KENOSHA, Wis.—The state agency charged with investigating the police shooting of Jacob Blake said Wednesday that the 29-year-old Black man admitted to having a knife in his possession. It also identified the white police officer who shot him seven times in the back, setting off several nights of violent clashes, fires and looting.
Meanwhile, a 17-year-old teenager was arrested in connection with a shooting that left two people dead and one injured during the unrest.
Gov. Tony Evers said he authorized 500 Wisconsin National Guard members to assist Kenosha authorities in quelling the violence.
By Wednesday evening, a diverse crowd of around 100 protesters marched through the streets of the city. Defying calls to stay home after the county’s 7 p.m. curfew, the protesters chanted, “Silence is violence” and “Enough is enough.”
Many said they had been out on the streets for multiple nights to protest the police shooting of Mr. Blake.
“We’re tired of this happening. We’re ready for people to truly accept that Black lives matter,” said Kimberly Williams, who live-streamed the march as she walked with the crowd.
“It’s painful for our families, it’s painful for our communities, and it’s painful for us as American citizens,” she said.
Also Wednesday, the U.S. District Attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin confirmed that the Department of Justice is conducting a civil-rights investigation into the shooting of Mr. Blake. The federal investigation will run parallel to an investigation by the state’s Justice Department.
The 17-year-old shooting suspect, Kyle Rittenhouse, a resident of Antioch, Ill., is in custody of the Lake County (Ill.) Judicial System, according to the Antioch Police Department. Mr. Rittenhouse was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, Antioch police said. A complaint filed in Circuit Court in Lake County says Mr. Rittenhouse was labeled a “fugitive from justice” after he “fled the state of Wisconsin with the intent to avoid prosecution for the offense.”
His arrest card lists his occupation as a lifeguard at a YMCA. He has been assigned a public defender, was ordered held without bond and remanded to the care of the Hulse Detention Center. Antioch is about 20 miles southwest of Kenosha.
The Lake County Public Defender’s office declined to comment.
Protesters march late Wednesday in Kenosha.
Photo: Alex Wroblewski for The Wall Street JournalThe Wisconsin Department of Justice said Kenosha police were summoned to Mr. Blake’s home Sunday after a female caller said her boyfriend was present but that he wasn’t supposed to be on the premises. Officers attempted to use a stun gun to stop Mr. Blake, but it didn’t work, the department said. He then walked around his car to open the front door and was leaning forward when Officer Rusten Sheskey shot him in the back seven times. Mr. Sheskey, a seven-year veteran of the force, was the only officer who fired his weapon, the department said.
Investigators recovered a knife on the driver’s side floorboard of the vehicle, the department said. The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave and are cooperating with investigators.
The agency said it has 30 days to conduct its investigation before turning the case over to prosecutors who will make a determination as to whether to prosecute.
At a news conference Wednesday, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley said once the Department of Justice completes its investigation his office would have a very narrow task: to determine whether a police officer had committed any crime that could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Mr. Graveley added that he had asked the U.S. attorney’s office to conduct a parallel civil-rights investigation that he hopes will give the community a chance to heal quicker.
“I believe the public deserves a decision that is based on reason and that is based on the most full and most accurate information that can be obtained,” he said.
Mr. Graveley said that Mr. Sheskey was a patrolman officer, not a detective or manager, and so not known to his office. According to a local news report by the Kenosha News in August 2019, Mr. Sheskey was part of Kenosha Police Department’s bike unit and was previously with the UW-Parkside Police Department for three years.
“We’re in a public service job, a customer service job, and the public is our customer,” Mr. Sheskey said at the time. “I think that, especially with the officers that we have here, everybody strives to make sure that the public feels served and happy with the services they receive.”
In a news conference Wednesday, Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis said the state’s Department of Justice is leading the investigation of the shooting of Mr. Blake, with cooperation from local authorities, and so he had no new information to provide.
Kenosha authorities also said they didn’t know what sparked the shooting near midnight Tuesday or whether Mr. Rittenhouse was affiliated with any specific group. But they believe it was driven by agitators, not by those involved in peaceful protests that have occurred throughout the daytime.
Police said the dead included a 26-year-old from nearby Silver Lake and a 36-year-old Kenosha resident. A 26-year-old West Allis resident was wounded.
Destroyed vehicles remained in a parking lot after three people were shot around midnight Tuesday during a demonstration against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man in Kenosha, Wis.
