Biden to meet Jacob Blake’s family in Kenosha

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• According to his campaign team, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is set to meet with the family of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Thursday.
• President Donald Trump declined to meet with Blake’s family last week, saying that the family insisted to have their family lawyer present during the meeting which he does not agree with.
• Biden is planning to “hold a community meeting in Kenosha to bring together Americans to heal and address the challenges” the country is facing.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is set to travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Thursday to meet with the father of Jacob Blake, the Black man who was shot seven times by Kenosha police on August 23.

During Wednesday’s press release, the former vice president’s camp declared that they will go to Kenosha. The Hill later confirmed the news when the campaign spokesperson said that Biden would see Jacob Blake Sr.

Last week, President Donald Trump said that he declined to meet with Blake’s family as the family requested that their lawyer should join them.

“I spoke with the pastor, wonderful man, the family’s pastor. I thought it would be better not to do anything where there are lawyers involved,” Trump told reporters on Monday prior to his supposed meeting.

“They wanted me to speak, but they wanted to have lawyers involved, and I thought that was inappropriate, so I didn’t do that,” he said. 

“I may at some point do that, but they did have a lawyer that wanted to be on the phone, and I said, ‘No, that’s inappropriate,’ but I just gave my best regards,” the president added.

Trump went to Kenosha on Tuesday and gave an address where he lauded the law enforcement despite the recent shooting which fueled days of protests, resulting in violence.

During his press conference on Wednesday, Biden backed the calls of activists to arrest the officer who shot Blake.

“I think we should let the judicial system work its way,” Biden told reporters in Delaware. He added that “at a minimum,” the officer responsible should “be charged.”

Responding to a domestic dispute call, two officers initially tasered Blake while they tried to arrest him, the officials said. Subsequently, one officer fired seven times at Blake, which made him severely injured.

According to his family, Blake is still at the hospital and became temporarily paralyzed, from the waist down. An ongoing investigation of the incident is being conducted.

Biden considers to “hold a community meeting in Kenosha to bring together Americans to heal and address the challenges we face,” based on his campaign’s press release. Additional details were not available as of the moment.

The US has been struck with months of protests and unrests following the brutal shootings of Black Americans by police officers. The outrage happened in May when George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, died brutally while in police custody.

Source: The Hill