Megyn Kelly Criticized For Defending Jacob Blake Police Shooting With 'Knife' Tweet

On Thursday, Megyn Kelly’s name began trending on Twitter after she shared a tweet regarding Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot in the back multiple times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last weekend.

The incident has sparked protests around the nation as the investigation into Officer Rusten Sheskey’s decision to shoot Blake at least seven times continues.

The latest news from the case was tweeted out by Kelly along with an article by the Daily Mail. Accompanying the link, she wrote, “Jacob Blake was armed with a KNIFE when cops shot him, says Wisconsin AG.”

Twitter users were quickly outraged by Kelly’s comments and criticized the journalist for defending the behavior of the officer. Others took offense to her decision to capitalize the word "knife" in her tweet. To date, the post has received over 16,800 comments, with the majority of them being negative.

“He was walking away! That’s the opposite of a confrontation! That’s somebody saying, ‘nope no confrontation today!’ I’ve been a social worker for my entire professional life and when somebody decides to walk away from conflict, that’s the LEAST stressful part of my day,” one upset individual replied.

Another person added, “Jacob Blake was shot in the back (illegally) 7 times because the officer doesn’t value the life of a young black man. There, fixed it for ya @megynkelly.”

Meanwhile, author Frederick Joseph did some research and provided Kelly with legal information.

“Wisconsin law does not restrict the possession and carry of knives either openly or concealed,” he tweeted. “There is a statute that prohibits the concealed carry of any ‘dangerous weapon’ (941.23), knives are specifically excluded from that prohibition. Stop trying to excuse the police.”

The Daily Mail's article reported that the Wisconsin Department of Justice recovered a knife from the floorboard on the driver’s side of the vehicle at the scene. Officials claimed that Blake opened the door of his SUV to either reach for the knife on the floor or it fell from his hand before he was shot.

Officers initially tried to subdue him with a taser before firing on the 29-year-old in front of his children, who were seated in the back seat of the vehicle.

As of Wednesday, Blake was listed as being in critical condition.