Photo: Alex Wroblewski for The Wall Street JournalIn a video of the unrest late Tuesday night, cleared by Storyful, a media vetting service, what sound like gunshots can be heard as people yell and a white male with an olive-green shirt and backward cap appears to shoot people after being chased by members of the crowd. The male in the olive-green shirt then walks with his hands up toward a police car, as people can be heard screaming in the background, “He just shot someone.”
Police were pressed to answer why they didn’t arrest the person as he approached police vehicles. They said they couldn’t provide an answer and said they hadn’t seen the video.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said that police have limited information because Kenosha police are working with outside agencies—including the Federal Bureau of Investigation—in gathering information.
Mayor John Antaramian took responsibility for the lack of communication with the public. “I’m not good at this,” he said. “These are things that are different for us.”
Firefighters work near a building that was torched during a demonstration against the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis.
Photo: Alex Wroblewski for The Wall Street JournalPresident Trump said he would send federal law enforcement and National Guard to Kenosha.
“We will NOT stand for looting, arson, violence, and lawlessness on American streets. My team just got off the phone with Governor Evers who agreed to accept federal assistance (Portland should do the same!),” Mr. Trump tweeted on Wednesday afternoon. “…TODAY, I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, WI to restore LAW and ORDER!”
“President Trump condemns violence in all forms and believes we must protect all Americans from chaos and lawlessness,’’ White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement Wednesday night. “We have assisted Wisconsin in the deployment of almost 1,000 National Guard and over 200 federal law enforcement personnel, which include FBI and U.S. Marshals.’’
A Justice Department spokeswoman said the agency has sent more than 200 federal agents including from the FBI, ATF and U.S. Marshals to help with the unrest and could send more as needed.
In Kenosha’s Uptown neighborhood, buildings smoldered Wednesday morning from another round of fires the night before. The Danish Brotherhood Lodge was reduced to rubble, with firefighters out early hosing it down.
After the shooting occurred, friends began calling Renee Holmes, who was at work, to tell her it happened right outside her home. She called her husband, who was on the floor inside the home in fear for his life, she said.
Kenosha resident Renee Holmes called the shooting late Tuesday, which took place outside her house, ‘totally horrible.’
Photo: Alex Wroblewski for The Wall Street Journal“This is totally horrible,” she said. “My kid calls Kenosha ‘Kenowhere.’ Nothing happens here.” She said she plans to stay home with her husband, a military veteran, to protect their home.
Tyler Northern chose to protect his home Tuesday night rather than his Taekwondo academy, which is near where the shooting took place and had some windows broken. Mr. Northern, who watched the video of the Tuesday night shooting, said, “I can’t say I would have done much different” than the shooter.
Tuesday night saw armed citizens patrolling the streets, who said they were there to protect local businesses from looting and destruction. It wasn’t clear whether the shooting was connected to those people.
Wearing an AK-47-style rifle and a tactical vest, Josh Binninger, 41, said Tuesday night he had organized a group of some 200 people via Facebook to come out and protect the streets of Kenosha.
Protesters marched late Wednesday.
Photo: kamil krzaczynski/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images“We’re here because we just watched our hometown be terrorized and burnt down the last two days,” Mr. Binninger said. “This is not going to be a Portland.”
The violence was sparked by a video that went viral Sunday showing Mr. Blake walking around a silver sport-utility vehicle as officers followed with weapons drawn. An officer can be heard screaming, “Drop the knife,” but it isn’t clear from the video whether Mr. Blake is holding anything. When Mr. Blake opened the door of the vehicle, an officer grabbed his white tank top and shot him multiple times from behind.
Another video with a different angle of the shooting, which left Mr. Blake hospitalized, showed officers trying to pin him to the ground seconds before firing.
Lawyers representing Mr. Blake said at least one bullet went through his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed for now. His liver and kidney were damaged, he has holes in his stomach and his colon and small intestine were removed, the lawyers said. He was also shot in his arm.
Patrick Salvi, one of Mr. Blake’s lawyers, said they plan to file a civil lawsuit to seek money to pay for Mr. Blake’s medical care and to hold police accountable. Another lawyer said they want the officers who shot Mr. Blake to be terminated.
Write to Erin Ailworth at Erin.Ailworth@wsj.com, Julie Wernau at Julie.Wernau@wsj.com and Akane Otani at akane.otani@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
The mayor of Kenosha is John Antaramian. An earlier version of this article incorrectly gave his name as John Antamarian. (Corrected on Aug. 27)
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