Joe Biden condemns police shooting of Jacob Blake, urges protesters to stay peaceful

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Wednesday condemned the police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wis., and also denounced the arson and violence that followed.

“What I saw on that video makes me sick,� Biden said, referring to a viral video showing a white Kenosha police officer shooting Jacob Blake seven times in the back at close range as Blake was getting into an SUV. Blake had reportedly just broken up a neighborhood disturbance, and his family now says he is paralyzed from the waist down. Protesters have taken to the streets in anger.

Biden, in a video, said he had recently spoken to Blake’s family, and “I told them justice must and will be done.� He asked listeners to “put yourself in the shoes of every Black father and Black mother in this country and ask, is this what we want America to be?�

Then Biden pivoted from condemning police violence to condemning violence in the community, which has included arsonists burning down a justice building and some community businesses and setting some vehicles on fire.

“Protesting brutality is a right and absolutely necessary, but burning down communities is not protest, it’s needless violence, violence that endangers lives, violence that guts businesses and shutters businesses that serve the community,� Biden said. “That’s wrong.�

Biden called for people to “unite, and heal, do justice, end the violence, and end systemic racism in this country now.�

A 17-year-old who reportedly showed up near protesters to defend against property violence was charged with murder on Wednesday on suspicion of shooting and killing two people and wounding a third during clashes on Tuesday night.