Jacob Blake: The #MeToo Horror Story We Were Warned About
Back when the #MeToo movement was gaining traction, one common claim by conservatives commentators was that a man who had been merely accused of rape could have his life ruined. Upon a mere accusation of rape, we were warned, a man could, for example, get shot in the back seven times on charges that were later dropped. I used that example to because that is basically what happened to Jacob Blake.
Yes, the charges against Jacob Blake have now been dropped after he excepted a plea deal. Both Blake and his lawyer have said that Blake basically only took this so he could see his kids (you know, those kids the police department lied about him kidnapping — I’m sorry, lied about thinking he was kidnapping) again, which is a position many parents are forced into. The defense also noted that the only reason Blake was allowed to take this plea deal was because there was not enough evidence to get Blake a guilty verdict. The woman who accused Blake of sexual assault also was uncooperative with the prosecution, and refused to answer to a subpoena.
Of course, even if the accusations were true, that wouldn’t justify what the police did. Rape is not a crime that results in capital punishment, even if it did that’s not the decision of the police officer, and even then the police had a very clear chance to arrest Blake when he walked around a car several times. However, the fact that the police were doing all of this based on a false accusation of rape is worth mentioning — just rubbing salt in the wound is all.
For that matter, it is possible that Jacob Blake was a rapist — but remember, it’s innocent until proven guilty, not innocent until shot by a police officer or innocent until engaged in mild arrest resisting. However, again, the fact that there’s no evidence he did is worth mentioning, because it proves a massive issue with our justice system.
Our justice system has increasingly gone from “innocent until proven guilty” to “shoot first, find a justification later.” Michael Brown robbed a convivence store, Eric Garner was selling loose cigarettes', Treyvon Martin hit George Zimmerman, Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend was selling drugs, George Floyd was on drugs, and Tamir Rice had a toy gun that kind of looked like a real one. Breonna Taylor was the worst example, as there the justifications were based on lies through and through, but Blake’s were nearly as bad — although the lie that he was a kidnapper was attempted, but never stuck. Here, the police betted on the idea that Blake was a rapist, which also failed to gain sympathy and was also either a lie or has so little evidence it might as well be a lie.
Personally, I am very happy Blake got his day in court, however, it would still be nice if he didn’t get shot seven times in the back first. Blake, it has now been proven, was not worthy of getting shot — and that is all that matters regarding this story.
