Nevada Democrats back police reform legislation

WASHINGTON — Nevada lawmakers joined congressional Democrats on Monday in unveiling sweeping legislation to stem the use of excessive force by police against minorities that led to recent deaths and sparked a week of protests across the country.

The bill comes in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, who died under the knee of a policeman later charged with killing the unarmed man.

Nevada Democratic Reps. Dina Titus and Steven Horsford, as well as Sen. Jacky Rosen, back the Justice in Policing Act filed in both chambers of Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unveiled the bill during a Capitol Hill news conference where lawmakers took a knee in remembrance of recent victims who died during encounters with law enforcement.

“I know all too well the pain and loss the black community has faced because of law enforcement use of force,” said Horsford, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus which has pushed for the legislation.

Horsford attended the news conference Monday where the details of the legislation were spelled out following a week of demonstrations over the deaths of Floyd, Breonna Taylor of Kentucky and Ahmaud Arbery of Georgia, all African Americans in separate incidents.

Demonstrations have called for police reform in the wake of the deaths.

“We cannot settle for anything less than trans formative structural change,” Pelosi said.

Titus noted that the legislation aims to “end police brutality, hold law enforcement accountable and improve transparency.”

Wide Democratic support

The bill has more than 200 Democratic co-sponsors and is widely expected to pass in the House. A vote on the legislation is expected sometime this summer following congressional hearings, said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

It is unknown whether police reform legislation would have the support needed to pass in the Republican-led Senate.

Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has called for a federal investigation into the death of Taylor, an emergency medical technician in Louisville, Kentucky, who was shot in her home following a botched March raid on her home by police.

Although McConnell has decried police brutality against recent victims, and filed a non-binding resolution seeking justice for Taylor, the senate leader has yet to endorse any specific legislative measure that could come before the Senate.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a Senate floor speech that he spoke by telephone with the Floyd family in Houston on Monday.

Cornyn said the Senate should consider a bipartisan bill introduced last year to create a National Criminal Justice Commission to review the current system and propose reforms.

President Donald Trump, meanwhile, held a round table with law enforcement officials. Last week, the president derided the nation’s governors for being “weak” in confronting protesters as marches in some places turned violent and looting occurred.

Violent protests

In Las Vegas, Metro Police officer Shay Mikolanis remains hospitalized after being shot in the head during a protest on the Strip, and law enforcement officers shot and killed Jorge Gomez in a separate incident last week.

Both shootings in Las Vegas resulted from demonstrations.

Still, the militaristic approach to demonstrations last week by the White House was met with opposition from leaders in both major political parties who defended the right of citizens to peacefully demonstrate and spoke out about institutional racism.

Former GOP presidential nominee and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah walked with Black Lives Matter demonstrators over the weekend.

And retired Gen. Colin Powell, former secretary of state under President George W. Bush, endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. Powell denounced an attempt by Trump to involve the U.S. military against American citizens involved in the demonstrations.

At the Capitol Hill news conference, Schumer said he would “fight like hell” to push the Democratic-backed bill through the Senate.

Banning choke holds

The bill would ban choke holds and other tactics used by police and led to the death of Floyd. Also banned would be no-knock raids to serve warrants, which led to the shooting that killed Taylor.

The bill would also give state attorneys general more power to investigate and prosecute cases of misconduct or excessive use of force by local law enforcement.

Lynching would be categorized as a federal crime under the bill, which also would prohibit the transfer military-grade equipment to local law enforcement agencies.

NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly said Rep. Susie Lee and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto supported the legislation.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.