MILWAUKEE (AP) — Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris met with the family of a Wisconsin man shot by police last month to kick off her visit to the critical swing state.
Harris gathered with Jacob Blake’s father, two sisters and members of his legal team at the airport in Milwaukee while Blake’s mother, attorney Ben Crump joined by phone. Blake also joined the conversation by phone. Joe Biden met with the family last week in Milwaukee before visiting Kenosha, the city where police shot Blake.
"They’re an incredible family and what they’ve endured and they do it with such dignity and grace," Harris said of Blake and his family. "And you know, they're carrying the weight of a lot of voices on their shoulders."
The meeting kicked off a packed day of Labor Day campaign events, with Harris meeting IBEW union workers and Black business owners in Milwaukee, while Vice President Mike Pence, also sent to Wisconsin, toured an energy facility in La Crosse before delivering a speech that touched on jobs, the economy and protests in Kenosha.
This marks Harris’ first solo foray out on the campaign trail for in-person events since she was announced as Biden’s running mate nearly a month ago. But Biden himself has stepped up his campaigning over the past week, traveling to Pittsburgh and Kenosha and holding two news conferences. Aides say to expect both Biden and Harris to increase their campaigning for the remaining weeks.
Vice President Mike Pence was also visiting Wisconsin for Labor Day, an unofficial kickoff to the final phase of the presidential campaign.
Trump's narrow win in Wisconsin in 2016 helped send him to the White House and both campaigns see the state as critical.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and co-counsels Patrick Salvi II and B’Ivory LaMarr, who are representing Jacob Blake, issued a statement on Harris' visit:
“Sen. Harris had an inspirational and uplifting one-hour visit with Jacob Blake, Jr. and his family today. She spoke individually with each family member about how they were handling the trauma and urged them to take care of their physical and mental health. In a moving moment, Jacob Jr. told Sen. Harris that he was proud of her, and the senator told Jacob that she was also proud of him and how he is working through his pain. Jacob Jr. assured her that he was not going to give up on life for the sake of his children. Sen. Harris also discussed the policy changes that she and Vice President Biden will seek, including the Justice in Policing Act and implicit bias training, to make things better for all Americans. She encouraged them to continue to use their voices even through their pain to help America make progress to end systemic racism.”
Watch Harris visiting an IBEW training facility in Wauwatosa:
