MILWAUKEE — Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and his co-counsels representing Jacob Blake and his family said U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr's account of the police shooting is "misinformed."
Crump appears to be responding to statements Barr made during an interview with CNN on Wednesday.
"The police officers were the aggressors from start to finish, based on video and witness accounts," the attorneys said in a statement Wednesday.
“There was never any point in time when there was justification for deadly force. In fact, there were innocent bystanders in the line of fire when he shot seven times into Jacob’s back," they argue.
“At all material times, Jacob’s back was to the officers and he never posed an imminent threat. This was never a life or death situation for the officers," they conclude
On Wednesday, AG Barr said during the interview that "my message to them [Blake's family] would be what it would be to all Americans, which is in cases where it's possible or there's concern over excessive force, we have a process in this country to make that determination, and it involves initially the state looking at it and also the federal government."
"And we are investigating it, and that should follow due process and be fair to everybody including the police officer. And violence is not appropriate. Our justice system has to respond to, you know, analysis, reasoned analysis, not mob violence," Barr said.
Crump's co-counsels are Patrick Salvi and B’Ivory Lamarr.
