Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has urged charges against police who shot Jacob Blake and Breonna Taylor, two black Americans, BBC Reports.

Mr Biden, speaking in Delaware, did not specify what counts should be brought in the cases that fuelled national protests against racial justice.

After notching a record fundraising haul in August the Democrat spoke.

In opinion polls he has a lead over Republican President Donald Trump ahead of November 's election.

During a news conference on Wednesday in his hometown of Wilmington, Mr Biden was asked whether he agreed with his running mate, Kamala Harris, that the officers should be charged in the Blake and Taylor cases.

"I think we should let the judicial system work its way," he said. "I do think at a minimum, they need to be charged, the officers."

Mr Blake, 29, was shot seven times in the back and paralysed during an arrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on 23 August.

No action has so far been taken against the officer involved, pending investigations by the Wisconsin and US departments of justice.

Ms Taylor, 26, was fatally shot in her home during a drug raid in Louisville, Kentucky, on 13 March.

One of the officers is losing his job; two others have been placed on administrative leave as the investigation into their actions proceeds.


Mr Biden also mentioned the gunman, identified as a far-left activist in US media, who last weekend fatally shot a Trump supporter on the streets of Portland, Oregon. In that case, the Democratic nominee stopped short of calling for charges, but said: "They should be investigated and what needs to be done should follow through.

"Let the justice system work. Let us see to it that justice is done.

Mr Biden had commented on how to safely open schools in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

His comments came a day before traveling to Kenosha where he says he wants to help "heal" the city after days of violent protest rocked it. Mr Biden said he had received "overwhelming requests" to visit this latest flashpoint in America's racial reckoning over law enforcement shootings.

The Democrat will meet Mr Blake's father and other members of the family during the visit.