Biden says police officers who shot Jacob Blake and killed Breonna Taylor should be charged: 'Let's make sure justice is done'

At a campaign event on Wednesday, Joe Biden was asked whether he thought charges should be filed against the officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake and in the death of Breonna Taylor.

The former vice president and Democratic Party candidate said that he felt that there was a minimum need for the officers to be charged in both cases so that the judicial system can work as designed.

The question came ahead of a planned visit on Thursday to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where Mr Blake was shot seven times by police.

It also comes in light of remarks by Mr Biden’s running mate, vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris, in which she expressed the same opinion, based on what she has seen of the shooting of Mr Blake.

Mr Biden added that he also thought the perpetrator in the fatal shooting of a Trump supporter in Portland on Saturday should also face the legal ramifications of that crime.

“Let the judicial system work. Let’s make sure justice is done,” he said.

A homicide investigation continues and a possible suspect has been identified.

In Kenosha, Mr Blake was shot by police officer Rusten Sheskey, who was responding to a domestic abuse call. The shooting left Mr Blake paralysed from the waist down and occurred in front of his three children.

Breonna Taylor, an emergency room technician, was killed in March when Louisville, Kentucky, police officers came to her apartment believing that drugs were being sold from the premises.

Using a no-knock warrant and a battering ram, officers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankisson, and Myles Cosgrove entered the apartment late at night.

Ms Taylor’s boyfriend reportedly fired one shot which struck officer Mattingly in the thigh, and the police returned fire striking Ms Taylor five times and killing her as she lay in bed.

To date, no charges have been filed against the officers in either case.

The case of Breonna Taylor, in addition to the deaths of Rayshard Brooks and George Floyd among others, spurred worldwide protests beginning in May demanding racial justice.

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