Harris speaks with Jacob Blake, meets with his family
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Sen. Kamala Harris. Photo: Michael A. McCoy/Getty Images
Sen. Kamala Harris spoke with Jacob Blake by phone during a private meeting with his family and legal team in Milwaukee, per a campaign official, four days after Joe Biden met with them in the wake of Blake’s shooting by Kenosha police.
Driving the news: This is Harris’ first visit to a battleground state since being named Biden’s running mate. She's also meeting with local labor leaders and business owners to discuss workers’ rights, the economy and systemic racism.
What she's saying: Harris told reporters that her message to the family was "to express concern for their well-being and of course, for their brother and their son's well being and to let them know that they have support."
- "And they just do it with such dignity and grace. And you know, they're carrying the weight of a lot of voices on their shoulders," she said.
Details: Harris is meeting with four members of Blake’s family and three members of his legal team. Blake’s father and two sisters met with Harris in person, and his mother joined by phone.
Attendees:
- Jacob Blake, Sr., Blake’s father
- Letetra Widman, Blake’s sister
- Zietha Blake, Blake’s sister
- Julia Jackson, Blake’s mother (by phone)
- Ben Crump, Blake’s attorney (by phone)
- Patrick Salvi, Jr., on Blake’s legal team
- B’Ivory LaMarr, on Blake’s legal team
Blake, who is paralyzed from the waist down after being shot in the back seven times by a Kenosha police officer, answered questions from his hospital bed during a court hearing on Friday.
- In a video shared by his attorney Ben Crump on Saturday, Blake gave his first comments on his injuries, saying, "24 hours — every 24 hours, it's pain. ... It hurts to breathe, it hurts to sleep, it hurts to move from side to side, it hurts to eat."
- "Please, I'm telling you: Change y'all lives out there. We can stick together, make some money, make everything easier for our people out here, man, because there’s so much time that has been wasted," he said in the video.
Flashback: President Trump visited Wisconsin on Tuesday, where he met with business leaders and local law enforcement, but he didn't mention Blake in his remarks.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include what Harris said about the meeting.
