While we understand the basis for the decision and we recognize that the law was on the side of the officers, we are troubled by the forces that caused this tragic situation.

We have seen, time and again, law enforcement committing crimes more egregious than those they were trying to prevent, protected by statutes and policy that insulate them from accountability for their actions. The recent dismissal of charges for officers responsible for the murders of Tamir Rice and Breonna Taylor were apt prelude to the decision in the Jacob Blake case and only add to the frustration and grief we in the Kenosha faith community feel for all who have been denied justice.

As religious leaders committed to pursuing peaceful ends through peaceful means, we implore all who protest to do so responsibly and without violence. Further, we are all the more steadfast in our belief that laws and policing policies that legitimize what happened to Jacob Blake are unjust and need to be rectified.

We believe that, while the actions of the officers in involved in the incident on Aug. 23, 2020, have been deemed to conform to the letter of the law, there were other options open to the officers that would have caused less harm to Mr. Blake and less trauma to the witnesses, including children. We call for disciplinary action against all three officers involved in the incident of Aug. 23 for not taking those other actions.

We are further concerned about the actions of law enforcement in the days that followed this incident, specifically the welcoming of armed citizens to our city and the disregard of their violations of the law while protestors and others out after curfew were subject to arrest and treated harshly. We call for an examination of these actions and ask that Chief Miskinis and Mayor Antaramian take responsibility for failing to address these deficiencies and inequities. These oversights show complicity in perpetuating a culture of fear and the suppression of citizens’ voices which privileges property over people.

Furthermore, we call for a commitment to divest 20% of the city budget currently allocated to law enforcement to invest in black and brown communities in Kenosha, including but not limited to areas affected by the protests in August, ensuring that current residents are able to remain through expanded affordable and subsidized housing even after redevelopment has been completed.

Finally, while the mayor has established task forces to examine some of the racial issues that persist in Kenosha, we call (yet again) for a re-establishment of the Human Rights Commission in order to better supervise and direct inquiries into human rights abuses by municipal authorities. Until such a group exists and has the resources necessary to perform their duties, no positive change will be lasting.

It is our utmost hope and most sincere prayer that we might take this moment of great pain and use it to fuel a more just and equitable Kenosha for all who live here.

In faith,

Religious Leaders Caucus, Congregations United to Serve HumanityRabbi Dena A. Feingold, Beth Hillel Temple

Rev. Paul Petersen, St. Mary’s Lutheran Church

Rev. Matthew Buterbaugh, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church

Pastor Patrick Roberts, First Baptist Church Kenosha

Pastor Kara Baylor, Campus Pastor, Carthage College

Cassie Oliver, CFS Carthage College

Rev. Jonathan Barker, Grace Lutheran Church

Rev. Dr. Monica L. Cummings, Bradford Unitarian Universalist

Rev. Erik David Carlson, Bradford Unitarian Universalist

Russ Hahn, Trinity Church Kenosha

Rev. Jim Lynch, Lakeside Lutheran Church

Judy Seiberlich, OP, Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa

Erica Jordan, OP, Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa

Rev. Dr. Grace Cajiuat, Wesley United Methodist Church

Rev. Susan Patterson-Sumwalt, First United Methodist Church

Fr. Gerald Hessel, St. Mark Catholic Church

Fr. Carlos Florez, St. Mark Catholic Church