KENOSHA, Wis. — Jacob Blake, the Black man shot by Kenosha police in August 2020, recently told TMZ that he believes if Kyle Rittenhouse were a different ethnicity, "he'd be gone."

Rittenhouse was found not guilty on Friday on five counts linked to two fatal shootings amid protests against police brutality sparked by the shooting of Blake.

"I do still feel very strongly that if he was a different ethnicity or people/group, he'd be gone. There wouldn't be no 'he's a hero' and this that and the third," Blake told TMZ on Thursday. "They would have said, 'He's underage, he traveled to a different state with a firearm that didn't belong to him.'"

Rittenhouse and his defense team argued the then 17-year-old fired an AR-15 style rifle in self-defense. Prosecutors argued Rittenhouse was the instigator and aggressor in the incident.

Blake was shot last August when Kenosha police responded to a domestic incident. Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake seven times in the back, paralyzing Blake from the waist down.

Police say they thought Blake was reaching for a knife. Sheskey was not criminally charged for the incident.

Blake's supporters have fought back against the narrative that he was a threat to the officers.

Mark Hertzberg/AP

During the TMZ interview, Blake was asked about the role of race in the Rittenhouse shooting.

"The high fives, he was caught throwing up the Aryan nation [hand sign], the judge seems like he really likes the guy [Rittenhouse]," he said. "Honestly the kid [Rittenhouse] might not be a bad person. I'm not saying he's a bad person at all, but what he did — he shouldn't have been there. He shouldn't have been there."

"I wish this didn't happen to me," he said. "But I also wish that it didn't escalate to the point where it caused a riot. I am not happy about that. But what can we do. The world — this type of stuff been going on for a long time."

Adam Rogan/The Journal Times via AP, File

Blake mentioned he turned 30 years old this year. He added he was born the same year that the police beating of Rodney King was videotaped, sparking riots in Los Angeles.

"It's just ironic 30 years later, here I am," Blake said.

Blake then returned to the topic of Rittenhouse.

"We know that he shouldn't have been out there," he said. "No matter if these people tried to kick him in the face, hit him with a skateboard, and there was even a guy he shot in the arm. The other guy had a gun — he didn't even shoot him. He could have opened fire on him easily. You know he was right there. He chose not to shoot him. The guy that he shot seems like a very stand up individual."

@rellovejones, @money_mike_la via attorney Ben Crump

Blake's recovery from his shooting continues. He told TMZ he had forgiven Sheskey, but the injuries continue to bring him pain.

This story was originally published by Jackson Danbeck on Scripps station TMJ4 in Milwaukee.

MADISON, Wis.— A Wisconsin judge has set the final ground rules for what evidence will be allowed at Kyle Rittenhouse's trial next week.

Judge Bruce Schroeder, during a hearing Monday, ruled that the two men who were shot and killed by Rittenhouse amid August 2020 protests against police brutality could not be referred to by attorneys as "victims" during the upcoming trial.

Schroeder explained it's his long-held view that lawyers should not use the word "victim" to describe people during trials. According to NPR, while such a view is not universal, other judges across the country often rule against the use of the term "victim" because it presupposes a defendant's guilt.

Schroeder also said Tuesday that Rittenhouse's lawyers could potentially refer to the men shot by the teenager as shot as "rioters" or "looters."

"Let the evidence show what the evidence shows — that any or one of these people were engaged in arson, rioting or looting — then I'm not going to tell the defense they can't call them that," Schroeder said, according to CNN.

The judge on Tuesday also ruled that defense attorneys could introduce a video of police thanking Rittenhouse for protecting city businesses and offering him water. The attorneys argue that shows police felt Rittenhouse was acting reasonably.

Schroeder also ruled that a defense use-of-force expert can testify, but only about how quickly the shootings occurred.

Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, traveled across state lines from his home state of Illinois to Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020 as protests against police brutality gripped the city.

The teenager has said he traveled to Kenosha to help business owners protect against looting that was taking place amid the protests. During those protests, Rittenhouse shot and killed protesters Anthony M. Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and injured one other person.

Rittenhouse has argued that he fired in self-defense after protesters surrounded him.

The trial is set to begin Nov. 1.