In the four years following the time George Floyd was killed, Washington hasn’t found a way to reform the police
Four years following George Floyd’s murder the work on federal legislation to reform police is largely stalled due to the partisan gridlock in Capitol Hill.
By Hunter Woodall, Taurean Small, Aaron Navarro
Four years after George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer, momentum in Washington to pass sweeping reform in the Minnesota man’s name has almost faded away completely.
In the deaths of Floyd the 46-year-old Black male, during the month of May 2020 caused outrage and calls for changes. In response to the the deep resentment throughout America, United States, Democrats and Republicans in Congress introduced various legislation in reaction just a few months after his death.
However, as time has passed since the police officer who sat upon Floyd’s neck, for longer than nine hours stunned the nation There’s been a lack of urgency to make the type of radical changes the president Biden has long wanted to see.
“That’s the insult right there, not taking action,” Keeta Floyd George’s sister-in law, told me.
What will happen on this issue going forward will be determined at the time of 2024’s presidential elections because Biden. Biden contends with the possibility of his support waning in the eyes of Black voters, who are crucial in his quest to get an election to the White House once more.
There have been several murders by police following Floyd’s death. One of them was in the early 2023 period during the time Tyre Nichols 29, a 29-year-old Black man, was killed in Tennessee. A few days later, South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott gave a speech in which he criticized Democrats and the political system for not making advancement.
Scott, who was the only Black Republican within Scott, the only Republican of color in Senate was also the principal GOP negotiator regarding reforms to the police force and had written an initiative of his own following the death of Floyd that was resisted by Senate Democrats during a time when a large portion of their own group supported a larger-scale initiative that was themselves.
“I hope that when the dust settles, and the issue is no longer on the front pages of our newspapers, no longer streaming across our TVs and our iPads and our computers, that we do something that says to the American people, we see your pain, we are willing to put our partisan labels and shirts and uniforms on the side, so that we can do what needs to be done,” Scott made clear in his speech last year.
A one year and half later, Scott is viewed as a possible running as a mate for the presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Scott’s office has not been able to grant interviews regarding the fight to introduce changes to the policing system in Congress.
Mr. Biden addressed the abysmal issues exposed by the death of Floyd a central part on his presidential election campaign. Although Republicans and Democrats supported distinct bills during the time following the death of Floyd was killed, none of these initiatives came even close to becoming law under Republican Donald Trump in the White House. When he was president, Biden. Biden addressed Congress for the first time, he made one of the most powerful speeches of his career to ask Congress to discover a way forwardquickly.
“We need to work together to find a consensus,” Biden said. Biden said in April of 2021. “But let’s get it done next month, by the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death.”
Despite bipartisan talks, Congress failed to meet the timeline set by the president. A couple of months later, negotiations fell apart. Re-evaluating protected immunity that is able to safeguard law enforcement from lawsuits brought by civil litigants, was a topic Democrats loved deeply however, it was a major issue for the GOP.
Since then, interest in the issue within Congress has decreased significantly. Republicans in a bid to appear as the “party of peace and security continue to be associated with Democrats with the controversial “defund the police” slogan that became popular after Floyd died, despite the fact that most members of Congress Democrats don’t support the movement.
The inaction of Congress has been accompanied by anxieties about crime as well as worries about recruiting as well as staffing issues in law law enforcement in Mr. Biden’s tenure in office.
The president has taken only a small amount of actions that he is able to execute unilaterally. After two years since Floyd died, Vice President. Biden signed an executive order that focused upon federal law enforcement. This included the creation of the National Law Enforcement Accountability Database.
“We’ve made progress,” said Stephen Benjamin, a senior Biden White House adviser. “Are we where we used to be? Absolutely not. [Are we] where we want to be? Not just yet. But we’ll get there.”
Far from Washington and policing in this time and age can be an extremely personal matter.
Bridgette Stewart, a community activist from Minnesota joined with a number of others in preventing outsiders from entering the neighborhood where Floyd died in Minneapolis at the time of city-wide unrest. A decade later, she claims relationships between police and communities are strained.
“Most Black neighborhoods in the United States of America where a Black man is killed, either at the hands of the police or by community, it’s just a neighborhood that doesn’t thrive,” Stewart stated.
In the case of Nate Hamilton, who said that he will vote for Biden and reforming police procedures has been a priority after his older brother Dontre Hamilton was shot 14 times and later killed in the confrontation with an Milwaukee police officer in 2014.
Hamilton believes that reforming police as well as accountability “is a national issue,” and expressed displeasure with the federal government from Congress up to even the Justice Department, for not taking enough steps to follow up on cases similar to his brother’s.
“We thought that they were going to take a real look into how they can support individuals that have lost their lives, but most importantly their families, because their families are still the ones that are traumatized,” the man said.
There is a consensus within the police community that in some areas across the nation, police in the local area took action to address the public outcry following Floyd’s death by implementing changes.
“There’s a perception that [because] Congress didn’t pass a reform bill, that somehow there’s not reform across this country,” Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes said. “I don’t think that’s really the case. Each one of these local jurisdictions engage in discussions with the people involved, in finding ways to improve the criminal justice system.”
However, for the family of Floyd the lack of action by Congress is a sting, even though Biden along with other Democrats continue to call for legislation to change the law.
It doesn’t mean they’re blaming Biden however, since he’s running to re-elect himself this fall.
“I do feel 100% comfortable saying that the Biden administration has done what they could do,” Keeta Floyd, George’s sister-in law she said.
The family of George Floyd were seen on Capitol Hill earlier this week to celebrate a fresh campaign by Democrats to approve an overhaul of the way police are policing is conducted in his honor. While earlier versions were passed by the Democratic-controlled House in 2021 and 2020 The bill is likely to fail this year, as Republicans control the House.
Despite the many political challenges that the Floyd family has endured in the past George’s brother, Philonise Floyd has been visiting Washington through the years, arguing his case that change should come to pass.
“My brother’s life was stolen,” Philonise Floyd stated at Capitol Hill earlier this week. “So many other people’s lives was stolen from them.”
Hunter Woodall is a political editorial producer at CBS News. He was a reporter for in the primary election in 2020 New Hampshire primary for The Associated Press as well as been an Kansas statehouse reporter at The Kansas City Star and the Washington reporter of The Star Tribune in Minnesota. Star Tribune.
