WASHINGTON – House Democrats will stand in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds at a ceremony on Capitol Hill Monday to honor George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck as he lay handcuffed in the street.
Democrats will also unveil a sweeping package addressing police reforms, the first major legislative response to Floyd’s killing and protests against police brutality across the nation.
The Justice in Policing Act of 2020 is set to be introduced after House Democrats gather in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, which was named in honor of slaves who helped construct the Capitol.
Lawmakers will pay respects to Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, all unarmed black individuals whose deaths have spurred worldwide demonstrations against racism and police brutality.
The eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence is the amount of time Floyd lay on the street with Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck. Chauvin has since been charged with second-degree murder and three other officers who were on the scene are facing related charges of aiding and abetting.
The proposed legislation aims to bolster accountability of offices and create a program to track problematic officers in a national registry. It also aims to end practices such as the use of no-knock warrants and chokeholds.
More than 40 bills have been floated by House Democrats over the last week or two as they seek to move quickly on legislative changes.
This weekend’s protests drew tens of thousands of people, some of the largest crowds since Floyd died May 25 and were largely free of the violent clashes with police, property damage and looting that broke out at many demonstrations during the initial wave of protests.
President Donald Trump, who had criticized some governor’s as “weak” for the handling of the protests and had threatened to use active-duty troops to quell the unrest, tweeted Sunday that he was ordering National Guard members to withdraw from Washington. Trump said “everything is under perfect control” after a week of peaceful protests.
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The notable exception to the calm was Seattle, where police used flash bang devices and pepper spray to disperse protesters after rocks, bottles and explosives were thrown at officers Saturday night. On Sunday night, a man drove a car at protesters, hit a barricade and shot a man.
Though 80% of voters said in a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that they feel like the situation in the U.S. is “out of control,” they were sympathetic to protesters’ demands. Fifty-nine percent said they were more concerned about the actions of police than the protesters, while 27% said they were more concerned about the violent protests and 13% said they were worried about both.
While the legislation is likely to have the backing of fellow Democrats, whether it can pass muster in the Republican-held Senate remains unclear. Many Republican lawmakers have condemned Floyd’s killing but their responses to the protests and calls for reform have varied. While Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark, penned a controversial op-ed saying it was time to “Send the Troops In” to stomp out the unrest, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, marched with protesters Sunday and took up the call of “Black Lives Matter.”
“We need a voice against racism, we need many voices against racism and against brutality,” Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential candidate, told NBC News.
Another past Republican standard-bearer, former President George W. Bush, called for an end to “systemic racism” in a statement last week and said it was a demonstration of America’s “strength” when peaceful protesters “march for a better future.”
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The White House has also yet to unveil any plan to address changes that millions are demanding in protests across the nation.
But members of both parties have expressed an openness to tackling issues on police reform and hearings are scheduled in both chambers to examine the issue and possible changes.
On Wednesday, Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee during a hearing centered on police brutality and racial profiling.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is also planning to hold a hearing the following week to examine police use of force. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chairman of the committee and a close confidant of President Donald Trump, said he hoped the hearing would lead to legislative changes.
“There’s a problem here and we’ve got to get to the bottom of it,” he told reporters last week.
