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Senate Republicans are taking measures to address the topic of police reform in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter riots in Washington and other American cities.
Protesters took to the street for nearly two weeks calling for justice for George Floyd, who died following a troubling incident in which a Minneapolis police officer was seen on camera pinning Floyd to the ground with a knee on his neck.
And while Floyd’s death has been politicized by Democrats, who see it as the next “big thing” to take down President Donald Trump in November, the calls for police reform have been loud.
On the other hand, as Larry Elder noted, given the actions of the left, “Maybe it’s the people, not the cops, who need ‘better training.'”
Maybe it's the people, not the cops, who need "better training."#GeorgeFloydProtests pic.twitter.com/f3Gl8ghC2k
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) June 8, 2020
There is an argument to be made that, with an assist from the liberal media, people in this country have been led to believe that they can not only dispute the actions of cops if they disagree, but that they are justified in resisting — this being a byproduct of the Obama years. Biased reporting on incidents like the death of Michael Brown have not helped matters when it comes to a lack of respect for police.
Nonetheless, amid the calls for reform, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters Tuesday, “I think it’s important to have a response.”
“None of us have had the experience of being an African American in this country and dealing with this discrimination, which persists here some 50 years after the 1964 civil rights bill and the 1965 civil rights bill,” McConnell said, according to The Hill.
In reference to slavery, the GOP leader said the country still has a long way to go
“We’re still wrestling with America’s original sin,” McConnell said. “We try to get better but every now and then it’s perfectly clear we’re a long way from the finish line.”
The majority leader selected Sen. Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, to lead a working group of GOP senators in drafting police reform legislation, The Hill reported.
“I think the best way for the Senate Republicans to go forward on this is to listen to one of our own, who’s had these experiences — he’s had them since he’s been in the United States Senate,” McConnell said of Scott.
Scott is reportedly advocating for a nationalized database to document police misuse of force incidents and for the implementation of bias and intervention training.
Saying “time is of the essence,” the senator expects to see something happen soon.
I think it’s important for this nation to take a very powerful stand and position that says we’re listening we’re hearing, and we’re reacting, we’re responding in a positive, constructive manner,” he said.
The Democrat-run House of Representative unveiled “sweeping” reforms this week in a partisan bill titled, “Justice in Policing Act.”
The measure would ban any type of chokehold, as well as no-knock warrants in drug cases. It also seeks to end qualified immunity, which gives cops broad immunity from civil lawsuits.
With an eye on November and lots of uncertainty over how much support President Trump has among black voters, Democrats are certain to pass the legislation — at the same time, it’s certain to have enough poison pills to ensure GOP resistance.
“We cannot settle for anything less than transformative structural change,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “The martyrdom of George Floyd gave the American experience a moment of national anguish as we grieve for the black Americans killed by police brutality today.”
McConnell’s push back to the Democrats’ efforts to de-fund police suggests that any measure out of the Senate will not vilify police.
“The vast majority of men and women in law enforcement across our country are not evil, are not racist, do not wake up every morning looking for violence,” he said from the Senate floor this week.
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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