Democrats push police reform bill through US House but deadlock awaits in Senate

Republican senators set to block measure opposed by Trump, which bans choke holds, no-knock warrants, restricts officer immunity, combats racial profiling

By AFP 26 June 2020, 4:58 am

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A man yells at police as demonstrators protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Washington, DC, June 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON — Democrats pushed sweeping new police guidelines through the US House on Thursday amid a polarizing debate after the high-profile killing of George Floyd sparked nationwide protests and calls for change.

The measure, which bans choke holds and no-knock warrants, restricts officer immunity, combats racial profiling and establishes a database to track police misconduct, passed largely along party lines.

It sets up a showdown in the Senate where Republican leadership has no intention of passing it.

Applause rang out when the bill passed by 236 votes to 181, with three Republicans joining the chamber’s Democrats in support.

US President Donald Trump is opposed to the House measure, and on Tuesday said the Democrats were aiming to “weaken our police” and end officer immunity.

Instead he backs a narrower, Senate Republican proposal. That measure was blocked by Democrats on Tuesday and there were no signs of new negotiations.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her chamber’s bill is named after George Floyd, whose final words “I can’t breathe” before his death at the hands of Minneapolis police “changed the course of history in our nation.”

The legislation “will fundamentally transform the culture of policing to address systemic racism, curb police brutality and save lives, as it puts an end to shielding police from accountability,” Pelosi said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, joined by House Democrats spaced for social distancing, speaks during a news conference on in Washington, June 25, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

“We don’t paint all police with the same brush, but for those who need to be painted with that brush, we need to take the action contained in this bill,” she said.

Pelosi and other Democrats have dismissed the Senate measure because they say it mimics the words of reform while requiring no specific action.

Instead of direct mandates, the Republican proposal would incentivize change by denying federal grants to police departments that do not end choke holds or no-knock warrants.

Republicans say their bill would be a good starting point for negotiations. Democrats argue it falls well short, and Pelosi said it would be “a moral failure to accept anything less than transformational change.”