Exactly one month after the death of George Floyd, who provoked a historic anti-racism protest in the United States, the House of Representatives, controlled by the Democrats, adopted on Thursday June 25 a plan for a thorough reform of the police.
Named after the black man who was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25, the text is, as it stands, doomed to failure in the Senate, where the majority is owned by the Republicans. And despite the two parties' stated desire to achieve reform, their positions are currently so far apart that a quick agreement seems difficult to reach before the parliamentary recess on July 3.
"Exactly a month ago, George Floyd said his last words, “I can not breathe”, and changed the course of our nation’s history "said Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the hemicycle before the vote. By adopting this text, the lower house "Honor his life and the lives of all those killed by police brutality, saying" never again ", and taking action", she added. With applause, the text was adopted by 236 votes to 181. Three Republicans supported it.
Prohibition on choking
Among the major points of contention with the Republicans, the text provides in particular for an outright ban on chokes and addresses the broad immunity enjoyed by American police.
It also provides for the end of search warrants allowing narcotics-related offenses to allow officers to enter the suspects without knocking. It was during such an intervention that Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black nurse, was killed at home in March by police bullets.
Having only limited power over the police across this federal country, Donald Trump had signed a decree on June 16 prohibiting in particular strangulation, except in the event of danger to the life of the police, and ordering a limited reform security forces. He called on Congress to quickly enact more comprehensive measures.
On Wednesday, the Democrats blocked another, republican, police reform bill in the Senate, saying it did not go far enough. Its author, Tim Scott, the only black Republican senator, and Donald Trump accuse the opposition of not wanting to reach consensus before the crucial November 3 presidential and parliamentary elections.
