After the death of George Floyd ― an African American who died on 25 May 2020 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for minutes ― led to the birth of the Black Lives Matter Movement, an historic bill aimed at police reforms and named after Floyd was passed in the US House of Representatives. All set to police the US Police force, the new bill effectively bans chokeholds and eliminates qualified immunity for law enforcement.
According to a fact sheet on the legislation, the measure would allow “individuals to recover damages in civil court when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights by eliminating qualified immunity for law enforcement.” The fact sheet also states that the legislation would “save lives by banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants” and would mandate “deadly force be used only as a last resort.”
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, H.R. 1280, was championed by Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., and was passed in the Parliament in a 220-212 vote. “Never again should an unarmed individual be murdered or brutalized by someone who is supposed to serve and protect them,” Bass said in a statement. “Never again should the world be subject to witnessing what we saw happen to George Floyd in the streets in Minnesota.”
While Democrats Jared Golden and Ron Kind joined the Republicans in voting against the bill, Republican Congressman Lance Gooden of Texas was the only ‘Red’ who voted for it. Funnily enough, he tweeted an apology saying he had voted for it ‘by mistake’.
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