Jacob Blake has filed an excessive force lawsuit against the white police officer who shot him in the back in southeastern Wisconsin.
In August 2020, Blake - a Black man - made headlines around the world after Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey was recorded by a witness shooting him in the back seven times as Blake attempted to enter his SUV.
Per CBS News, Sheskey and two other Kenosha officers were called to the scene following a domestic dispute, and while attempting to arrest Blake over an outstanding warrant, a pocket knife fell from his pants during a scuffle.
Blake then picked up the knife and walked over to a vehicle, reportedly telling the officers that he would surrender once the knife had been placed in the SUV.
CNN reports that it took "less than five minutes" from the 911 call being placed to report the domestic dispute, the Blake being shot seven times.
The shooting left Blake paralyzed from the waist down.
Additionally, two of Blake's children were sitting in the back seats of the SUV.
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley announced back in January that Sheskey, as well as the two accompanying officers, would not be criminally charged for their actions.
Now, per CNN, records show that Blake is suing Sheskey for excessive force, with legal documents arguing that the shooting "was undertaken with malice, willfulness, and reckless indifference to the rights" of Blake.
The lawsuit adds that Blake "has suffered and will continue to suffer physical and emotional damages", and asks for compensation "in a fair and just amount sufficient to compensate [Blake] for the injuries he has suffered, plus a substantial sum in punitive damages."
CBS News reports that Sheskey told investigators that he opened fire due to the fact that he feared for his own safety.
The 18-page complaint not only includes a still image of each of the seven shots, but also argues that Blake's two children were put in "imminent danger" from being hit by gunfire or ricocheting bullets.
The shooting came three months after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, which sparked mass protests across the US over police brutality and racism against Black people.