Police

The Wisconsin cop who fired seven shots into the back of Jacob Blake has been identified as officer Rusten Sheskey ... as more details from the case were just released.

The shooting is being investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, and an initial account of Sunday's incident fingers Sheskey as the trigger man.

According to the DOJ ... Kenosha Police Department officers were dispatched to a residence after a female caller reported her boyfriend was there when he was not supposed to be.

During the incident, the DOJ says police attempted to arrest Jacob and used a taser to try and stop him, but it didn't work.

The DOJ then describes what you've already seen on video ... Jacob walked around his vehicle, opened the driver's side door and leaned forward as Officer Sheskey held onto Blake's shirt and fired 7 shots into his back.

As we reported ... Jacob's family says he is paralyzed from the waist down and will need a miracle to walk again.

The DOJ says Jacob told he had a knife in his possession, but DCI agents recovered a knife from the driver's side floorboard in Blake's car.  In other words, it wasn't even close to Jacob when he was shot in the back 7 times. The DOJ says no other weapons were found in Jacob's car.

Kenny Smith just walked off the set of "Inside the NBA" in a show of solidarity with the NBA players who are boycotting Wednesday's playoff games.

"As a black man, as a former player ... I think its best for me to support the players and just not be here tonight," Smith said.

Smith then unplugged his mic and walked off the set -- leaving co-hosts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Ernie Johnson to finish the show without him.

Before he left, Smith explained his decision this way ...

"Right now, my head is like ready to explode," Smith said about the aftermath of the Jacob Blake police shooting in Wisconsin.

Smith says he can't stop thinking about the incident and the surrounding issues -- whether it's in the car or in the broadcast studio -- and he felt a strong compulsion to take some sort of action.

After he walked off, Ernie Johnson said he respects Kenny's decision ... and they continued on with the show.

55-year-old Smith won 2 NBA titles during his 10 year career and has become a key member of the "Inside the NBA" team, the most popular basketball show on TV.

As we previously reported, the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the court for Game 5 of their playoff series with the Orlando Magic. Other NBA teams followed suit.

The Milwaukee Brewers have now opted out of their game Wednesday against the Reds ... following the NBA's lead in protesting after the Jacob Blake shooting.

Players from the team met just hours before they were set to take the diamond against Cincinnati at Miller Park ... and eventually decided to sit out.

Of course, Blake was horrifically shot 7 times in the back by a police officer just 45 minutes from Milwaukee on Sunday ... and athletes all across the country are now furious and seeking justice.

In fact, Brewers star reliever Josh Hader spoke about it all just minutes before the team made the decision ... praising the Milwaukee Bucks for being the initial ones to boycott.

"It's more than sports," Hader told media members of the situation. "And [the Bucks] showed it. It's not about the game. It's more than that. And this is a time where we need to really not stay quiet and empower our voices."

Hader added, "It's something that can't just stay quiet and it's nothing that we can just put behind us. It's something that all of us we have to continue to voice and bring light to this situation that we have because it's a big thing."

As we previously reported ... after the Bucks did not come out to the court for their playoff game Wednesday -- the rest of the league's playoff schedule for the day was postponed.

Begs the question ... how many other MLB teams will now follow suit?

The Milwaukee Bucks are boycotting their playoff game against the Orlando Magic Wednesday ... electing to not take the court in protest after the Jacob Blake shooting.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and his teammates did not participate in pre-game warm-ups before their scheduled Game 5 matchup in the NBA bubble ... staying put in the locker room.

Of course, Blake was shot in the back 7 times by a police officer during an incident in Kenosha on Sunday ... about 45 minutes from Milwaukee.

The news was just made official minutes ago -- with the team announcing they will not play on Wednesday at all.

Bucks player George Hill issued a short statement saying, "We’re tired of the killings and the injustice."

Bucks exec Alex Lasry has also weighed in ...

"Some things are bigger than basketball," Lasry said.

"The stand taken today by the players and org. shows that we’re fed up. Enough is enough. Change needs to happen."

"I’m incredibly proud of our guys and we stand 100% behind our players ready to assist and bring about real change."

Obviously, this will have huge ramifications -- the team is reportedly facing millions of dollars in fines for missing the game. But, they clearly feel the social justice statement is worth it.

ESPN's Bobby Marks says the fine could be as high as $5 million if the NBA chooses to enforce it.

