In an interview with CNN Tuesday, Jacob Blake’s mother, Julia Jackson, condemned the rioting and unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin that has continued for days after her son was shot by a Kenosha Police Department officer on Sunday.
Jackson said, “My family and I are very hurt. And quite frankly disgusted. And as his mother, please don’t burn up property and cause havoc and tear your own homes down in my son’s name. You shouldn’t do it.”
Asked if she wanted to say anything to elected officials or the presidential candidates on the campaign trail, Jackson apologized to President Donald Trump for another family member’s critical remarks. She said, “For our President Trump, first I want to say a family member — and I don’t know if it was heard or not — said something that was not kind. She is hurting, and I do apologize for that. Our outburst does not reflect our behavior.”
Jackson also said, “For President Trump, I’m sorry I missed your call because had I not missed your call, maybe the comments that you made would have been different. And I’m not mad at you at all. I have the utmost respect for you as the leader of our country. Like I said before, and I’m not saying this to him directly, we should always get the details from the right source before we start throwing bricks.”
It was not immediately clear what remarks her family member shared about Trump or what remarks of Trump’s Jackson referred to, as Trump had not made reference to Blake’s case, Independent reported.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice provided an update Wednesday on their investigation into the Kenosha police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake. The update determined a single KPD officer, identified as Rusten Sheskey, shot Blake seven times. The state DOJ report says Blake admitted to officers that he had a knife in his possession and investigators did reportedly find a knife on the driver’s side floor of the car.
Video of the shooting incident showed officers trying to stop Blake as he walked away from them and shot at him as he reached into his car.
The initial video of the shooting incident went viral across social media and has sparked nights of rioting in Kenosha. The video shows officers with their weapons drawn, attempting to detain Blake, who walks away from them. Officers followed Blake around to the driver’s side of the car, attempting to stop him before he reached into the car and Sheskey fired shots, hitting Blake in the back. Blake survived the shooting incident but is reportedly paralyzed from the waist down.
A second angle of the shooting incident showed a struggle between Blake and multiple officers and he appeared to be on the ground with an officer wrestling with him. The state DOJ report said officers had attempted to use a taser to stop Blake but that it was not effective. Blake was able to get back up and began walking away. It was at that point officers drew their weapons, followed Blake and the shooting incident unfolded.
The unrest surrounding the shooting incident with Blake, has seen buildings and vehicles set on fire in recent nights, and on Tuesday night saw a shooting incident between an individual with an AR-15 style of rifle and several protesters chasing him. The gunman fatally shot two protesters and injured a third. That gunman has since been identified as 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse and he has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers had previously activated National Guard troops to assist local law enforcement, but after the Tuesday shootings, Trump announced he would be sending additional guard troops and federal resources, at Evers’ request.
