Joe Biden says police officers who shot Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor should be charged

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Wednesday the police officers who shot Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor should be charged and "let the judicial system work its way."

Blake, 29, was shot seven times the back and paralyzed Aug. 23 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, while he was trying to get into an SUV that held his three young children. Taylor, 26, was shot and killed March 13 in Louisville, Kentucky, after police forcibly entered her apartment.

Biden joined his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, a former California attorney general, in calling for charges against Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey and against Louisville police Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Myles Cosgrove and former Detective Brett Hankison.

“I think we should let the judicial system work its way,” Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware, following a speech about his plan to reopen schools during the coronavirus pandemic. “I do think there’s a minimum need to be charged – the officers – and as well as Breonna Taylor."

Biden condemned all violence and said all incidents of violence should be investigated.

“These should be investigated and it should follow through on what needs to be done,” Biden said. “Let the judicial system work. Let’s make sure justice is done.”

More: President Trump visits Kenosha after nearly two weeks of protests

Ari Fleischer, who was press secretary for President George W. Bush, asked in a tweet why Biden was calling for waiting for the judicial system while also calling for charges against the officer.

“Which is it Joe?” Fleischer asked. Wait for the judicial system or charge the officer?”

Biden discussed his stance a day after President Donald Trump's visit Tuesday to Kenosha where he expressed support for law enforcement while adding that officers sometimes make mistakes.

Trump in a roundtable with law enforcement officials, including Sheskey's boss, suggested police are often unfairly criticized because sometimes officers "choke," or experience a lapse in judgment. While visiting businesses damaged from rioting, Trump praised the National Guard and claimed credit for restoring calm to the city.

"This ended within an hour, as soon as we announced we were coming, and then they saw we were here. This ended immediately," Trump said Tuesday.

Sheskey and other Kenosha police officers were responding to a report of “family trouble.” A dispatcher told officers that a woman called for police and said, "Jacob Blake isn’t supposed to be there and he took the complainant's keys and is refusing to give them back.”

At the time, Blake had a warrant out for his arrest stemming from a May 2020 domestic incident, in which Blake was accused of sexually assaulting a woman and stealing her debit card and car keys.

Officers, including Sheskey, tried to arrest Blake by using a Taser but were unsuccessful in stopping him. Blake walked around to the driver's side of his vehicle, opened the door, and "leaned forward," according to the state Department of Justice.

"While holding onto Mr. Blake’s shirt, Officer Rusten Sheskey fired his service weapon seven times. Officer Sheskey fired the weapon into Mr. Blake’s back," the DOJ said in a recent release of information about the investigation.

Police found a knife on the floorboard of Blake's vehicle, but DOJ investigators have not said whether Sheskey knew about the knife before shooting.

Experts on police use of force say Sheskey grabbing Blake's shirt before shooting him seven times was going from "0 to 60."

Kirk Burkhalter, a retired New York Police Department detective and New York Law School professor, said it was alarming to see Sheskey first grab Blake's shirt, and then immediately start shooting, a quick escalation in tactics, skipping over other means of subduing Blake.

Cell phone video of the shooting ignited a firestorm of protests in Kenosha in the following days. Two days after the shooting, a 17-year-old boy brought an assault-style rifle to a protest and killed two people.

Follow Molly Beck on Twitter: @MollyBeck.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Biden backs charges for police who shot Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor