The House passed a bill on Wednesday aimed at helping prevent police misconduct, naming the legislation after a Black man killed by Minneapolis police last May in a violent arrest that triggered nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality, reports the Huffington Post.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed 220-212 in the Democratic-controlled House. The legislation bans police from using chokeholds and no-knock warrants, requires data collection on police encounters and ends qualified immunity ― a legal doctrine often used to shield police from accountability. The bill also authorizes new grant funding for community-based organizations to implement evidence-based initiatives like violence interruption and hospital-based violence intervention ― strategies to keep neighborhoods safe that mostly don’t involve police.
Ten months ago, then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, killed Floyd after kneeling on his neck for several minutes while he was handcuffed and face down on the street. Footage of the incident that went viral on social media showed Floyd begging officers for air, saying he couldn’t breathe. After pressure had already built up from repeated deaths of Black people at the hands of police, Floyd’s death broke the dam and resulted in protests across the country ― with some people calling for police reform, some demanding police funds go to social services and others calling for police abolition.
“My city is not an outlier but rather an example of the inequalities our country has struggled with for centuries,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), whose district includes Minneapolis, said inside as she presided over House debate and called the vote ahead of the bill’s passage.
