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Aug 30, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Jacob Blake's attorney says Trump has not contacted family about Kenosha visit

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Jacob Blake's attorney Benjamin Crump told CBS News' "Face the Nation" Sunday that President Trump has not contacted the Blake family ahead of his planned visit to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, more than a week after police shot Blake seven times in the back.

Why it matters: Protests have erupted in Kenosha and across the country in response to Blake's shooting. Trump, who has made condemning violent protests a key plank of his "law and order" campaign message, plans to visit the city on Tuesday to "survey damage from recent riots," according to a White House spokesperson.

The other side: Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris spoke with the Blake family for over an hour last week. It's unclear whether Biden plans to visit Kenosha, but he intends to speak from an undisclosed location this week to denounce the violence.

What Crump is saying: "The Blake family has not been contacted at this time. The Blake family is very respectful of all our elected officials. And as his mother says, she prays for all of our elected officials."

  • "Obviously, [Blake] suffered catastrophic injuries. A bullet pierced his spinal cord, a bullet shattered his vertebrae, a bullet went into his intestines, where he lost most of his intestines. ... A bullet went into his kidney. ... He has two holes in his stomach. He has a hole in his arm. ... For the rest of his life, he is going to be a shell of himself."
  • "And his three little boys were in that car. Ages 8 years old, 5 years old and 3 years old, and they witnessed all of this. So you can only imagine the psychological issues these little babies are going to have. And his 8-year-old son was celebrating his birthday, so imagine what the rest of his birthdays are going to be each year."

What to watch: Trump's trip to Kenosha is "certain to exacerbate tensions in the city, where a crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside a courthouse Saturday to denounce police violence," according to AP.

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