Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) has reintroduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, adding a “Tyre Nichols Duty to Intervene” provision.
During Tyre’s funeral last week, his mother, RowVaughn Wells delivered an impassioned plea to Congress: pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
“We need to get that bill passed,” Wells said. “Because if we don’t, the next child that dies – that blood is going to be on their hands.”
Jackson Lee’s provision outlines officers’ responsibility to act when they witness misconduct.
“I think we have a lot of support for Tyre Nichols’ name being part of the bill,” said Jackson Lee. “There needs to be a duty to intervene, a duty to care, because that’s what is needed while you’re watching someone, in essence, be brutalized.
“There were EMT persons who now have been caught up in this tragedy because of inaction. I’m sure that hurt Tyre’s mother. I wanted to assure her that was an important element of policing in America and that appropriately, Tyre’s name should be attached to that,” Jackson Lee added.
Though the issue of police reform has received bipartisan support, the divided Congress appears unlikely to pass the bill, especially now that the chamber is controlled by Republicans, some of whom expressed skepticism that the bill would prove effective in preventing police violence.
