Kamala Harris gave a powerful answer when asked about the Jacob Blake shooting on Friday, while Pence and Trump didn’t mention it at the GOP convention.
Harris said during an interview with NBC’s Craig Melvin that she didn’t see how the shooting was justified, “Craig, I don’t see it, but I don’t have all the evidence. From what I saw, which is what the public is seeing — I’m not the prosecutor in the case. I don’t have all the evidence. The man was going to his car. He didn’t appear to be armed, and if he was not armed, if he was not armed, the use of force that was seven bullets coming out of a gun at close range in the back of the man, I don’t see how anybody could reason that that was justifiable.”
She added that there needs to be a full investigation and the officer must be afforded due process.
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Kamala Harris says the Jacob Blake shooting did not look justified, but there needs to be a full investigation, and the officer should have due process. However, these shootings keep happening in America, and they need to stop. pic.twitter.com/Q6uopbLfeF
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) August 28, 2020
Later, Sen. Harris said, “Here’s the thing. In America we know these cases keep happening. We have had too many black men in America who have been the subject of this kind of conduct and many of whom have lost their lives, and we speak their name all the time. Again, George Floyd, just as the most recent, most public example of this. It’s got to stop. It’s got to stop. Listen, there are still two forms of justice in America. We have to be honest about that.”
Trump gave a 70 minute acceptance speech at the Republican convention and he never once said that the violence against African-Americans has to stop. Mike Pence didn’t mention the Jacob Blake shooting in his acceptance speech.
Sen. Harris is saying what Trump and Pence won’t. She is talking about the real concerns of Americans, which is why she and Joe Biden are winning the election.
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Mr. Easley is the founder/managing editor and Senior White House and Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association