Both the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics have also discussed boycotting their playoff game on Thursday.

Unclear if the Bucks' move will embolden them to stay off the court.

Of course, Bucks player Sterling Brown was victim of police brutality back in 2018 when he was tased by cops while outside of a Walgreens in Milwaukee while on a first date.

Cops had accused him of parking in a handicap space ... and things escalated from there.

Video showed officers taking Brown to the ground and tasing him -- despite the fact he never resisted or seemed to pose a threat.

Brown says he was offered a $400,000 settlement in exchange for his silence on the matter -- but he refused, saying, "I can't be quiet."

The police chief later issued an apology to Brown.

A man -- who witnesses described as being part of a vigilante militia group -- with a long gun brazenly walked down a street in Kenosha, Wisconsin Tuesday night and began firing his weapon at people protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake, killing 2, and incredibly walking right past a swarm of cops who let him go into the night.

The protest centered around the courthouse and got out of hand, with water bottles, rocks and fireworks aimed at police. The police then fired rubber bullets and tear gas into the crowd, which then dispersed and moved several blocks.

That's when the white vigilante appears on video with his gun. He reportedly had already shot someone several blocks away, and he was being chased by protesters who were trying to subdue him.

The vigilante falls to the ground as he's being chased and then begins unloading his weapon, striking and killing 2 people.

And, then the unthinkable happens. As police swarm the area in patrol cars and fortified vehicles, the vigilante -- gun clearly visible around his chest -- put his hands up in the air. The police vehicles all pass him, as the crowd screams he's the shooter.

It's a stunning contrast ... the white vigilante posed a clear and present danger, even if cops didn't know he was the shooter, yet Jacob Blake, an unarmed black man, was shot in the back 7 times as he tried to get in his car. Jacob is now paralyzed from the waist down.

The vigilante escaped and is still on the loose.

Rudy Giuliani just went scorched-earth on Doc Rivers -- claiming his emotional speech about the Jacob Blake shooting is loaded with BS.

The former NYC mayor took serious issue with the Clippers coach during a call Wednesday on the "Brian Kilmeade Show" on Fox News Radio ... and he didn't hold back.

"What Doc is doing is seriously misleading the African-American community," Giuliani said ... "It's a con job the Democrats have played on them for 60 years."

Rudy was particularly upset about Doc's claim that Black people love America, but "this country does not love us back."

"That's a totally ridiculous statement about loving this country," Giuliani said.

"Look, the danger of getting shot by a cop is about one-tenth of one percent. The danger of being shot and killed by another black is about 99%."

"So, for every 8 or 10 people that are shot by cops every year, 7,000 are killed by other black men. So, hey Doc, how about we deal with that?! And stop blaming it on the cops."

Rudy acknowledged cops "make a mistake once in a while" but says the bigger issue is, "Why are they in your neighborhood ten times more than anybody else's neighborhood? 'Cause they don't like you or because you're killing each other ten times more than anybody else and they're trying to protect the innocent victims that your people are killing?!"

Giuliani claims he has "the right" to speak on the matter because "nobody saved more black lives than I did when I reduced homicide [in NYC] by 65% [when I was mayor]."

Cincinnati Bengals CB Mackensie Alexander has left training camp to help police search for his missing father, this according to reports.

Mackensie's dad, 65-year-old Jean Odney Alexandre went missing Monday after a palmetto berry picking trip in Okeechobee County, FL.

The Okeechobee County Sheriff's Office says Jean went on the trip with another man ... who ended up leaving the prairie without Alexandre.

Jean was reported missing late Monday night ... and law enforcement launched a search mission using K-9's, 4 wheelers and helicopters.

26-year-old Alexander -- a 2nd-round draft pick out of Clemson in 2016 -- bolted training camp in Cincinnati to join the search, according to Tom Pelissero.

The former Commissioner of the NYPD is going after LeBron James ... saying the NBA superstar should keep his mouth shut when it comes to criticizing police because he "has no idea what the job is."

Bernie Kerik -- who was commish from 2000 to 2001 -- was really upset with LeBron's critical comments about the police officers involved in the Jacob Blake shooting.

"I’ve got nothing nice to say about those cops at all," Bron told the media on Monday.

"If you’re sitting here and telling me that there was no way to subdue [Blake] or detain him before the firing of guns, then you’re sitting here and lying to not only me, you’re lying to every African American, and every black person in the community."

