MILWAUKEE -- Wearing a black T-shirt with white lettering that read “Black Lives Matter” in all-caps, Brewers manager Craig Counsell spoke from the heart Monday about Jacob Blake, the Black man shot multiple times in the back by a police officer in Kenosha, Wis., on Sunday evening, shortly before the Brewers returned home from a road trip. The shooting sparked new protests in Wisconsin, with a graphic video of the shooting circulating on Sunday night.
Blake was reportedly airlifted to the Milwaukee area for medical treatment and remained in serious condition on Monday.
“A Black man was shot and his life is in peril, and it frankly shouldn't be,” Counsell said, his voice breaking at times. “We've got a systemic problem that we need to address, and we all need to educate ourselves. Whether you agree or disagree with what I'm saying, I think it's important that we continue to think, we continue to pursue policy change, we continue to act, because there's violence happening that just absolutely should not be happening. And we can't stay quiet about it.”
Counsell told reporters, “I apologize to you guys for bringing non-baseball stuff into your world. I know it's not what you guys are here for. But it's important, and our community is hurting. Our community is probably in for a rough couple of days.”
He was one of two Milwaukee head coaches who began their press briefings on Monday by talking about the shooting. The Milwaukee Bucks’ Mike Budenholzer addressed the matter before taking questions ahead of Game 4 of his team’s NBA playoffs series against Orlando.
“Another young Black man shot by a police officer,” Budenholzer said. “We need to have change. We need to be better. And I’m hoping for the best for him and his family. I’m hoping for the best as we work through this in Wisconsin, in Milwaukee and in Kenosha. So, thoughts and prayers with Jacob Blake.”
Budenholzer said he knew the matter was on his players’ minds, and likewise for Counsell, who said he’d had individual conversations with some Brewers players on Monday before the team began a four-game series against the Reds at Miller Park. Since the early days of Summer Camp, when there were protests against police brutality in Milwaukee as well as across the country in the wake of the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, Counsell and a number of Brewers players have been outspoken about their views of police brutality, racial equality and social justice.
The Brewers issued a statement on Monday:
“The video of the shooting of Jacob Blake is deeply disturbing and raises many of the same questions we have been asking related to social injustice and racism in our communities. Once again, we are faced with images of a horrific incident that show what appear to be inexplicable and excessive force inflicted upon a Black individual. It stirs emotions of anger, confusion and great sadness at a time when we need healing and lasting change. We pray for a full recovery for Jacob, and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones.”
Counsell is aware that by speaking out on Monday as events were unfolding, he may be criticized. But he expressed that in his role as a public figure, “I think we just have to be a voice right now.”
“Everybody has to form their own opinion, and they have to use the information they gather to do that,” Counsell said. “But educate yourselves and understand it as best you can. Understand points you don't agree with. Sometimes it's hard for us to do. It's certainly hard for me to see any scope of the other side on this one, but educate yourselves. I think it's all of our responsibility to do that.”
He added, “Whether it's policy change that ultimately is going to need to happen, we have to keep talking about it. It has to stay in the conversation. I think there is some powerlessness that a lot of people have a feeling of. But we have to continue to do what we can, where we can, how we can, and some people are going to act. Hopefully there's going to be others who accomplish more than I will, certainly. But I'll try to do what I can.”