Show an ad over header. AMP

House passes George Floyd Justice in Policing Act

04 March 2021
Dan Ackermann

The House voted 220-212onWednesday evening to pass a policing bill named for George Floyd, the Black man whose death in Minneapolis last year led to nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice.

Why it matters: The legislation overhauls qualified immunity for police officers, bans chokeholds at the federal level, prohibits no-knock warrants in federal drug cases and outlaws racial profiling.

  • It would also establish a national registry of police misconduct to be managed by the Department of Justice.

What they're saying: "Sadly, despite mass protests across America and a renewed focus on the crisis of racial injustice, the epidemic of police brutality continues — with more police killings occurring last year than in the year before, and with communities of color and vulnerable groups disproportionately bearing the brunt of this cruelty," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement introducing the bill last week.

  • "The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act will address systemic racism, curb police brutality and save lives."

Of note: The White House backed the legislation on Monday.

  • "We cannot rebuild that trust [between law enforcement and communities] if we do not hold police officers accountable for abuses of power and tackle systemic misconduct – and systemic racism — in police departments," the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.

The big picture: Law enforcement was responsible for the killings of 1,127 people in 2020, according to the Mapping Police Violence project. Black people comprised 28% of those who were killed, despite making up 13% of the population.

  • The House passed a similar police reform bill last year, but it was not considered by the Republican-led Senate and was opposed by President Trump.
  • Derek Chauvin, the white police officer who killed Floyd after kneeling on his neck for over eight minutes, is set to face trial next Monday.

Zoom out: The vote on the bill was rescheduled as the U.S. Capitol Police warned of a possible attack on Thursday.

What to watch: "We will begin ... discussions with the Senate immediately after the bill is passed," adding, "Over the last several weeks, discussions especially with Sen. Tim Scott and Sen. Cory Booker have been under way," Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) who is leading police overhaul efforts in the House, told reporters on Wednesday, per CNN.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Section2

Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.