Enter Kerik ... who clapped back hard at Bron on social media.

"You should not comment or criticize when you have no idea what the job is, nor would you have the courage to do it," he said.

"I’d challenge [LeBron James] to handcuff someone the refuses to comply, or spend a day in a firearms simulations training center?"

Kerik has been a staunch defender of the police in several high profile shooting cases over the years.

San Jose Sharks star Logan Couture claims he was "sucker punched" in Toronto on Tuesday ... and says it was all because he said he'd vote Republican if he could.

Couture -- who's Canadian -- made the revelation in a series of social media posts Wednesday ... saying, "I spent last night in Toronto Ontario."

"I talked about voting for the Republican Party, and I mentioned Donald Trump by name. I was sucker punched."

Couture didn't say if he suffered any injuries as a result of the alleged attack ... but added, "Is this really what we are coming to? If you vote you are a villain? Man this world is so wrong."

It's unclear exactly what Couture said that led to the alleged punch ... the 31-year-old claims he does NOT support Donald Trump and appeared to say he never voiced a pro-Trump opinion Tuesday.

Rather, Couture says he simply said something along the lines of he'd vote for the Republican party if he had a say in the matter.

"[I was punched for] saying my dad was a police officer and I 'would' if I could vote republican," Couture said.

We're out to the Toronto Police Service for more information.

Couture has been a beast for the Sharks for the past decade ... scoring 256 career goals since he came up with the team in the 2009-10 season.

An emotional Doc Rivers choked back tears as he talked about the Jacob Blake police shooting on Tuesday -- explaining why Black people are pissed and railing against republicans.

"It's amazing why we keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back," Rivers said.

"It's really so sad. Like, I should just be a coach. I'm so often reminded of my color. It's just really sad. We got to do better. But, we got to demand better."

The L.A. Clippers coach had refused to talk about the shooting BEFORE the playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks "because it's so hard to keep watching it."

But, after the game, the emotions poured out of the 58-year-old, who interestingly enough, used to be friends with Donald Trump.

"If you watch that [Jacob Blake] video, you don’t need to be Black to be outraged. You need to be American and outraged."

"All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear," Rivers said while referring to the Republican National Convention.

"We're the ones getting killed. We're the ones getting shot. We're the ones that we're denied to live in certain communities. We've been hung. We've been shot. And, all you do is keep hearing about fear."

Doc says he's not anti-cop -- his father was a police officer -- but he demands changes when it comes to training, especially when it comes to policing the Black community.

"The training has to change in the police force. The unions have to be taken down in the police force," Rivers said.

Pulling out money from an ATM in a Texas suburb was all it took for this black man to be cornered and interrogated by white police officers, who thought he had too many credit cards.

The incident went down recently at a gas station in Burleson, a suburb of Fort Worth, and video shows one of the officers asking the man to prove the numerous cards in his wallet are his.

The guy explains he's in a rush to help his wife, whose car he says had broken down, but police make him slowly cycle through all the credit cards in his wallet so they can match the names on the cards to his ID.

The man wonders why cops are making a big fuss, and one officer tells him someone in the store thought he was acting suspiciously.

At one point, the officer outrageously asks the man how he ended up in the suburb and everything checks out in the end ... but now the guy is saying the entire interaction was racist.

Hard to argue.

We reached out to the Burleson Police Department ... so far, no word back.

Jacob Blake is paralyzed from the waist down as a result of being shot in the back by a cop in Kenosha, WI ... and he'll need a miracle if he's ever gonna walk again.

Jacob's father and mother got super emotional Tuesday as they asked for answers and prayers outside the Kenosha County Courthouse.

His dad fought back tears as he wondered why police shot his son in the back like his life didn't matter. His mother said she's praying for everyone, even the cops, and asked for an end to the riots and violence erupting in the aftermath of her son's shooting.

The family's lawyer, Ben Crump, and his legal team provided a harrowing update on Jacob's medical condition ... doctors are telling them Jacob will need a "miracle" to learn to walk again after a bullet ripped through his spinal cord.

Jacob was rushed into surgery Tuesday, with doctors removing his colon and small intestine. His lawyers also say he has holes in his stomach, plus damage to his liver, kidney and arm. More surgeries await Jacob, plus a long and difficult rehab.

Jacob's father got emotional again as he explained the toll the shooting is taking on the family ... he says his grandson keeps asking him why the police shot his dad.

