Biden meets Blake family, leads Kenosha discussion

After meeting in private with the family of Jacob Blake, and speaking by phone with the 29-year-old whose shooting by a white police officer sparked protests and unrest, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden took part in a community discussion at a church in Kenosha.

The gathering included business and civic leaders and at least two representatives of law enforcement.

He heard from Kenosha residents discussing the need to address systemic racism so that society - including commerce - will function peacefully.

“I look at the buildings in our community that are gone,” said Barb DeBerge, owner of DeBerge Framing & Gallery, which still stands. “I just I don’t think I really grieved as much as I should because being a business owner, I have to keep going, I have to keep working.”

"I know legally why a lot of officers who kill black men and women are not held legally responsible, criminally, legally responsible for their actions," said Angela Cunningham, a Black attorney in Kenosha.

"Because the law protects them," she said.

The trip, Biden's first to Wisconsin of the general election campaign, is intended to draw sharp contrasts with President Donald Trump.

He called for an increase in the minimum wage, expanded housing opportunities and mandatory rehabilitation programs for drug abuse, instead of prison, among other things.

Biden also criticized President Trump without mentioning him by name by referring to Trump's comments after a 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., turned deadly.

Trump told reporters at that time that there were "very fine people on both sides."

"The words of a president matter," Biden said.

No matter if they are good, bad or indifferent. They matter."