House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday supported her controversial comments that Republicans were trying to get away with “murder” by resisting Democrats’ police reform legislation, and later claimed that the police legislation of the House passed Thursday could have saved George Floyd’s life.
“I think the murder of George Floyd would have been prevented if our law that we have now was the law of the land,” Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill during his press conference.
PELOSI SAYS THE REPUBLICANS ‘TRY TO GET AWAY FROM THE MURDER’ BY GEORGE FLOYD
Pelosi’s statement came after a reporter called her comments Tuesday on CBS News Radio where she criticized the Republican Party’s police reform legislation following Floyd’s custody death in Minneapolis as “insurmountable” and said Republicans they are “trying to escape with the murder, actually, the murder of George Floyd.” The journalist noted that Pelosi has condemned President Trump’s rhetoric in the past and asked if his murder comments went too far.
“I don’t,” Pelosi said, arguing that police law is a matter of life and death.
“The policy has an impact,” said Pelosi. “And we can prevent future deaths by banning bottlenecks. I am fully committed to that.”
THE HOUSE APPROVES THE DEMAND FOR REFORM OF THE POLICE OF SWEEPING THE OTHER 1 DAY AFTER THE SENATE
Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes. Chauvin and the other three officers involved were fired and criminally charged, as Floyd’s death, captured on video, sparked a nationwide protest.
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the Police Justice Act that would ban bottlenecks, including the type Chauvin used, reform qualified immunity that can protect police officers from civil trials, create a national database of police conduct and reduce the obstacle for police officers to face criminal prosecution. Pelosi and other Democrats have been highly critical of the Republican proposal in the Senate that didn’t go as far by banning strangleholds and ending qualified immunity.
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats blocked the Republican Party police reform bill that would have incentivized state and local police departments to make changes. The fact that the Republican bill did not even advance to debate triggered a furious war of words on the ground.
THE REPUBLIC OF THE SENATE POLICE REFORM PROJECT FAILS IN THE PROOF VOTE AMID THE DEM OPPOSITION
While protesters, civil rights activists and lawmakers say they want change, the Washington police reform effort is now at a standstill.
