[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 24 (Monday, February 6, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H699-H705]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEATH OF TYRE NICHOLS
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. D'Esposito). Under the Speaker's
announced policy of January 9, 2023, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr.
Ivey) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority
leader.
General Leave
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include any
extraneous material on the subject of this Special Order.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Maryland?
There was no objection.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor I rise today to
coanchor this CBC Special Order hour with Chairman Horsford, the
chairman of the CBC, and Ms. Kamlager-Dove of California.
For the next 60 minutes, we have a chance to speak directly to the
American people on issues of great importance to the Congressional
Black Caucus, Congress, the constituents we represent, and all
Americans.
Today, we will be speaking on the death of Tyre Nichols.
{time} 1915
Mr. Speaker, I rise today--after the horrifying murder of yet another
young, Black man at the hands of police--outraged because nothing has
worked.
``They need more police training,'' we said.
But so-called elite squads like SCORPION already require extra
training over and above the basics.
``They need more diversity,'' we said.
But every single one of the five officers we saw mercilessly beat an
unarmed and compliant Tyre Nichols was Black, just like him.
``They need more accountability,'' we said.
But even the advent of body cameras hasn't stopped officers from
pummeling our sons--and sometimes our daughters--to death over mere
traffic infractions.
Just throw in a few shouts of: ``Stop resisting'' to try and fool our
eyes from believing what we are clearly seeing.
We tried all those things--more training, more diversity, and more
accountability--and yet Tyre Nichols is dead. He was dragged out of his
car and attacked by a swarm of men twice his size, exhausting
themselves and then coming back to beat him again.
Reforming these so-called elite squads is not enough. It is time to
end them altogether.
These units often attract and recruit young, aggressive officers
drawn to the prospect of less supervision. They slap an intimidating
name on the team, like SCORPION or STRESS or CRASH--which in the
nineties stood for Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums--because
these units aren't about forging bonds with the communities they serve.
They are about instilling fear.
They descend on low-income, usually minority neighborhoods looking to
make pretextual stops in search of drugs or guns. That is not a secret.
It is a tactic sanctioned by the Supreme Court itself. An officer can
stop anyone for whatever reason he wants. He doesn't even need to know
which law he suspects you of breaking, Mr. Speaker, so long as he can
develop a reason after the fact--reasons that are often minor, trivial,
and unrelated. Things like a busted taillight or partially obscured
traffic tag are sufficient for these stops.
This is formal policy in police departments across the country. For
example, the New York City Police Department admittedly trained its
officers to ``stop and question first, develop reasonable suspicion
later.''
What results is a constant state of alert. Black and Brown males
worry about being pulled over for a minor traffic stop that can spiral
out of control. Police officers worry because they are understandably
taught that there is nothing more dangerous than to walk up to a
stranger's driver-side window at night. Both sides of the confrontation
are on edge.
And for what?
So that an officer can peek inside the car for contraband and ask for
so-called consent to search the car, despite many drivers feeling like
they can't say no.
These pretextual traffic stops aren't bearing much fruit. A study
found that stop-and-frisk searches in New York City produced drugs or
guns in less than 2 percent of the cases. What it does is breed
contempt between the police and the people they are sworn to protect.
African Americans are five times more likely to have their vehicles
searched, and a Black man has to hit the age of 50 before his chance of
being pulled over lowers to that of a young White man.
As the father of five Black sons, I am all too familiar with the talk
parents are duty bound to give their Black and Brown children about how
to deescalate interactions with the police.
As a former prosecutor, I saw firsthand how communities can be
ravaged by fear in the face of violent crime and threats to public
safety. Those communities should not also be afraid of the men and
women in uniform whose job it is to defend them. Police can't
investigate crime if victims and witnesses don't trust them enough to
come forward. These squads running roughshod on our streets are
contributing to a breakdown in that trust. It isn't leading to better
results, but it is contributing to the unjustified killing of our kids.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis did the right thing by shutting
down the SCORPION unit. But we must not wait until the next murder of
an innocent man gets national attention before we shut down these
roving elite squads across the country.
Professor Christy E. Lopez, the co-chair of the D.C. Police Reform
Commission, made the case brilliantly in a recent Washington Post
editorial titled: ``Cities should get rid of their toxic crime-
suppression units.''
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record this article by Christy E.
Lopez.
[From the Washington Post, Jan. 31, 2023]
Cities Should get rid of Their Toxic Crime-Suppression Units
(By Christy E. Lopez)
Last week, after five Memphis police officers were charged
with murdering their son, Tyre Nichols's family called for
the dissolution of Scorpion, the specialized policing unit to
which those officers were assigned. On Saturday, Memphis made
the right decision and announced it would shut the unit down.
Now, other cities should follow Memphis's lead and disband
their own analogous--and outdated--units.
In my decades investigating law enforcement agencies, and
studying what makes them prone to causing unnecessary harm, I
have consistently found that units such as Scorpion are a key
factor. And they are not unusual. Most mid-size to large
cities have a unit--or several--akin to Scorpion, focused on
areas considered to be crime ``hot spots'' or on a particular
task such as seizing drugs or guns.
