Jacob Blake's mother calls for prayers and peace amid riots, violence
Protests turn deadly in Kenosha, Wisconsin; reaction on 'Outnumbered.'
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden condemned the violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake Wednesday, saying “needless violence won’t heal us.”
The former vice president’s comments come amid days of unrest in Kenosha after 29-year-old Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot at close range by city police officers, leaving him partially paralyzed.
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New footage emerged Tuesday of the moments before Blake was shot multiple times in the back by a White Wisconsin police officer, as Blake tried to get into his vehicle. The video reportedly captured Blake engaged in a struggle with at least two Kenosha police officers and shows an officer appearing to try to restrain him before he managed to get up and walked to the driver’s side door, the clip shows.
Viral video taken from another vantage point shows an officer fire several rounds into the apparently unarmed man’s back.
“What I saw in that video makes me sick,” Biden said. “Once again, a black man, Jacob Blake, has been shot by the police in broad daylight with the whole world watching.”
Biden said he spoke with Blake’s family, and told them “justice must and will be done.”
“Put yourself in the shoes of every Black mother and Black father in this country and ask, is this what we want America to be? Is this the country we should be?” Biden said.
Biden recalled the unrest after the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd in police custody in May, and said at the time.
“Protesting brutality is a right and absolutely necessary, but burning down communities is not protest,” he said about the unrest after Floyd's killing.
On Wednesday, he struck a similar tone.
“It is needless violence,” Biden said. “Violence that endangers lives and guts businesses and shutters businesses that serve the community. That's wrong.”
Biden said that the country needs to unite, heal, do justice, end violence and end systemic racism.
"Needless violence won’t heal us," Biden tweeted. "We need to end the violence — and peacefully come together to demand justice."
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Biden’s comments come after President Trump on Wednesday said he will send federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to restore “law and order” after days of unrest in the city.
“We will NOT stand for looting, arson, violence, and lawlessness on American streets,” the president tweeted Wednesday. “My team just got off the phone with Governor [Tony] Evers who agreed to accept federal assistance. (Portland should do the same!)”
The president said he will be sending federal law enforcement officers and the National Guard to Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, videos on social media showed a chaotic scene in Kenosha after nightfall Tuesday, as crowds seemed to chase a man carrying a rifle down the street, before eventually knocking him to the ground and trying to grab his weapon, Reuters reported. A bloodied man was seen with what appeared to be a serious arm wound. Another video showed a man with a head injury as crowds gathered around him to treat him.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, had called for calm earlier Tuesday, while also declaring a state of emergency under which he doubled the National Guard deployment in Kenosha from 125 to 250. The night before, crowds destroyed dozens of buildings and set more than 30 fires in the city’s downtown.
