Joe Biden says the police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who shot Jacob Blake in the back on Aug. 23, leaving the 29-year-old Black man paralyzed, “needs to be charged.”
The comment by the Democratic presidential nominee came after he was asked about remarks by his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, that the officer should face charges.
Biden also says officers should be charged in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky.
Biden plans a visit Thursday to Kenosha, where there have been multiple nights of unrest following Blake’s shooting. Biden says there have been “overwhelming requests” that he come to the city.
In remarks on Wednesday, Biden also touched on the pandemic, saying the issue of safely reopening America's schools is a “national emergency.”
He said that if he were president, he'd have the Federal Emergency Management Agency guarantee access to disaster relief for K-12 schools.
Biden, hitting on a big theme of his presidential campaign, said President Donald Trump “still doesn't have a real plan” to handle the coronavirus pandemic.
The Democrat and onetime vice president said "this is an emergency and Donald Trump and his FEMA should treat it as one.”
FEMA officials said this week that the agency would no longer pay for cloth face masks and disinfectant in schools.
Biden said that as president, he'd declare the issue of school reopening a national emergency and direct FEMA to authorize access to emergency assistance for K-12 schools.
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