Statement on the police shooting of Jacob Blake

Like so many Wisconsinites, I was horrified to see the video of Jacob Blake being shot multiple times in the back by Kenosha police. Additionally, I understand that Mr. Blake’s children were in the car and witnessed their father being shot, a trauma no child should have to endure.

This is a tragedy that should have and could have been prevented. As a state legislator and a new alderwoman in Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, I have heard sentiments coming from folks on all sides of this fight for police reform, Black Lives Matter, and the police budget.

I write this statement, in particular, for the people of the 8th Aldermanic District. This is the district I represent on Milwaukee’s near south side, where I was born and raised. My constituents tell me that public safety is their number one concern. No mother should worry if their son will come home at night, no child should witness their father being brutally attacked and everyone in Wisconsin should feel safe in their own neighborhood. Public safety will always be compromised if any life is devalued more than another.

Ours is arguably the most diverse district in the great state of Wisconsin, home to a 75% supermajority of people of color, a Latino-majority district, and a proud history of Polish and German immigrant families, many of whom still call the near south side home, I am proud to say.

Public safety continues to be my #1 concern because I know that it is my constituents’ #1 concern. And it is why, as a state representative, a Milwaukee alderwoman, and a Wisconsinite, I condemn this senseless tragedy. We cannot have our law enforcement shooting constituents in the back multiple times, in front of their children.

We must ask for justice, demand reform, and cry out, “Black Lives Matter.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.