These teams have various names orbiting around buzzwords
like ``crime suppression'' or ``violence reduction.'' In the
communities they police, they're often just called ``jump
outs.'' Regardless of the name, they are all under official
direction--pressure, even--to aggressively police areas
deemed high-crime, nearly always majority Black or Latino,
often using traffic and pedestrian stops as an excuse to
search people and their belongings in the hopes of finding
guns or other contraband.
It's possible that Scorpion was a particularly bad specimen
of this family of aggressive policing units: As one police
chief noted, the name ``speaks volumes about the mission of
the unit and the mentality of the officers.'' That
``Scorpion'' was an acronym for ``Street Crimes Operation to
Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods'' is a mockery of genuine
concern for community well-being.
But this tolerance for inflicting community pain in the
name of community protection is a thread that runs through
these teams going back decades. In the 1990s, the
[[Page H700]]
Los Angeles Police Department's ``special investigations
section'' was an ``elite'' unit known both for the
extraordinary number of people it killed in shootouts and for
its practice of allowing community members to be victimized
so it could make better arrests. During a Justice Department
investigation of the New Orleans Police Department in 2010, a
police official told investigators that the community viewed
street crime ``task forces'' as ``jump out boys, dirty cops,
the ones who are going to be brutal.'' These task forces
finally were ended in 2020 after the federal monitor showed
they operated with little supervision, made stops with
``questionable legal basis,'' didn't document their work and
endangered citizens.
An investigation of the Baltimore Police Department's
notoriously corrupt and violent Gun Trace Task Force (GTTF)
found that although created in 2007, its abusive tactics had
roots dating back to at least 1999. Yet the GTTF was not
disbanded until eight of its officers were indicted in 2017.
In Washington, the D.C. Police Reform Commission (which I
co-chaired) recommended in 2021 that the Metropolitan Police
Department suspend its crime-suppression teams and gun
recovery unit until it could provide data showing its
effectiveness. The department has not done so, although late
last year, it suspended one crime-suppression team after
seven of its officers were put under investigation. A month
ago, a former officer from another team was convicted of
second-degree murder for a 2020 car chase that killed Karon
Hylton-Brown (another unit officer was found guilty of
obstructing justice).
These units can't be fixed. Their problems go beyond issues
with selection, training or supervision. The premise on which
they are based ensures they will fail communities. Everything
we know teaches us that, to be effective, policing must
center community well-being and fair treatment. But these
units are focused on stats: arrests made, guns and drugs
recovered, even overtime hours worked. This incentivizes
policing that takes full advantage (and then some) of the
broad discretion under law--including pretext stops and
discretion to jail that is broader than a judge's--to detain
and search people based on little more than a hunch, a
profile or where they live. It's an approach that has been
shown time and again to be inefficient, alienating and
confrontation-provoking, even as its impact on crime is
uncertain.
I have talked with many police officers who are ambivalent
about--or even resentful of--these units, which generally do
not respond to calls for service. This leaves regular patrol
officers to pick up the slack--and often, the pieces of
community relationship broken by interactions with the
specialized units. These patrol officers live the mixed
messages given by police and city leadership: They are
sternly admonished to build trust and take action only where
public safety requires, even as they see leadership
encouraging (and promoting) members of crime-suppression
teams. They watch as the relationships they built with
community members go unnoticed and the latest gun and drug
bust earns a commendation. Heavily policed communities will
tell you exactly how this contradiction plays out: ``The
police are everywhere,'' I often have been told, ``until you
need them.''
Suppression units also become petri dishes for cultures of
impunity. As long as they ``produce,'' making arrests and
bringing in contraband, chiefs can ward off unrealistic
expectations that policing solve social problems. But
facilitating this kind of ``production'' has always, in my
experience, gone hand-in-hand with indulging lax adherence to
law and policy, discounting or glossing over misconduct
complaints and generous overtime approval.
These units reflect and reinforce the worst aspects of
warrior policing. The cost-benefit analysis makes no sense
once you recognize that we have underestimated their harms,
and the benefits they offer could be better achieved through
services that respond more directly to community needs and
work to reduce the root causes of crime.
Disbanding Scorpion was likely a little too little, and
certainly a little too late. Other communities should not
wait for an act of searing violence before rethinking this
approach. It's time to recognize the harm these units cause--
and put an end to them and the approach to policing they
embody.
Mr. IVEY. Finally, I think the time has come to end pretextual stops
completely because they are just racial profiling hiding behind
legalese and little more than a subtle way to circumvent the
constitutional rights of Black and Brown males.
Pretext stops allow police to stop cars even though they lack even
reasonable suspicion to think that an actual crime is, has been, or is
about to be committed.
They allow police to pressure drivers into a so-called consensual
search so that they can avoid the need to obtain a warrant to search
the car. As we have seen yet again, these pretextual stops frequently
escalate into young men being killed or seriously injured not because
they broke the law but because they have been targeted for aggressive
police tactics that aren't directed at other communities.
So, Mr. Speaker, I urge President Biden to use his executive
authority to put an end to this practice at the Federal level, and I
urge State and local officials--mayors, police chiefs, and county
executives--to put an end to this practice all over the country.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms.
Kamlager-Dove).
Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise
today to coanchor this CBC Special Order hour. It is the first of the
118th Congress and my first in this body.
We have a problem, America, a big problem. The problem is the rampant
disregard for Black life at the hands of law enforcement.
For too many years now we have seen snuff videos--death at the hands
of police--of our Black men and women and our Black boys and girls.
These videos become dissected, the victim in death is persecuted as a
way to justify excessive force, and it goes on and on and on.
The more this happens, the more desensitized we become, and as a
culture, we enter into a culture of deflection: deflecting
accountability, deflecting truth, and deflecting uncomfortable
conversations about the value of Black life.
Why are we always looking for the perfect victim in these
circumstances?
If they were perfect--if any of us were--they wouldn't be victims.
They also probably wouldn't be victims if they weren't Black.
We certainly spend a lot of time victim blaming, deflecting, and not
talking about the kind of public safety all of us should have and how
we reimagine it in a way that makes it safe for everyone.
It is sad to say but police shootings in Black communities have
become as American as baseball. In baseball, Mr. Speaker, you have
something called balk. Pitchers commit balks, and the lower the balk
number, the better your success.
In law enforcement we also have something called BALKS, although it
means something different. B, background; A, age; L, lethal force; K,
knowledge, S, seriousness of a crime. Once again, the lower the number
of deaths, the higher the use of BALKS, something American, something
we should be discussing.
How can we incorporate BALKS more deeply into our public safety
system so that all lives can be saved?
What we are seeing with these shootings is un-American. I would also
argue that it is unconstitutional because shootings like this are
equivalent to summary executions. Law enforcement has become judge,
jury, and executioner. Meanwhile, the 14th Amendment declares that we
all have a right to due process. But these shootings have stolen due
process from so many men and women in our Black communities.
These videos, once again, that we see, the images as horrific as they
are, have become symbols of today and what Black America has to
experience. The symbols of today become the reality of tomorrow, and
the recordings of these shootings are important because they keep us
honest. But they also become symbols of police brutality and police
violence. We have gotten used to these symbols, and that is a problem.
This is Black History Month, but, Mr. Speaker, you would be flawed in
thinking that the issue of police shootings and police violence is a
Black issue, or that it is not an issue because it is not happening in
your community. It is an American issue, and it must be addressed.
I think we should be talking more deeply about the George Floyd
Justice in Policing Act and how we reimagine law enforcement. When law
enforcement officers are trained to understand and take all of these
pieces into account, we see much better outcomes of police interaction.
Once again, I would just like to share some of the symbols that are
propelling us towards the values of tomorrow. George Floyd, Breonna
Taylor, Philando Castile--we must carry their memories with us as we
fight to address the epidemic of police violence.
We have an obligation to the family of Tyre Nichols who was beaten to
death in Memphis, to the family of Takar Smith who was shot seven times
by the LAPD while on his knees, to the family of Oscar Leon Sanchez
cornered and shot while suffering a mental
[[Page H701]]
health crisis, to the family of Anthony Lowe shot in the back multiple
times by LAPD--I might add a double amputee and someone living in a
wheelchair--and to the family of Keenan Anderson tased to death during
a routine traffic stop.
I am honored that Dominique Hamilton, Keenan's fiancee, will join me
tomorrow for the 2023 State of the Union Address. As one of the far too
many people impacted by police brutality in 2023 alone, her bravery
shines through.
I hope that we can all take inspiration from her and all of the
families of those killed at the hands of police this year. We must do
more to hold our law enforcement officers accountable and stop this
epidemic of State-sanctioned murder.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms.
Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, let me thank the distinguished
gentleman from the great State of Maryland, Congressman Ivey, and the
distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of California (Ms.
Kamlager-Dove), for leading such an important Special Order. Let me
also thank Chairman Horsford for immediately capturing the pain and
sentiment of the American people.
When I say that, I am speaking of all the American people, Mr.
Speaker, because I believe more than any part of our constitutional
rights, the right to be free and safe in this Nation is one that
Americans crave. For no matter whether they are in the beauty of Utah,
in the richness of Mississippi, in the smart and urban life of New
York, or in the beauty of the West Coast, Republican or Democrat,
Independent and any other affiliation, we are concerned about safety.
The reason is because safety involves the coming and going of our
family members and our children. For any of us who have ever been
parents, we have always had a little trepidation when that little one
leaves home for the first time to go to pre-K or kindergarten that they
would be safe.
We are appalled at the unsafe conditions that we face in our schools
today: Uvalde, Sandy Hook, Santa Fe, and beyond. We know that violence
permeated those safe spaces.
