Clemson’s Dabo Swinney calls shooting of Jacob Blake ‘disgusting and disappointing’
Clemson’s team meeting time wasn’t spent discussing football on Wednesday.
Instead, Clemson’s coaching staff and players spent more than an hour talking about the pain the team felt in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The team meeting had been scheduled to last 10 minutes.
Blake was shot by an officer with the Kenosha Police Department on Sunday.
Clemson’s discussion occurred on the same day several sporting events were postponed around the country, including the NBA playoffs and the WNBA’s schedule of games.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney shared his thoughts on the shooting following Wednesday’s practice.
“We had a long conversation as a team about all of that and there’s really no words to describe it other than just incredibly disgusting and disappointing to see something like that take place,” Swinney said. “If there is a positive, it’s hard to find a positive, but if there is one, hopefully the awareness that’s been created since May and high alertness, if you will, to make sure that people are held accountable and things are done right. But it’s just really.... you don’t have any words for it.”
The officer who shot Blake was a seven-year veteran of the Kenosha Police Department, The Associated Press reported.
“Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake, 29, while holding onto his shirt after officers first unsuccessfully used a Taser and as Blake leaned into his vehicle during an incident Sunday evening,” the AP reported.
A family lawyer said Blake was paralyzed in the shooting, according to the AP.
The Clemson football team has been outspoken about racial injustice this summer.
Several players organized a Clemson Community Peaceful Demonstration held on Clemson’s campus in June after George Floyd’s death in Minnesota in May. Floyd, a black man, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.
Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence has used his platform to fight racism, taking to Twitter to call for change on May 29.
“There has to be a shift in the way of thinking. Rational must outweigh irrational. Justice must outweigh injustice. Love must outweigh hate. If you put yourself in someone else’s shoes and you don’t like how it feels — that’s when you know things need to change,” Lawrence posted.
“I’m siding with my brothers that deal, and continuously deal, with things I will never experience. The injustice is clear... and so is the hate. It can no longer be explained away. If you’re still ‘explaining’ it — check your heart and ask why.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 7:56 PM.
