Progressives use billboard to pressure Chuck Schumer to end Senate filibuster
24 January 2021
A progressive coalition is pressuring Chuck Schumer on his home turf by running a digital billboard in Times Square urging the new majority leader to end the Senate filibuster.
Why it matters: Schumer is up for re-election in 2o22 and could face a challenger, and he's also spearheading his party's broader effort to hold onto its narrow congressional majorities.
The backdrop: Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are currently negotiating a power-sharing agreement to operate the new 50-50 Senate. Whether the 60-vote filibuster rule will endure is at the center of their stalemate.
Driving the news: Just Democracy, a coalition of more than 40 progressive groups led by Black and brown organizers seeking to reform government, created and paid for a week-long billboard in the heart of Schumer's district starting Monday.
- The ad boasts quotes from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former President Obama and ex-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, all condemning the filibuster. None of them is working in conjunction with the organizers on the billboard.
- Of note: Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive beacon, won't quell speculation she's considering challenging Schumer for his seat.
What they're saying: “Democrats gained control of the Senate because of Black and Brown organizers and voters," Stasha Rhodes, campaign director for 51 for 51 and a member of the Just Democracy coalition, said in a statement to Axios. "Now they have a chance to remove the biggest impediment to the legislation those voters care about most — voting rights, healthcare, a serious COVID rescue package and more."
- Another group, Fix Our Senate, was running a full-page ad in Sunday's New York Times that also pushed Schumer to end the filibuster.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly 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.