A rioter tosses an object toward police during clashes outside the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Aug. 25, 2020. (David Goldman/AP Photo)

A rioter tosses an object toward police during clashes outside the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Aug. 25, 2020. (David Goldman/AP Photo

The Slogan ‘No Lives Matter Until Black Lives Matter’

Brian Giesbrecht

August 28, 2020 Updated: August 28, 2020

“No Lives Matter Until Black Lives Matter.” That’s an ominous- looking slogan seen on a sign in the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

So far, three people have been shot during the rampaging, looting, arson, and rioting that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake. A video of the shooting shows police shooting Blake multiple times in the back after he reached into his car. An earlier video shows Blake fighting with the police and refusing to comply with their demands that he submit to arrest.

Literally nothing is known at this time about why the police took the action that they did. Did Blake threaten the police? Did he have a weapon? Why was he reaching into the car? We know now that there was a knife on the floor of the driver’s side of the vehicle. Was Blake going for his knife? Is that why the police officer shot him? Were the police in fear for their lives? We simply don’t know at this time, and we will not know the answer to those questions until an investigation has been completed. Every thinking person knows that to be the case.

Here’s what any responsible politician should have said immediately after the incident occurred:

“The shooting of Jacob Blake is a tragedy. At this time we do not know why the police shot Blake. The matter will be fully investigated, and we will then comment. Until the investigation takes place, it would be improper to speculate on the incident, or to make any further comment. We understand that people are upset, but we urge restraint. Peaceful protests will be respected, but unlawful behavior will not be tolerated.”

But that’s not what was said. Instead, before any investigation had been done, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers denounced the “excessive use of force by police” and invoked the names of other black men shot during police encounters. And there was more along this completely irresponsible line.

He said, “He is not the first black man or person to have been shot or injured or mercilessly killed at the hands of individuals in law enforcement in our state or our country.”

Even more disturbingly, here’s what presidential candidate Joe Biden said: “The nation wakes up yet again with grief and outrage that yet another Black American is a victim of excessive force.”

That’s what Biden said based on a video clip that tells, at most, 2 percent of the real story.

It’s true that Biden later denounced the violence that was taking place, and it’s also true that Evers later called for people to protest “peacefully and safely” and accepted the offers of help to quell the violence. However, it was the initial statements by both politicians that set the stage for the violence that occurred.

Both politicians should have been completely neutral about fault, stressed the need to wait for the results of the investigation, urged calm, and made it clear from the outset that violence was completely unacceptable. Both initial statements failed to do that.

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