In addition to messages about a thriving economy and Democrats’ efforts to lower health care costs, President Joe Biden is expected to make police accountability a key theme of Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
Outrage over the death of Tyre Nichols following a brutal interaction with Memphis, Tennessee, police officers prompted U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus to call for Biden to devote at least a portion of his speech to addressing the issue and recommending federal legislation.
“We’re very clear that we have to get something done here,” the Atlanta Democrat said Thursday after he and other caucus members met with Biden at the White House. “And all the leaders who were in the room were committed to doing that. And we need folks in both houses, on both sides of the aisle, in conjunction with the White House, to respond. This is a moral moment in America. Tyre Nichols should be alive.”
Nichols’ family has accepted an invitation to attend the State of the Union. Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at his funeral last week and said legislation is needed to ensure that law enforcement officers keep true to their mission to protect and serve.
“So when we talk about public safety, let us understand what it means in its truest form: Tyre Nichols should’ve been safe,” she said.
The conversation on policing, the criminal justice system and how race plays a role in how both are experienced has been happening in America for years. The death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 led to protests across the nation. Two Georgia men, Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks, also died in high-profile incidents that drew new scrutiny of the criminal justice system.
More recently, the city of Atlanta’s plan to build a $90 million public safety training center on land in DeKalb County has been decried by activists who call the proposal “cop city.”
Protests have at times become violent. Law enforcement officers shot and killed a man last month they say fired upon officers who were attempting to clear protesters from the site of the proposed facility. After Warnock put out a statement denouncing those who would harm law enforcement officers, some liberals accused him of ignoring the issues raised by protesters.
Warnock said last week that critics must find a way to voice their concerns without actions that could harm police or anyone else.
“Whatever people’s concerns are, they need to be raised in a nonviolent and peaceful manner,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams represents the city of Atlanta and the land where the facility will be built; she is also among the most liberal members of Congress. Williams said she does not approve of protests becoming violent, but she also wants to see attention paid to issues concerning policing and race that protesters have highlighted.
“I don’t buy the whole notion that you have to choose one or the other, between standing up for our law enforcement and standing with protesters,” she said. “I was literally arrested for peacefully protesting; I will always stand on the side of protesters.”
With Democrats in the majority in both the U.S. House and Senate during the 2020 protests, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was introduced. It would have created new federal accountability measures when officers are accused of wrongdoing, implemented new training and procedures to address racial profiling, and limited use of force by law enforcement.
That measure lost steam in 2021 because Senate Democrats and Republicans could not reach a compromise on language regarding qualified immunity, a legal defense that shields officers and other public officials from being sued when they are accused of misconduct.
Nichols’ death has reignited these conversations. But there is a new calculus on what can be accomplished, especially with Republicans now in the majority in the House and far-right members holding enormous power.
South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott was previously Republicans’ lead negotiator on policing legislation. In messages posted on Twitter last week, he said that he is open to discussions with Democrats on “common ground solutions that actually have a shot at passing.”
“Solutions to increase funding and training to make sure only the best wear the badge,” he wrote. “Solutions that would have made a difference in places like Memphis and Kenosha,” a city in Wisconsin where law enforcement has also been involved in questionable incidents.
The Democrats’ lead on policing talks, New Jersey U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, said he learned some lessons after negotiations with Scott stalled during the last Congress, despite a major police union showing a willingness to come to the table. This time around, he plans to share fewer specifics publicly in hopes that behind closed doors true progress can be made.
“I think that what the public is demanding, and many in police leadership want as well, are some meaningful things that will make America safer and raise professional standards, accountability and transparency within police,” he said.
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