Julia Jackson, the mother of 29-year-old Jacob Blake who was shot seven times by police during an altercation in Kenosha, Wisconsin, says she and her family are disgusted by the rioting and looting in their city.
“My family and I are very hurt and quite frankly disgusted,” Jackson said in a televised interview.
“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. People shouldn’t do it anyway, but to use my child or any other mother or father’s child, our tragedy to react in that manner is just not acceptable,” she added.
Jackson gave the interview late on Tuesday night, but her pleas for calm apparently fell on deaf ears as all hell broke loose on the streets of Kenosha for the third night in a row, with deadly consequences, as rioting, looting and shooting intensified.
Jacob Blake’s mom on violence in Kenosha: “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. … it’s just not acceptable.” pic.twitter.com/T00Fg5MOvj
Two people were killed and a third person was injured in a shooting incident outside a local auto parts store. A police manhunt for the suspect was launched soon after as the victims were taken to hospital for emergency treatment.
Jackson also addressed US President Donald Trump, apologizing for offensive remarks aimed at him by an unnamed family member, as well as for the extreme violence perpetrated in her son’s name, but without her family’s support.
“And also, 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,” she said.
Meanwhile, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden vowed to protect all Americans should he be voted in to the White House, though he did not explicitly reference any of the current flashpoints for violence across the country, such as Portland, Seattle or Kenosha.
“I promise you that as president, I will protect America. I will protect you and your family. I will defend our nation from threats seen and unseen,” he wrote on Twitter.
It’s the least of what we should expect from an American president.”
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