need to know to start your day.

The lawsuit alleges that authorities in Kenosha not only knew that armed vigilantes planned to patrol the protest attended by Black Lives Matter supporters, but also encouraged their participation.

The suit claims law enforcement deputized a “roving militia of White Nationalists vigilantes” during last year’s racial justice protests in Kenosha where Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot two people and injured a third.

The department said there is insufficient evidence to prove that the officer who shot Blake "willfully used excessive force," which is the required standard for pressing charges.

Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake, who is Black, during a domestic disturbance in August 2020. The shooting left Blake paralyzed from the waist down and sparked several nights of protests.

The Justice Department announced today that it will not pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against a Kenosha Police Department (KPD) officer for his involvement in the Aug. 23, 2020, shooting of 30-year-old Jacob Blake. Officials from the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin informed representatives of the Blake family of this determination. The department makes this decision because the evidence obtained is insufficient to prove that the KPD officer willfully used excessive force. Neither accident, mistake, fear, negligence, nor bad judgment is sufficient to establish a willful federal criminal civil rights violation. After a careful and thorough review, a team of experienced federal prosecutors determined that insufficient evidence exists to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the KPD officer willfully violated the federal criminal civil rights statutes.

Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz during the protest in Kenosha. Prosecutors charged Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the protest, with multiple counts, including homicide and being a minor in possession of a firearm. Rittenhouse's attorneys have argued that he fired in self-defense after Rosenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz attacked him.

He's accused of killing two men and injuring a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Kyle Rittenhouse's jury will not hear testimony tying him to Proud Boys at murder trial, judge rules.

A judge was set to decide Friday whether jurors at the upcoming Kyle Rittenhouse trial will see video that prosecutors say shows him talking about wanting to shoot people.

Attorney Mark Richards was responding to a motion filed by prosecutors last week requesting a list of people who donated cash to help Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused in the shootings in Kenosha last summer. Following Rittenhouse's arrest, conservatives who portrayed him as an American patriot contributed millions of dollars to his legal defense fund and enabled him to post $2 million bail. Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said he needed to make sure people in the potential juror pool in Rittenhouse's trial aren’t among those donors.

Today marks one year since Jacob Blake was shot in the back by a white police officer in Wisconsin.

The family of a man who Kyle Rittenhouse allegedly killed during a nighttime protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer sued the city this week, claiming law enforcement "conspired" with armed individuals.

How would critical race theory translate to medical school curricula? For starters, race would be taught as a social, not a biological, construct.

Kyle Rittenhouse's attorney wants a judge to allow him to argue that one of the men his client fatally shot during a Wisconsin protest was a sex offender, saying it supports a defense theory that he attacked Rittenhouse and intended to take his gun because he couldn't legally possess one. Mark Richards maintained in court filings Thursday that Joseph Rosenbaum was convicted of having sex with a minor in Arizona in 2002 and was prohibited from possessing firearms. Rosenbaum started the altercation with Rittenhouse in hopes of making off with his assault-style rifle, which only bolsters Rittenhouse’s self-defense argument, Richards wrote.

Prosecutors in Wisconsin want a judge to allow evidence at Kyle Rittenhouse's trial that shows he had a previous violent encounter in Kenosha before he fatally shot two men and injured another during a police brutality protest last year. The state's motion filed Thursday in Kenosha County Circuit Court also seeks to show Rittenhouse was associated with the far-right Proud Boys, a group linked to political violence. Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, on Aug. 25 during protests in Kenosha over the police shooting two days earlier of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was left paralyzed when he was shot by a white police officer.

Kenosha's police chief said officer Rusten Sheskey "acted within the law."

The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager accused of killing two people during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, over the summer, has been delayed until November 1. The trial was originally set to begin March 29. In a virtual court hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors and Rittenhouse's attorney agreed to delay the start of the trial to give them more time to prepare. Rittenhouse's attorney, Mark Richards, agreed to delay the trial and Rittenhouse stated he had no objection, even though the delay would push the beginning of the trial to more than a year after he was charged. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, is charged with two counts of first-degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide.

Jacob Blake, 29, said in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” that during a struggle with Kenosha police who were trying to arrest him Aug. 23 on an outstanding warrant his pocketknife fell from his pants. He said he picked it up before heading to a vehicle to drive away with two of his children in the backseat.

In what’s become an all-too familiar story surrounding America’s systemic disregard for Black lives, Kenosha District Attorney Michael Graveley said the evidence didn’t support charges against the officers. “It is my decision that no Kenosha law enforcement officer, in this case, will be charged with any criminal offense based on the facts and the laws,” Graveley proclaimed. By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent@StacyBrownMediaThe Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer who shot Jacob Blake last August will not face criminal charges, and neither will the other cops involved. In what’s become an all-too familiar story surrounding America’s systemic disregard for Black lives, Kenosha District Attorney Michael Graveley said the evidence didn’t support charges against the officers. Police said they were responding to a domestic disturbance report, one that Blake reportedly had attempted to quell.

Ben Crump, an attorney for Jacob Blake's family, spoke out Wednesday against the Kenosha, Wisconsin, district attorney's decision to not charge the officer who shot Blake in the back, saying it "does nothing to help this issue of mistrust." "We are going to file a civil rights excessive use of force 1983 civil rights lawsuit against the Kenosha Police Department," he said. That outrage was rekindled Tuesday when the district attorney announced that Sheskey would not be charged. This is an unfortunate reality that far too many young Black kids will have to see." In a statement released Tuesday evening following Graveley's announcement, the assistant attorney general for the DOJ's civil rights division and U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Krueger said "a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Jacob Blake is ongoing."

Wednesday's events came one day after the announcement of a decision to not bring charges against the officer who shot Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year. The Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat teams kneel during the playing of the National Anthem before the start of their NBA game on January 6, 2021, in Miami. The Celtics discussed the Blake decision earlier in the day, before the events in the Capitol unfolded. The two teams took the knee while the National Anthem played at the Chase Center in L.A. That resulted in a turnover, as did the ensuing Detroit possession when Blake Griffin held the ball and players took a knee again.