At the same time I think, as I thank the Congressional Black Caucus
for its recognition, that as it speaks here on the floor today it is
embracing an American issue: public safety.
I will be looking for Republicans who are going to admit that even as
we want those who protect and serve to go home to their families, we
cannot deny American mothers and fathers the right to expect their
young people to come home.
We can walk, if I might say, and chew gum at the same time. We can
uplift the urgency of the importance of law enforcement at all levels:
first responders, EMTs, and firefighters, as I do, as a member of the
Fire Services Caucus, former chair of the Crime, Terrorism and Homeland
Security Subcommittee and now ranking member. We have worked in the
House Judiciary Committee and worked with the Congressional Black
Caucus on major legislation that deals with answering all of these
concerns.
{time} 1930
Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss to think that there are not
Republicans who will not join us in this whole idea of crafting a 21st
century approach to police-community relations.
There is no one that could in any way accept the murder of a man on
the streets in video, as was my constituent's brother. Philonise Floyd
is here, and he will join me at the State of the Union. His brother,
George Floyd, big George, who grew up in Cuney Homes, was everybody's
friend. Their mother and their family was everybody's family. They
opened their doors to children who may not have a good hot meal, and
they gave it to them.
However, like every American who leaves their hometown and looks for
a greener space, as what he looked for in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he
found a deadly end. No one could accept that. The reason, Mr. Speaker,
that I know that is because the people who took to the streets
nonviolently and walked shoulder to shoulder with us were from all
walks of life.
Out of that was crafted a combination of Republican-supported ideas,
things that were embraced in the Trump executive order, now embraced in
the Biden executive order dealing with a reconstruct of police-
community relationships, which would include the idea of making sure
that random stops that caught Tyre Nichols in the throngs of violence,
that lasted for an hour on videotape; or the tragedy of Breonna Taylor;
or the tragedy of Eric Garner; or the tragedy in the early stages under
color of law, Trayvon Martin, by someone who was supposed to be a civil
patrol, and a young boy lost his life; or the young boy in Cleveland,
Ohio, who lost his life at age 12 or 13 years old; or the cafeteria
worker who lost his life; or Pam Turner, who lost her life; or Sandra
Bland, who lost her life.
We can construct under the Constitution a reasonable response to
traffic stops included in the early premise of legislation. We can deal
with the right way to, in essence, address a human being, and
chokeholds when you are not in danger basically are without place. No
knocks that come to, in essence, a wrong person's home or someone
entering the wrong home. All of that is reasonable to deal with in a
new construct of which we hope the President of the United States will
join us in a bipartisan, bicameral effort.
That would include training and accountability as well. It would
include dealing with mental health concerns or violence intervention as
well as the necessity of wearing body cams, which were the element of
truth and have been.
I was very proud in the small cities that I represent, Mr. Speaker,
to be able to provide grant money for our cities to get body cams,
small cities that don't have it. Just think if we passed legislation
that allows all departments to seek body cams for truth for all that
are involved.
I rise today to capture the essence of the importance of this
Congressional Black Caucus Special Order because it is laying the
footprints for the day tomorrow, as the President speaks to the Nation
on many issues.
There is no doubt, as someone who went to the funeral of Tyre Nichols
as a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, to be able to say that
we can do this together.
Public safety is an American issue. It is an American families'
issue. It is the issue of those who are entrusted to protect and serve.
It is the issue of local government, State government. It is the issue
of moms and dads. It is the issue of teenagers and young families and
senior citizens. It does not leave one person untouched.
I believe that the work that was done in the last years with
legislation that carried the name of George Floyd has the ability to
embrace a wide perspective of diversity and new changes and inspiration
and, of course, working as one would with all persons concerned and
even respecting the other body.
The Congressional Black Caucus has taken up the light, and I am
grateful for that leadership. I look forward that we continue to work
because we are not a nation of laws and values if we do not adhere as a
nation to the belief that every person deserves the dignity of their
humanity and does not deserve, under the Constitution, to be denied
their equal protection of the law, their due process in the workings
between law and community.
I thank my very important coleaders of this Special Order. I wish
them well. I know that they will be a dynamic team. I had the privilege
of doing this in the last session. I can tell you, you will have a
moment of joy every time you rise on this floor and are joined by the
esteemed members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Each and every one
of them have their own special story. We do make a difference. We can
change lives, and we can change laws.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman for her
powerful and extemporaneous comments. I think it is a representation of
the powerful leadership she has provided over the years and will
continue to provide in the future.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Horsford), my
colleague, the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Mr. HORSFORD. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to join my colleagues of
the Congressional Black Caucus on the floor tonight for what is the
first Special Order hour of the 118th Congress.
[[Page H702]]
I first acknowledge our chairs for Special Orders this evening, the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ivey) and the gentlewoman from California
(Ms. Kamlager-Dove).
This hour provides all of us as members an important opportunity to
come to the floor to discuss issues vital to Black Americans. We will
use that time to do just that tonight.
Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, during the State of the Union, it is my hope
that President Biden will be able to put a personal touch on the story
of Tyre Nichols.
The brutal beating of Tyre Nichols resulted in his death, and it is a
reminder that we have a long way to go in solving systemic police
violence in America. We and his parents want America to know who Tyre
was. Tyre was a son. He was a father. He loved skateboarding and
sunsets. He enjoyed photography. He had a purpose and a passion and a
lifelong opportunity ahead of him, but that was taken.
Now, no one in our Nation should fear interacting with the police in
any of our communities. Sadly, many Black and Brown people do every
single day.
I want to be absolutely clear: We all want to be safe, and we want
our communities to be safe. We don't want to end policing. We want to
stop bad policing. All of us should agree that bad policing has no
place in any community in America. That is why we need to address the
public health epidemic of public safety that disproportionately affects
our communities.
I want to commend our colleague, Senator Tim Scott, Republican from
South Carolina, who issued this statement: ``We have been here too many
times before, and we cannot continue down this path. This man was
beaten by the power of the state,'' by men entrusted with protecting
his safety. ``We must unite against this blatant disregard for human
life, especially from those we trust with immense power and
responsibility'' for our communities.
Mr. Speaker, Democrats and some Republicans agree, this is an
important issue that must be addressed. Something must change to
prevent further unnecessary deaths.
In the coming weeks, my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus
and I are engaging with leaders in our community and right here in the
U.S. Capitol. We are working with the President, the Vice President,
the Senate, and our House colleagues on the issue of public safety,
policing, and justice, which is what we need action on now.
For every mom, dad, son, and daughter, it is imperative that we
tackle this issue with legislative solutions, executive actions, and
community-based results. That is how we put an end to the pattern of
Black lives being taken at the hands of law enforcement, whether it is
during a traffic stop, walking in a park, or sleeping in their home.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues who are here on the floor with us
tonight, and I thank Representatives Ivey and Kamlager-Dove for leading
on this effort of the Special Order tonight and for the work that we
will continue to do in the days, weeks, and months to come.
Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE. Mr. Speaker, I thank our chair for his commitment
and strength on this issue.
I yield to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore).
Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from
Nevada (Mr. Horsford), the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus,
and of course our esteemed colleagues who are leading this Special
Order, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Kamlager-Dove) and the
gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ivey). This is extremely important work in
terms of communicating to our constituents.
Mr. Speaker, I am standing here on this February evening feeling like
this is not just Black History Month, but this is like Groundhog Day.
The death of Tyre Nichols is yet another preventable death, a homicide
committed by those who are hired to protect us, those who are hired to
protect and serve as a mission.
This is not an issue that can be resolved through just hiring more
diverse officers or merely providing more training. It really requires
us to take a deep dive and look at the role that law enforcement plays
in our communities, the relationship that law enforcement has with our
communities, and get a better understanding of what those needs are and
how those needs are not being met.
That is why the Congressional Black Caucus in both the House and the
Senate have introduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act,
because we recognize the familiar fact patterns. Although Tyre Nichols
is one of the most recent incidents, it is the same fact pattern.
Pretextual stuff.
We have no idea at this point why Tyre Nichols was stopped. That
there is bias in these stops, bias against a man of color, excessive
force, failure to exercise deescalation strategies, and of course
qualified immunity, really creating no incentive for police officers to
exercise good judgment and to use legal police tactics.
This problem, there are a lot of famous people who have been
subjected to this police brutality. We have heard some of those names
tonight, but I just want to talk about my district. I want to talk
about my community in Wisconsin. We have seen this devastation
firsthand.
Since 2013, 149 people in Wisconsin have been killed by violence,
with nearly all of them being shot by police officers. It is a systemic
issue when it comes to police departments. People who face mental
health crises, traffic violations, or nonviolent offense should not be
given the death penalty.
{time} 1945
People who face mental health crises, traffic violations, or
nonviolent offenses should not be given the death penalty, those like
Joel Acevedo, who was murdered by an officer; 17-year-old Alvin Cole,
who was shot by police after leaving the mall; 18-year-old Ty'Rese
West, who was killed after police stopped him for not having a light on
his bicycle; 19-year-old Terry Williams, who was shot eight times after
a traffic stop; 22-year-old Adam Trammell, who was killed in his home
by police who tasered him 18 times--18 times--while he was in the
shower; and 23-year-old Sylville Smith, who was shot by police even
after the police saw him throw his weapon away.
How about 25-year-old Jay Anderson, Jr., who was sitting in a parked
car and was shot five times in the head?
Dontre Hamilton is a person that I actually don't understand why he
is dead. He would have turned 40 years old on January 20. Nine years
ago, Dontre Hamilton was shot 14 times. What was his crime? He was
asleep on a public Milwaukee County park bench, unarmed. One group of
cops came by, did a wellness check, saw that he was fine. Another cop
came by, beat him with his baton, and when Dontre disarmed him, when
140-pound Dontre Hamilton disarmed the cop, he was shot 14 times. That
police officer retired with his pension and his disability benefits for
having PTSD for killing Dontre Hamilton.
