Democrats Kneel At Capitol Building To Honor George Floyd
House and Senate Democrats held a moment of silence at the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall on Monday (June 8) for eight minutes and 46 seconds in honor of George Floyd and others who have been killed by police officers.
The moment came before the House unveiled a sweeping police reform package, according to the bill. The Justice in Policing Act would limit legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force incidents and ban police choke holds, among other changes. It is the most ambitious chance to law enforcement sought by the legislature in years.
Rep. Karen Bass, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is leading the effort, described the proposed bill as "bold" and "transformative."
"The world is witnessing the birth of a new movement in this country," she said, according to ABC. "A profession where you have the power to kill should be a profession where you have highly trained officers that are accountable to the public.”
The bill addresses several aspects of law enforcement accountability and practices that have come under criticism. It would revise the federal criminal police misconduct statute to make it easier to prosecute officers who are involved in misconduct "knowingly or with reckless disregard."
It also would change "qualified immunity" protections for police "to enable individuals to recover damages when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights," according to an early draft of the bill.
The bill does fall short of defunding police departments, one of the primary calls protestors nationwide have been calling for since the death of George Floyd exactly two weeks ago.
Sen. Kamala Harris, who helped introduce the bill, blasted the Senate for not being able to pass an anti-lynching bill late last week.
“We’re here because black Americans want to stop being killed,” she procclaimed. “Yes, as a country we’ve seen great progress, but just last week in the year of our Lord 2020, we could not get an anti-lynching bill passed in the United States Senate."
It is unclear if law enforcement and police unions will back any of the proposed changes or if House and Senate Republicans will support it.
George Floyd was killed by former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin on May 25. Four former officers have since been arrested and charged for their involvement in the 46-year-old’s death, including Chauvin, who was initially charged with third-degree murder and second degree manslaughter.
Last Wednesday, Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison upgraded the charges against Chauvin to second-degree murder for the death of Floyd on and also charged the three other officers involved, J Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane with aiding and abetting murder.
BET has been covering every angle of George Floyd’s death by police and the subsequent aftermath. For our continuing coverage of the protests nationwide, click here.
