Joe Biden: ‘Burning down communities is not protest’

Democratic presidential nominee Joseph R. Biden on Wednesday condemned the violence that has sprung up in Wisconsin after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, this week.

“What I saw on that video makes me sick,” Mr. Biden said in a videotaped address posted to social media. “Once again, a Black man, Jacob Blake, has been shot by the police in broad daylight with the whole world watching.”

Mr. Biden said he spoke to Mr. Blake’s family and told them “justice must and will be done.”

He said “protesting brutality is a right and absolutely necessary.”

“Burning down communities is not protest - it’s needless violence,” he said. “Violence that endangers lives, violence that guts businesses and shutters businesses that serve the community. That’s wrong.”

He pointed to comments from Mr. Blake’s mother, Julia Jackson.

“She looked at the damage done in her community and said this doesn’t reflect myself or my family,” he said.

“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?” Mr. Biden said. “Is this the country we should be?”

Once again, a Black man — Jacob Blake — was shot by the police. In front of his children. It makes me sick.

Is this the country we want to be?

Needless violence won’t heal us. We need to end the violence — and peacefully come together to demand justice. pic.twitter.com/WdNqrxA3PK

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 26, 2020

The video of Mr. Blake’s being shot by police on Sunday has been widely circulated. A family lawyer said the 29-year-old is paralyzed from the waist down, though it’s unclear if the condition is permanent.

At least two people were shot to death during overnight protests and President Trump said Wednesday he was sending in federal law enforcement to try to keep the peace.

A suspected gunman was arrested in Illinois on Wednesday and is expected to face homicide charges in Kenosha, Wisconsin.