Guess what? Beyond those who are killed by the police, we have others
who have survived their violent encounters with those entrusted with
public safety, but they are, nonetheless, scarred--like Jacob Blake in
Kenosha or my guest tomorrow for the State of the Union Address, NBA
basketball player Sterling Brown.
Sterling Brown was an arrogant Black man, I guess, who parked in a
handicapped spot about 2 o'clock in the morning to go into Walgreens to
get some medication. When he came back out, the police saw his fancy
car there--very consistent with his status as a high-paid individual--
and asked him why he was parked at 2 a.m. in an empty parking lot in a
handicapped spot. What did Sterling Brown say? Officer, just give me a
ticket.
That led to him being tased and guns drawn on him. The Milwaukee,
Wisconsin, taxpayers had to pay for the insult of this driving while
Black in a fancy car, this uppity Negro. There was no deescalation of
police.
This is why the Congressional Black Caucus will consistently come to
this well, Mr. Speaker, and insist that we look at elements of the
George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
I will tell you, being Black is not a crime, and therefore, it should
not be a death sentence.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for that powerful
statement.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Johnson), my
colleague, the Representative from the Fourth District of Georgia.
[[Page H703]]
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for
yielding, and I thank him for hosting this Special Order hour on behalf
of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus under the leadership
of Chairman Steve Horsford.
Tonight, we are here to talk about a plague on America. It has to do
with police violence toward Black people in this country. I am not
talking about just White police officers but Black officers, also.
We saw it with Tyre Nichols, where a group of five so-called elite
crime suppression unit officers, who travel in unmarked cars and in
plainclothes, were out looking for crime. They jump out on folks. They
jumped out on Tyre Nichols.
Tyre Nichols was on his way over to his mother's house for dinner,
but he never made it. You all saw it on TV, where he was pulled over.
The police were going at 100 miles an hour on him: Get out of the car.
Get out of the car.
They had guns drawn: Get on your stomach.
He complied.
Because of the culture of policing with these crime suppression units
and other units of police agencies across the country, he was
frightened--I was frightened--and he ran.
He almost made it to his mother's house, but they caught up with him,
and the rest you saw with your own eyes. You can believe your lying
eyes about what you saw: a horrific beating.
You also could hear what was happening in the background as the
officers were talking to each other, planning on how they were going to
adjust their reports to all be consistent about this guy being on
drugs: He must have been on this, that, and the other. He wouldn't
comply. He wouldn't put his hands behind him.
Just talking to each other throughout the whole thing.
This is a part of a culture, and it is something that has to be
rooted out. It is happening all over the country.
In my neck of the woods, in DeKalb County, in March 2015, Air Force
veteran Anthony Hill was fatally shot.
Anthony had been to Afghanistan. His mother didn't want him to go,
but he went to serve his country. When he came back, he was different.
He suffered from mental illness, bipolar.
In March 2015, shortly after the situation with Michael Brown in
Ferguson, Anthony Hill is out in his apartment complex running around
naked as a jaybird, swinging from canopies, knocking on doors. The
neighbors knew him. They called the police. They called 911. They
wanted some help to come for him. Instead, a police officer showed up.
When Anthony Hill did not stop coming toward the officer, he didn't
tase him. He didn't hit him with his nightstick. The officer pulled out
his 9-millimeter and shot Anthony twice and killed him.
Anthony was his mother's only son, her youngest child. He killed him.
He was naked as a jaybird. Then, he said in his report that the guy
came at him and hit him, and that is why he fired.
The jury found otherwise. The officer was indicted for murder, but
the jury didn't convict him for murder. They convicted him for
aggravated assault and for lying, filing a false statement about what
happened.
It took the jury 6 days to get to the point where they could convict
him of anything. He was looking at 30 years at that point, but the
judge had mercy on him and gave him 20 to do 12 for taking a man's
life.
That is how it goes throughout America. Everybody has sympathy. I
have abundant sympathy. I love my men and women in blue, but the
culture in policing has to change.
We saw why it needs to change with Tyre Nichols. My colleagues are
going to speak about other examples of why it needs to change. I have
given you mine.
I have taken enough of your time, but I will just leave you with
this: We need to make police reform a priority. It is time to pass the
George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. We did it in the House two or
three times last session. It went to the Senate, and it couldn't get
across the finish line. We need the Senate to abandon the filibuster
rule.
Let's get some legislation passed. Let's get voting rights passed.
Let's get police reform passed.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Maryland has 18 minutes
remaining.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr.
Payne).
Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Horsford for bringing forth
this Special Order hour and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Ivey) for
hosting this Special Order hour.
This Special Order hour focuses on the problem of police brutality,
especially in Black and Brown communities. I welcome the opportunity to
raise awareness for an issue that is so close to so many in my
community.
To the family of Tyre Nichols, I once again send my heartfelt
condolences for your tragic loss in the wake of the release of that
horrifying footage that the world watched of, yet again, another
despicable display of police brutality in this country.
