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Biden calls for charges against officers in Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake shootings

02 September 2020
Dan Ackermann

Joe Biden said at an event in Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday that the police officers in Jacob Blake's shooting and Breonna Taylor's murder "need to be charged," and called for an investigation into the individual who shot and killed a Trump supporter in Portland last weekend.

Driving the news: Biden was asked about these situations after delivering remarks about how to open school safely in light of the coronavirus pandemic. It comes during a week in which he's been out on the trail countering Trump's attacks about violence and unrest in America.

What they're saying: "I think we should let the judicial system work its way," Biden said when asked by a reporter if he agrees with his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, that the officers who shot Blake and Taylor should be charged.

  • Biden then brought up the individual who shot a Trump support in Portland, insisting they should be investigated and held to whatever legal consequences come with the conclusion.
  • "They should be investigated and it should follow through on what needs to be done," he said. "Let the judicial system work. Let's make sure justice is done."

Between the lines: President Trump has not called for charges against the officers in either the Blake or Taylor cases, but condemned the Portland shooting as "disgraceful." On Monday, he defended the 17-year-old supporter of his who shot and killed two people in Kenosha, Wisc., suggesting that he was acting in self-defense.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.