[WSMDiscuss] The US is aflame, the people of the US remain afire… : Democrats kneel at US Capitol, unveil sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures (Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press)

[Jai Sen]

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Viruses in movement…, Resistance in movement…, The US in movement… ?

[The US is aflame, the people of the US remain afire… and in the midst of this, this striking news, which has come out in a mainstream paper here in Canada today but where other than this Associated Press report, I’ve not seen much commentary on it as yet.  Even if what the Democrats are proposing is not as full blooded as the movement is demanding, it still seems extraordinary to see such demands moving from the municipal to the national level within just one week.  What should we make of this ?  Any comments, from people better placed to judge ? 

[What is also striking though, is seeing the country’s parliamentarians taking a kneel… and for the full 8 minutes and 46 seconds, and also to see this becoming a widespread political gesture, both in the US and beyond; such as the British soccer team Liverpool also doing this, a week ago (see below, from a separate news item).  I’m not sure what to think, but I can barely imagine this happening in any other legislature in the world, let alone in the very heart of empire.  What does this signify ?  Just rank populism, in competition with the other populists, in the run-up that has already started for the 2020 presidential elections ?  Or does it signify something else ? :

Democrats kneel at US Capitol, unveil sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures

Lisa Mascaro, The Associated Press

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-politics/article-democrats-proposing-a-sweeping-overhaul-of-police-oversight-and/ <https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-politics/article-democrats-proposing-a-sweeping-overhaul-of-police-oversight-and/>    


Congressional Democrats kneel during a moment of silence to honor George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others inside Emancipation Hall, at the US Capitol, in Washington, on June 8, 2020.  (JONATHAN ERNST/Reuters)

Democrats proposed a sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures Monday, an ambitious legislative response to the mass protests denouncing the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement.

Before unveiling the package, House and Senate Democrats held a moment of silence at the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, reading the names of George Floyd and others killed during police interactions. They knelt for 8 minutes and 46 seconds – now a symbol of police brutality and violence – the length of time prosecutors say Floyd was pinned under a white police officer’s knee before he died.

“We cannot settle for anything less than transformative structural change,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, drawing on the nation’s history of slavery.

The Justice in Policing Act would limit legal protections for police, create a national database of excessive-force incidents and ban police choke holds, among other changes, according to an early draft. It is the most ambitious change to law enforcement sought by Congress in years.

Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is leading the effort, said called it “bold” and “transformative.”

“The world is witnessing the birth of a new movement in this country,” Bass said.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators nationwide have been protesting in the streets since Floyd was killed May 25 for an end to police violence.

“A profession where you have the power to kill should be a profession where you have highly trained officers that are accountable to the public,” Bass said.

The package confronts several aspects of law enforcement accountability and practices that have come under criticism, especially as more and more police violence is captured on cellphone video and shared widely across the nation, and the world.

The proposed legislation would revise the federal criminal police misconduct statute to make it easier to prosecute officers who are involved in misconduct “knowingly or with reckless disregard.”

The package would also change “qualified immunity” protections for police “to enable individuals to recover damages when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights,” it says.

The legislation would seek to provide greater oversight and transparency of police behaviour in several ways. For one, it would grant subpoena power to the Justice Department to conduct “pattern and practice” investigations of potential misconduct and help states conduct independent investigations. It would ban racial profiling and boost requirements for police body cameras.

And it would create a “National Police Misconduct Registry,” a database to try to prevent officers from transferring from one department to another with past misconduct undetected, the draft said.

A long-sought federal anti-lynching bill stalled in Congress is included in the package.

However, the package stops short calls by leading activists to “defund the police,” a push to dismantle or reduce financial resources to police departments that has struck new intensity in the weeks of protests since Floyd’s death.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., a co-author with Bass and the Democratic senators, will convene a hearing on the legislation Wednesday.

It is unclear if law enforcement and the powerful police unions will back any of the proposed changes or if congressional Republicans will join the effort.

At least one Republican, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who has long pushed for a criminal justice overhaul, has said he’d like to review the package coming from Democrats.

And Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has said his panel intends to hold a hearing to review use of force issues and police practices.

The presumed Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, has backed a ban on chokeholds and other elements of the package.

“I can’t breathe” has become a rallying cry by protesters. Floyd pleaded with police that he couldn’t breathe, echoing the same phrase Eric Garner said while in police custody in 2014 before his death.

“All we’ve ever wanted is to be treated equally – not better, not worse,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “Equal protection under the law.”

Senators vowed to pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to consider the legislation.

Sen. Cory Booker, a Democratic rival who had been critical of Biden during the presidential primary campaign, said Sunday he “fully” put his faith in Biden now “to be the person who could preside over this transformative change.”

Booker and fellow one-time presidential hopeful, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, are co-authors of the package in the Senate.







Liverpool players take a knee in memory of George Floyd Liverpool FC, June 1 2020 via Getty Images RT 010620

From 'Unity is strength': Liverpool squad kneel at Anfield in tribute to George Floyd (VIDEO) @ https://www.rt.com/sport/490432-liverpool-players-knee-george-floyd/ <https://www.rt.com/sport/490432-liverpool-players-knee-george-floyd/>
 

The action that some say sparked off taking a knee :


San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, center, kneels during the national anthem Sunday, Oct. 16, 2016, before an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, NY Las Vegas Sun js010620


____________________________

Jai Sen

Independent researcher, editor; Senior Fellow at the School of International Development and Globalisation Studies at the University of Ottawa

jai.sen at cacim.net <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net>
Now based in New Delhi, India (+91-98189 11325) and in Ottawa, Canada, on unceded and unsurrendered Anishinaabe territory (+1-613-282 2900) 

CURRENT / RECENT publications :

Jai Sen, ed, 2018a – The Movements of Movements, Part 2 : Rethinking Our Dance. Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
Jai Sen, ed, 2018b – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ? (Indian edition). New Delhi : AuthorsUpfront, in collaboration with OpenWord and PM Press.  Hard copy available at MOM1AmazonIN <https://www.amazon.in/dp/9387280101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522884070&sr=8-2&keywords=movements+of+movements+jai+sen>, MOM1Flipkart <https://www.flipkart.com/the-movements-of-movements/p/itmf3zg7h79ecpgj?pid=9789387280106&lid=LSTBOK9789387280106NBA1CH&marketplace=FLIPKART&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&fm=SEARCH&iid=ff35b702-e6a8-4423-b014-16c84f6f0092.9789387280106.SEARCH&ppt=Search%20Page>, and MOM1AUpFront <http://www.authorsupfront.com/movements.htm>
Jai Sen, ed, 2017 – The Movements of Movements, Part 1 : What Makes Us Move ?.  New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA : PM Press.  Ebook and hard copy available at PM Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>
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