Our cities and streets have been plagued for decades by this
senseless and unnecessary use of force by sworn officers of the law. It
has permeated facets of Black and Brown lives.
In the last 10 years alone, my State of New Jersey has been home to
109 excessive force lawsuits against officers and police departments
since 2012. Because of that number, I could not give you the names that
were involved in these situations--as I said, 109.
The profession of policing should not be costing States and local
taxpayers millions of dollars each year in settlements for wrongful
acts caused by those entrusted to protect and serve.
I voted for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was
legislation that would end racial profiling in law enforcement, ban
choke holds and no-knock warrants, and establish a Federal standard for
policing in and against African-American communities.
The calling card for such a bill came after thousands of Americans
took to the streets in the summer of 2020 to protest the brutal murders
from policing violence of George Floyd and other African Americans.
{time} 2000
For too long, many Americans were considered dangerous and violent
simply because of the color of their skin.
We have been witness for some time now that police officers have been
allowed to violate the sanctity and privacy of African Americans while
in their cars, homes, or even standing on the sidewalk.
The time is now for us to create a nationwide standard for police
conduct to stop police brutality against African Americans and other
minorities.
This is a day we have been waiting for in the Black community for a
long time. I am hopeful that we can work together in a constructive
manner with my colleagues across the aisle and get this done.
I am honored to be a part of the Congressional Black Caucus that has
been a conscience and a voice for the American people and the
conscience of this body as it continues to talk about righteousness in
this Nation.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for those powerful
comments.
Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Maryland has 12 minutes
remaining.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina
(Ms. Adams).
Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Horsford and the coanchors
for this evening, the gentleman from Maryland and the gentlewoman from
California.
I do rise today to lend my testimony to the conversation about police
reform, safe communities, and the value of Black lives.
The brutal beating and the death of Tyre Nichols is a reminder that
we do, indeed, have a long way to go to solve the structural racism and
the systemic police violence in America.
Tyre was a son. He was a father. I am a mother and a grandmother of
sons and daughters. He had a passion for skateboarding and photography,
a young person with purpose, potential, and his life was ahead of him.
The Congressional Black Caucus has always been the conscience of the
Congress, and that is why we are pushing
[[Page H704]]
for reforms to our justice system, specifically regarding the actions
and the conduct of law enforcement because no one in this Nation should
fear interacting with police officers in their communities, but many
Black and Brown people do each and every day. Everybody wants to be
safe, and we want safer communities.
Tyre Nichols should still be alive today. That is why we must address
the public health epidemic of police violence that disproportionately
affects our communities.
Senator Tim Scott, a Republican, in his quote was absolutely right:
We have got to unite against this blatant disregard, he
said, for human life, especially from those who have been
entrusted with immense power and responsibility for our
communities.
We are keenly aware that the police are asked to handle situations
sometimes that they simply aren't trained for or equipped to handle.
But like many CBC members, I've been there when a police beating or
shooting rocked our communities.
In my home of Charlotte, North Carolina, Keith Lamont Scott was
having a mental health crisis when he was shot and killed by police,
leading to the first major protest and demonstration for Black lives in
our community.
That doesn't absolve the officers involved of responsibility, but
what it does mean is that with better training and a different approach
to policing, Keith Lamont Scott could be alive today, and he should be.
Another man, Justin Carr, lost his life during the protests. Keith
Lamont Scott and Justin Carr should both still be alive today.
Something has got to change to prevent further unnecessary deaths,
and that is why the CBC and I have consistently supported the George
Floyd Justice in Policing Act and other necessary reforms.
Police culture needs to change, and it needs to change right now.
That is why the CBC is actively engaging all relevant stakeholders with
the aim of developing a legislative solution that can pass Congress and
ensure meaningful police accountability reforms.
For every mom and dad and son and daughter, and for every Black
person, it is imperative that we deal with this issue and form some
legislative solutions and some executive actions and community-based
results.
That is how we can put an end to this pattern of Black lives being
taken at the hands of law enforcement.
I leave you with the words of Zianna Oliphant, who was 9 years old
when she addressed the Charlotte City Council in the wake of the Keith
Lamont Scott protests in 2016.
She said: ``I feel like that we are treated differently than other
people. I don't like how we're treated. Just because of our color. . .
.
``We are Black people, and we shouldn't have to feel like this. We
shouldn't have to protest because y'all are treating us wrong. We do
this because we need to and have rights.
``I was born and raised in Charlotte. I've never felt this way until
now. I can't stand how we're treated. It's a shame that our fathers and
mothers are killed, and we can't even see them anymore.''
Mr. Speaker, 9 years old, this young lady was. The truth is clear.
Children can even see it. I hope as the CBC continues its work, more of
our colleagues will see the truth as well.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is
remaining?
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Maryland has 7\1/2\
minutes remaining.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Bowman).
Mr. BOWMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the CBC for putting together this
Special Order hour.
