Milwaukee, WI – On October 26, members of Students for a Democratic Society at UW-Milwaukee rallied with the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression to demand justice for Jacob Blake. The Department of Justice announced that they will not be pressing charges against Officer Sheskey – they claimed there was not “sufficient evidence” that Sheskey willfully and maliciously harmed Jacob Blake when he shot him seven times. In response to the Department of Justice's decision, Students for a Democratic Society called a national day of action.

“This is just one more instance of racist public officials protecting racist cops,” says Paris Miller of the Milwaukee Alliance. “We need total community control over the police in order to end police crimes. CPAC will give us that control.”

Speakers during the rally, including Justin Blake, Jacob Blake's uncle, called for justice for Jacob and all victims of police crimes, and named civilian police accountability councils as the solution.

“We want members of our community, because we can trust them to have a vested interest in keeping our community safe,” said Thunder Milroy of Students for a Democratic Society. “Not in the way that these cops 'keep their community safe,' by covering up their crimes, but by holding the criminals responsible for their actions.”

Immediately after the rally, SDS and Milwaukee Alliance led a teach-in on CPAC to bring more awareness about its purpose and how city officials will find every possible loophole in people's demands to refund their community. At the teach-in, attendees strategized to end police crimes and improve their living conditions. Attendees left with a clearer understanding of the importance of community control of the police, and the motivation to fight for it.

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #MilwaukeeAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression #UWMilwaukeeSDS