His mother says Jacob's trying his best to keep in good spirits ... even telling a joke when she was finally allowed inside his hospital room.

The family says its planning to file a civil lawsuit to hold the cops involved accountable, and their lawyers are asking for the officers to be fired and arrested.

The shooting of another unarmed Black man resulted in growing protests Sunday night in Kenosha, which escalated to violence ... including a police officer being knocked out cold.

The unrest continued Monday, and a peaceful protest march through the city was again followed by violence and fires set to buildings after dark.

Jacob's mom says her son would not be pleased with the violence, and called for healing and prayer throughout the country.

As we reported ... Blake was shot 7 times in the back as he was walking away from cops and trying to get in his SUV. His partner and the couple’s 3 children were in the back seat of the vehicle screaming when police shot him. We're told they are severely traumatized by what they saw.

Police in Texas slammed a man's forehead into a curb during a bloody arrest ... and cops also had an elbow and knee pinned on his head.

The violent altercation with cops in Beaumont, Texas was caught on camera, with bystanders screaming in horror as multiple police officers flip the man off his stomach, causing his head to smash into the concrete curb in the middle of a parking lot.

The man, whose name is Omar, claims he suffered a gruesome injury during the arrest -- a bloody gash above his right eye from the violent impact, a cut that required at least six staples.

The head slamming into the curb is alarming, and so are the elbow and knee pinning his face to the ground. It's only been 3 months since George Floyd's neck met a knee that ended his life.

We reached out to police in Beaumont ... so far, no word back.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, Dr. Bernice King, is convinced that modern-day policing is structured after brutal slave tactics used for centuries in this country ... and needs to be completely uprooted if there's ever going to be progress.

Dr. King appeared Tuesday on "TMZ Live," and she says the shooting of Jacob Blake yet again proves Black lives don't matter to a majority of police officers in the U.S. If they did, we wouldn't see so much unhinged violence against them.

She says it's clear the systemic racism built into slavery is still alive and well today in how cops and the criminal justice system view African-Americans ... as bodies, as she puts it. It's not an easy thing to change either ... Dr. King makes that clear as well.

She adds it is crucial to keep our eye on the prize -- and part of that means keeping things peaceful. She discourages rioting and looting, just like her dad.

Speaking of him, she drops a quote of his that's just as timely now as ever .... and it basically gets to this point -- the longer we ignore this, the more it'll persist and worsen.

Police in America don't hesitate to shoot and kill Black people in a confrontation because they consistently get away with it ... that's what Jacob Blake's family lawyer, Ben Crump, thinks anyway.

The civil rights attorney -- who's also representing the families of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others -- is going to work for Blake now as well, after the 29-year-old father was shot in the back 7 times by a white cop in Kenosha, WI.

Crump tells us the family's been assured by the Governor's office that an independent and unbiased investigation into the shooting will be launched ... but he says Kenosha residents are understandably skeptical.

Crump cites a pattern of cops killing Black people -- not just in Kenosha, but throughout the history of the U.S. -- and facing zero consequences ... to the point where it's become totally normalized.

That's why, according to Crump, we continue to see white officers pulling the trigger on people of color ... even when they know everything is recorded these days.

Crump adds that this isn't just a police issue ... it's a cultural pattern of condoning mistreatment of Black people that starts at the top, and continues to manifest itself in what he refers to as the "intellectual justification of discrimination."

As you know, Blake's story is just the latest example of an unarmed Black person being shot or killed by cops. The alarming trend has finally sparked massive outrage and nationwide protests against police brutality and racism this summer.

Milwaukee Bucks guard George Hill has regrets about going to the NBA Bubble -- saying he feels helpless to take real action in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting.

“It’s just sickening. It’s heartless. It’s a f*cked up situation,” Hill said after defeating the Orlando Magic in Monday's playoff game.

"You’re supposed to look at the police to protect and serve. Now, it’s looked at harass or shoot."

When asked what the Bucks organization and players can do -- since the shooting took place in Kenosha, WI (about 45 minutes from their home arena) -- Hill didn't hold back his thoughts.

"We can’t do anything. First of all, we shouldn’t have even came to this damn place, to be honest. I think coming here just took all the focal points off what the issues are."

Hill continued, "But, we’re here, so it is what it is,” Hill said. “We can’t do anything from right here, but I think definitely when it’s all settled, some things have to be done."