Dems kneel, then stand for sweeping changes
Proposal would bolster police accountability
WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats proposed a sweeping package of police reforms Monday amid national protests over the death of George Floyd. Lawmakers called for mandatory dashboard and body cameras, an end to police chokeholds, and the creation of a national registry to track officers with a record of misconduct.
Before unveiling the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 at a Capitol Hill news conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and more than 20 other Democrats knelt for eight minutes and 46 seconds – the amount of time Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck as the unarmed black man lay handcuffed in the street, gasping for breath, before he died.
The nearly nine minutes of solemn quietude in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, led by Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, illustrated how the deaths of Floyd and other African Americans at the hands of police has prompted a new debate about race and policing in America. It has given social justice advocates new hope that the country is at a turning point on race relations.
The legislation aims to bolster police accountability and end the practice of aggressive officers moving from one department to another by creating a national registry to track those with checkered records. It also would end certain police practices, such as the use of noknock warrants and chokeholds, which have led to recent deaths of African Americans.
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Louisville ER technician, was killed in her Kentucky home March 13 after police used a no-knock warrant to enter her house during a narcotics raid.
The Democrats’ bill would also end qualified immunity for police officers, making them personally liable for constitutional violations such as excessive force.
“That moment of national anguish is being transformed into a movement of national action as Americans from across the country peacefully protest to demand an end to injustice,” Pelosi, DCalif., said, referring to Floyd’s killing. “We cannot settle for anything less than transformative, structural change.”
The legislation incorporates some elements of the 40-plus bills House Democrats have floated in recent weeks, as they seek to ride the momentum of public sentiment favoring some type of reform.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said the bill would increase “consequences and accountability” for law enforcement, but she said more would need to be done to address systemic racism and inequalities in the justice system.
“Part of what has been upside down in policing policy in America, is that we have confused having safe communities with hiring more cops,” said Harris, a former prosecutor.
“In fact, the real way to achieve safe and healthy communities is to invest in those communities.”
Harris, a leading candidate to be Joe Biden’s running mate on the Democratic presidential ticket, called for increasing access to affordable housing, expanding home ownership, creating greater job opportunities, improving public schools and easing access to capital in African American neighborhoods.
Weekend’s protests drew tens of thousands of people to demonstrations in Washington and across the country, some of the largest crowds since Floyd died on May 25. The gatherings were mostly peaceful and free of the looting and violent clashes with police that broke out at some demonstrations during the initial wave of protests.
President Donald Trump – who had criticized some governors as “weak” for their handling of the protests and threatened to use active duty troops to quell the unrest – tweeted Sunday that he was ordering National Guard members to withdraw from Washington.
A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Sunday found most Americans are more concerned about the actions of the Minneapolis police that led to Floyd’s death (59%) than they are by the violence at some protests (27%). The poll of 745 people from May 29 to June 2 and has a margin of error of 3.6%.
“Americans who took to the streets this week have demanded change. With this legislation, Democrats are heeding their calls,” said Schumer, D-N.Y.
He called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to bring the bill to the Senate floor before July. But the legislation is not expected to get a warm reception from most Republicans.
GOP lawmakers have condemned Floyd’s killing, but their responses to the protests and the calls for reform have varied dramatically. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., penned a controversial oped saying it was time to “Send the Troops In” to stomp out the unrest, while Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, marched with protesters Sunday and took up the call of “Black Lives Matter.”
Former President George W. Bush, called for an end to “systemic racism” in a statement last week and said it was a demonstration of America’s “strength” when peaceful protesters “march for a better future.”
On Wednesday, Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee during a hearing centered on police brutality and racial profiling.