(RoyalPatriot.com )- Kamala Harris used a speech that she gave at a funeral this week to call on Congress to pass large-scale police reforms.
On Wednesday, the vice president delivered a speech at the funeral services for Tyre Nichols, a black man who was beaten to death in a brutal way by multiple black police officers in Memphis last month. The entire ordeal was caught on bodycam footage as well as public surveillance cameras.
Following an investigation into the manner, including reviewing all the videos, five officers were initially fired from the job. They were later all charged with second-degree murder for their role in Nichols’ death.
At Nichols’ funeral, Harris took time to promote the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. That bill passed through the Democrat-led House of Representatives back in March of 2021, but never advanced out of the Senate.
Reiterating that President Joe Biden would indeed sign the bill if it were to pass through Congress, Harris said in her speech:
“As vice president of the United States, we demand that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. We should not delay, and we will not be denied. It is non-negotiable.”
If passed, the bill would overhaul the current qualified immunity for officers, restrict police from using no-knock entries on warrants and ban police from using chokeholds, to name a few initiatives. The bill gets its name from George Floyd, the man who died while in police custody in Minneapolis back in May of 2020.
Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck during teh stop, was sentenced to 252 months in prison for his role in Floyd’s death. In addition, Chauvin – as well as three other officers who were on the scene that day – are facing federal charges related to Floyd’s death as well.
None of the officers involved in Floyd’s death were black.
By contrast, all of the officers involved in Nichols’ death were black. Yet, activists still say that “systematic racism” is the reason the incident happened.
Many congressional Democrats – growing frustrated that they haven’t been able to get anything done at all regarding police reform – have turned to the White House for help. The main group backing that is the Congressional Black Caucus.
There has been bipartisan support for some changes in police reform, especially in talks that have been led by Republican Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina, who is black. But, to this point, it’s uncertain just how far the House and Senate will go – or will be able to go – now that the Republican Party is controlling the House.
In her comments at Nichols’ funeral, Harris said:
“This violent act was not in pursuit of public safety. It was not in the interest of keeping the public safe, because one must ask, was not it in the interest of keeping the public safe that Tyre Nichols would be with us today? Was he not also entitled to the right to be safe?”
