DNC Chair Tom Perez released the following statement in response to yesterday’s horrific police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin:

“A bullet in the back. A knee on the neck. When will it end? Yet again, our nation is hurting. Yet again, Black communities are hurting. Our hearts go out to Jacob Blake and his family as we pray for his recovery. Sadly, we know he is not the first to be viciously gunned down by law enforcement. He is one of countless Black Americans who have suffered at the hands of bigotry with a badge. When I was assistant attorney general for civil rights during the first term of the Obama-Biden administration, we worked tirelessly to change the culture of police departments from Seattle to New Orleans to Puerto Rico. This administration has refused to continue that work and has been downright hostile to progress. We need meaningful action and accountability to end police brutality and racial injustice – for Jacob Blake, for George Floyd, for Breonna Taylor, and for so many others. So long as Black men and women cannot breathe, we cannot rest.”