LOUISVILLE, Ky.— Jacob Blake's father, Jacob Blake Sr., traveled to Kentucky to be with Breonna Taylor's family today. They held a press conference in downtown Louisville at Jefferson Square Park.
It is the first time any member of the family has spoken publicly since charges of wanton endangerment were filed against former LMPD officer Brett Hankison in the March shooting that led to the death of Taylor. A judge announced those findings on Wednesday afternoon.
Lawyers, the crowd and Taylor's family are calling for Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron to release transcripts from the grand jury that led to this charge.
"I knew this family needed some energy, and I said, 'I'm coming,'" Blake Sr. says.
Blake Sr. came to Kentucky dawned in a mask with his son's name written on one side, and the words "Father," "Son," "Brother," and "Black Man" on the other.
He, along with Taylor's family and their legal representation, addressed a growing crowd this Friday afternoon.
“My son gave me the ability to be here today," Blake Sr. says. “He cannot stand, so I came to stand for him.”
After being shot by an officer multiple times, his son is now paralyzed. Unlike Taylor's family, his son survived, but the pain of his child being shot by police is no less.
It's a "fraternity," he says, that no one wants to join.
"I knew I had to be here," Blake Sr. says. "We didn't choose this fraternity. This fraternity chose us. If we laid down and let them run over us, who would we be?"