Cops in Wisconsin “should be held accountable” after shooting a Black man in the back for his young children, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Monday.
Police shot Jacob Blake, 29, multiple times in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday, when he opened the door to a car where, said a lawyer hired by his family, his three children were sitting. Blake was taken to a Milwaukee hospital and is stable after recovering from surgery, NBC News reported.
The officers involved were placed on administrative leave as an investigation takes place, the Wisconsin Department of Justice said Monday. It was not immediately clear how many officers shot Blake.
The shooting, the latest in a string of police violence against Black Americans that was captured on video this year, sparked riots and protests against systemic racism in Wisconsin. Democratic politicians called not only for justice for Blake, but also for changes to systematically address racism at the root of excessive use of force against Black people.
“This requires a direct, complete and transparent investigation and the officers must be held accountable,” Biden said in a statement on Monday.
“These shooters are cutting through the soul of our nation. Jill and I are praying for the recovery of Jacob and for his children,” the former vice president continued. “Equal justice has not really been for Black Americans and so many others. We are at a point of failure. We must eliminate systemic racism. It is the urgent task for us.”
A man confronts police outside the Kenosha Police Department in Kenosha, Wisconsin, US, during protests following the blackmailing of black man Jacob Blake on August 23, 2020. Image taken August 23, 2020. Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY via REUTERS MANDATORY CREDIT
Mike De Sisti | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Reuters
President Donald Trump, who has included only limited changes to make police more responsible for using excessive force, was set to be briefed on the shooting Monday. So far this year, he has focused his attention more on the protests caused by police killings of Black Americans including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor than the violence perpetrated by legislation.
Attempts to hold politicians more accountable for excessive force and for police reform will play a role in the November presidential election between Trump and Biden.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice provided few details about the shooting. It said police responded to a “reported domestic incident” in Kenosha on Sunday night before the shooting.
The office of Benjamin Crump, a civil rights advocate for Blake’s family, said Blake “helped decalate a domestic incident when police signed and armed him.” When he “went away to check on his children, police fired their weapons several times in the back at point low range,” Crump’s office said.
In a statement, Crump said Blake “testified three sons testified that her father had crashed after riding with bullets.” He called it a ‘miracle’ that Blake was still alive.
“We will seek justice for Jacob Blake and his family as we seek answers from the Kenosha Police Department. How much more of these tragic ‘while Black’ tragedies will it take until the racial profiling and underestimation of Black lives by the police finally stops? “Crump said.
Raysean White, a 22-year-old who filmed the video, told NBC he heard women across the street arguing from his apartment. Then the man later identified himself as Blake arriving in a truck. White later saw police “wrestling” with Blake, and then began registering after he saw an officer tease Blake.
White also heard police yelling “drop the knife,” according to NBC. But he added, “I did not see any weapons in his hands, he was not violent.”
Police fired shots as Blake moved to open the driver’s side door.
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