The bill would make dramatic changes to police policy across the country and undo decades-old laws.
Top Democrats will unveil a major police reform bill Monday morning as they seek to quickly respond to the demands of protesters nationwide calling for racial justice after the killing of George Floyd.
The bill would make dramatic changes to police policy across the country and undo decades-old laws that Democrats and activists say has led to the deaths of black men and women at the hands of police officers, including 46-year-old Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn., two weeks ago.
Before introducing the bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Sens. Cory Booker (D-N. J.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and other top Democrats will first gather in the Capitol in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time an officer knelt of Floyd’s neck.
Thousands of mourners are expected to pay their respects to Floyd in a public memorial in his hometown of Houston on Monday before he is buried Tuesday. Floyd’s brother, Philonese Floyd, is scheduled to testify during the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing on police brutality on Wednesday.
A wave of protests swept the nation in the days after a video surfaced showing a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning Floyd to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
