"It is saddening to me that people don't understand the type of pressure this family is under, and what the rest of the family is dealing with," he told CNN Monday, adding that his 20-year-old son was recently hospitalized because he was suffering from depression.
It's been over a week since 29-year-old Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot in the back seven times by a White police officer in a Kenosha, Wisconsin, neighborhood. The shooting left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Protests have erupted in the city located on the Lake Michigan coastline between Chicago and Milwaukee as differing accounts of what took place August 23 emerge. The protests are also part of the ongoing calls for justice in the deaths of Black people at the hands of police.
On top of protests, Kenosha authorities are investigating the fatal shooting of two protesters. Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was arrested in connection with the two deaths and the shooting of one other person. Rittenhouse's attorney, John Pierce, told Fox News Monday his client was acting in "100% self-defense" while protecting local businesses.
"A 17-year-old lifeguard who is attempting to protect the businesses and his community, and attempting to help wounded protesters and was protecting his own life while Kenosha was burning, why is he the one sitting in jail tonight as forces within this country sickeningly attempt to find a way to bring harm to him while he is detention," Pierce said.
There's another video to clear everything up, attorney says
Ben Crump, attorney for the Blake family, told CNN's Jim Acosta Monday there's another video that will definitively show what happened last week.
"There is video that will clear all this up that will be released. But, the video is the key, Jim, because the video doesn't require interpretation," Crump says. "The video is what it is. And it shows that Jacob Blake never posed a threat to those officers. He was always trying to get away from them."
The Kenosha Professional Police Association have said Blake forcefully fought with officers trying to arrest him; put one in a headlock and carried a knife that he refused to drop when officers ordered him to do so.
Raysean White, the man who recorded a widely circulated video of Blake being shot, said Friday that while he only saw part of the incident, he didn't see Blake holding a knife or physically harming the officers.
Kenosha officials did not shed anymore light on the shooting during a Monday press conference, instead opting to focus on the protests.
"The last five days have been closer to normal for Kenosha," Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said. "Protests have been peaceful, and we are very, very thankful for that."
A curfew in effect for the city has been extended until 9 p.m. Wednesday, Mayor John Antaramian said.
Blake's father says he won't play politics with Trump
President Donald Trump is not going to meet with Jacob Blake's family in Wisconsin because they wanted to involve lawyers, Trump said at a news conference on Monday.
"Well, I spoke to the (family's) pastor ... and I thought it would be better not to do anything where there were lawyers involved. They wanted me to speak. They wanted to have lawyers involved and I thought that was inappropriate, so I didn't do that. But I did speak with the pastor of the family," Trump said.
The Blake family's objective at this point is to support Jacob Blake and "ensure justice for him," Crump said in a statement.
"I don't know why the President wouldn't want the family to have their lawyers on the phone," Crump told CNN. "He seems to have lawyers with him when he talks to people."
Jacob Blake Sr. told CNN he wasn't going to "play politics."
"This is my son's life we are talking about," he said Monday. "I am not getting into politics. It is all about my son, man. It has nothing to do with a photo op. It has to do with Jacob's operation."
Trump is scheduled to visit Kenosha Tuesday, something Mayor Antaramian said was ill-timed.
"I am disappointed he is coming. Our community has gone through a great deal," Antaramian said Monday. "At this time, it's just the wrong time. It's a time for us to heal."
Sheriff Beth noted that a visit by any major figure will create extra work for the department.
Beth said that it wasn't his place to comment on the visit and instead simply noted, "I know that he is coming and that we will do our best to protect him."
Wisconsin legislature takes no action on police reform
As the investigation and protests continue in Kenosha, legislators about 100 miles west in Madison decided not to take action on police reform.
Gov. Tony Evers called a special session Monday aimed at passing police reforms, according to a video retweeted by Wisconsin State Legislature Majority Leader Jim Steineke.
Republicans started the session and recessed in the Senate and Assembly in less than 30 seconds, the video shows. Wisconsin's legislature is controlled by Republicans.
Evers criticized the move as a missed opportunity in a statement released shortly after the special session ended.
"It's disappointing that there's no sense of urgency from Republicans, and it's a let down to all the people who are asking us to lead," Evers said. "The people of Wisconsin don't want another task force or more delays -- they want action and results, and they want it today, not tomorrow or some day months down the road."
Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican, released a statement saying he asked Steineke to start a task force and "lead the important statewide discussion on racial disparities, educational opportunities, public safety, and police policies and standards."
"After the tragic events this past week, the best way forward is not through divisive and partisan politics but through bipartisan cooperation," Vos' statement read.
CNN has reached out to the Wisconsin State Assembly for comment.
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