Biden Calls For Investigation Into Jacob Blake Shooting

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden issued a statement Monday calling for an “immediate, full and transparent investigation” into the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was reportedly unarmed when he was shot in close range seven times in the back Sunday afternoon in Kenosha, Wisconsin police.

According to Forbes: 

Police officers arrived at a residential street in Kenosha at around 5:11 pm on Sunday after receiving a 911 call related to a “domestic incident.” The attorney representing the Blake family, who posted a video of the shooting, stated that Blake, 29, was leaving the scene after “breaking up a fight between two women.” The footage shows Blake walking away from two officers who have their guns drawn. As Blake enters the driver’s side door of his gray SUV, the nearest officer grabs the back of his shirt, and seven shots are fired. Blake slumps over in the vehicle. According to the attorney, Blake’s three children, all under the age of 8, were in the car. Blake was transported to a Milwaukee-area hospital where he remains in serious condition, as of Monday afternoon. 

“Equal justice has not been real for Black Americans and so many others. We are at an inflection point. We must dismantle systemic racism. It is the urgent task before us. We must fight to honor the ideals laid in the original American promise, which we are yet to attain: That all men and women are created equal, but more importantly that they must be treated equally,” concluded Biden in is statement.

The shooting of Blake is the latest in a string of police violence against Black Americans captured on video in 2020. The incident sparked uproar and protests in the city about 40 miles south of Milwaukee. According to the Kenosha Police Department a curfew will be in effect from 8 p.m. Monday night until 7 a.m.Tuesday.