- Jacob Blake's father, Jacob Blake Sr., called Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal "unacceptable."
- Rittenhouse was found not guilty on charges related to his fatally shooting two men and injuring another at a protest last summer.
- Blake was shot seven times in the back by Kenosha, Wisconsin, police, sparking nationwide protests.
The father of Jacob Blake, the man who was partially paralyzed last year after he was shot seven times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, said a jury's not guilty verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse case was "unacceptable."
Jacob Blake Sr. made the comments to WJZY-TV after a jury cleared Rittenhouse on all counts stemming from fatally shooting two men and injuring another with an AR-15 style rifle during an August 2020 protest that followed Blake's shooting.
"Imagine if that little boy was Black," Blake Sr. told WJZY-TV. "That 17-year-old. He's a little boy. Imagine he was Black."
Rittenhouse was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree attempted intentional homicide, and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, as Insider previously reported.
During the trial, Rittenhouse told the jury that he was acting in self-defense.
"We understand that this is a society built on systemic racism," Blake Sr. told Axios. "There was no way they were going to convict that white individual with killing those other two white individuals that had the nerve to be out there supporting a Black individual."
Blake's uncle, Justin Blake, echoed similar disappointment outside the courthouse on Friday, calling Kenosha "a very racist city." He also said he wants the Department of Justice to reopen the case into the shooting that left Jacob Blake paralyzed from the waist down.
Blake Jr. was shot seven times in the back after Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey fired at him from close range. Blake was shot in front of his children while he was trying to get into his car. The incident was captured on video, sparking national outrage and civil unrest across the US at a time when the nation still protesting the Memorial Day police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Sheskey was not charged in connection with the shooting and returned to work in April after being placed on administrative leave following the shooting. Blake's family filed a lawsuit against Officer Sheskey earlier this year.
Blake Sr. said he will never "stop representing for my son," according to WJZY-TV.
He added: "When I'm buried, I'll be buried in a Jacob Blake shirt. Justice for my son," the news station reported.