Joe Biden Meets Privately With Jacob Blake's Family At Airport

MILWAUKEE, WI – Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden met with the family of Jacob Blake, the Black man recently shot by Kenosha police, on Thursday at Mitchell International Airport before a planned visit to Kenosha, where no public appearances were scheduled to take place.

According to pool reports of the Milwaukee visit, Biden and his wife, Jill, met privately with members of Blake’s family along with members of their legal team for an hour. The Washington Post reported Thursday that other family members joined the meeting by phone and that Biden was to travel to Kenosha for a community meeting.

According to reports, Biden did not respond to questions from reporters on his way to the private meeting with Blake's family. However, according to a live feed of Biden's meeting with community members at Grace Lutheran Church in Kenosha Thursday afternoon, the former vice president said he spoke to Blake's father and other family members.

"He talked about how nothing was going to defeat him and how whether he walked again or not, he was going to give up," Biden said.

Biden added: "People understand that fear doesn't solve problems. Only hope does and if you give up hope, you might as well surrender."

Pool reports from Thursday's meeting included the meeting with Blake's father, Jacob Blake Sr., his siblings, and one of his attorneys, B'Ivory LaMarr. Blake's mother Julia Jackson and another attorney, Ben Crump, joined by phone.

After the meeting, Crump released the following statement:

“The family was grateful for the meeting and was very impressed that the Bidens were so engaged and willing to really listen," Crump said. "Jacob’s mother led them all in prayer for Jacob’s recovery. They talked about changing the disparate treatment of minorities in police interactions, the impact of selecting Kamala Harris as a Black woman as his running mate, and Vice President Biden’s plans for change.

"Mr. Blake Sr. talked about the need for systemic reform because the excessive use of force by police against minorities has been going on for far too long. Jacob Jr. shared about the pain he is enduring, and the vice president commiserated. The vice president told the family that he believes the best of America is in all of us and that we need to value all our differences as we come together in America’s great melting pot. It was very obvious that Vice President Biden cared, as he extended to Jacob Jr. a sense of humanity, treating him as a person worthy of consideration and prayer.”

Blake, 29, was shot seven time by police officers and was left paralyzed from the shooting, which occurred in front of his children. The Kenosha Professional Police Association maintains Blake had a knife at the time of the shooting and “forcefully fought” with officers.

The Kenosha County Democratic Party announced on Facebook Thursday morning that Biden would be meeting with Blake’s family privately but would not be holding any public appearances during his visit.

“Due to his respect for all the recent turmoil our city has gone through, and in his desire not to create further disruption or exhaust already limited resources, Joe wants to do his part to keep the peace in Kenosha,” the local party announced in the social media post. “Instead of public appearances, he plans to meet privately with Jacob Blake's family and has arranged to speak to some Kenosha residents today.

“We know you all were hoping to welcome him to our city, but we're sure you'll appreciate his sensitivity to Kenosha's need for peace and healing during this time. We hope to welcome him back to Kenosha in the future!”

President Donald Trump visited Kenosha on Tuesday, but did not meet with the Blake family during his time in Wisconsin.