I just want to start out by saying this is not just a CBC issue. We
need the Tri-Caucus to be involved in this issue, and we need the Tri-
Caucus to be speaking out on this issue.
We also need action and courage from the Senate in terms of stopping
the unnecessary killing of Black people throughout our country.
Tyre Nichols should be alive. Trayvon Martin should be alive. Breonna
Taylor should be alive. Atatiana Jefferson, Freddie Gray, Laquan
McDonald--they all should be alive. Michael Brown, Eric Gardner, on and
on and on and on.
Police brutality in our country is a disease that needs to be cured.
It is rooted in historical racism and systematic oppression in our
country.
This has to stop. Federal legislation needs to be implemented to stop
it.
One of the things we are asking for is simple accountability; that is
all. We support law enforcement when they are doing the right thing,
but when they commit a crime, they should be held accountable. They are
not above the law.
What is really painful is taxpayer money pays the salary of law
enforcement.
Taxpayer money pays the pensions of law enforcement.
Taxpayer money pays for the settlements when law enforcement is sued
in court.
Taxpayer money pays for the lawyers.
Cities go into debt using bonds to pay settlement claims. There is a
billion-dollar industry of police brutality that comes out of the
pockets of taxpayers.
If we are going to reach the ideals of our democracy and our
Constitution, we need to stop the unnecessary killing of Black people
in our country.
I will close with this: It is not just policing; it is the overall
system of mass incarceration. We incarcerate more, and there are
disproportionately more Black and Brown people in our country.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs.
Cherfilus-McCormick).
Mrs. CHERFILUS-McCORMICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today and say a special
thank you to the Congressional Black Caucus, Chairman Horsford, and
also my colleagues for having this Special Order hour.
Mr. Speaker, my heart is broken for the family of Tyre Nichols,
another Black man who lost his life to senseless police overreach and
violence.
The horrifying footage of his untimely death displays why the United
States must pass comprehensive police reform and public safety
legislation.
Tyre Nichols' murder occurred in Memphis, the city where Dr. King
lost his life fighting for a dream that we still are reaching for
today.
Our country must reckon with the longstanding and fraught legacy of
racism and violence against Black people.
Tyre Nichols, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Tamir
Rice, and so many more Black men, women, and children should be alive
today. Their deaths were preventable.
Black Americans constantly find themselves trapped in an endless
cycle of grief. Mr. Speaker, 3 decades after the heinous beating of
Rodney King, Black communities continue to bear the deadly consequence
of a culture of policing that allows law enforcement officials to
dehumanize, debase, and victimize individuals without consequences.
As a mother of two Black children, it is heartbreaking to shoulder
your kids with the responsibility of a double-consciousness of how you
as a parent see them, but also as the whole world sees them.
Our Black children go from being viewed as innocent to future
convicts in the eyes of society and in the eyes of those who are
charged with the responsibility of protecting them.
It is terrifying to not know if your child will return home after
they step out that door. Mothers and fathers planning their children's
funerals cannot become a standard in our great Nation. It is simply
unacceptable.
In the 117th Congress, House Democrats introduced a George Floyd
Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House but failed in the
Senate, ultimately failing all Black families.
In a humanitarian call for action, I urge the House to pass public
safety legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I end by saying their names: Tyre Nichols, George Floyd,
Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and so many more Black
women, men, and children would be alive today.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs.
Sykes).
Mrs. SYKES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today during the first Congressional
Black Caucus Special Order of the year to stand in solidarity with the
families and loved ones in support of the safety and security of
American citizens.
[[Page H705]]
Tomorrow, during the State of the Union, I will be joined by Ms.
Pamela Walker, a police accountability advocate and mother of Jayland
Walker, a 25-year-old unarmed Black man from Akron, Ohio, who was
fatally shot 46 times by police in June of 2022.
Jayland Walker was just 25 years old. He was a kind, quiet, and
thoughtful young family man who regularly spent time with his mother,
grandmother, and sister.
He was just beginning to live his life with aspirations of starting
his own business or becoming a professional wrestler.
His mother described him as the son that every mother dreams of,
talked about how proud she was to be his mother.
Ms. Walker is coming to the Capitol in honor of her son, demanding
accountability, public safety, and change so that her son will not have
died in vain or anyone else's son. No mother should ever have to go
through what Ms. Walker experienced.
Despite her unimaginable grief, she has displayed unwavering
strength, dignity, and perseverance.
Mr. Speaker, we must reexamine our institutions, how they operate and
are governed, without the polarizing rhetoric that only leads to
division and not solutions because the longer we are divided and
legislation is not passed, the more lives hang in the balance, and
public safety and security is too important to play with.
We need to create a level of trust where our law enforcement officers
feel like they are a part of the community, and we must also take steps
to improve police accountability.
There is still much work to be done to restore trust between the
police and the communities they serve. That is why I felt it was
important to have Ms. Walker join me tomorrow.
Let her presence signify that enough is enough. We, as a Nation, have
reached an inflection point because too many lives have been lost.
I join my colleagues in calling for robust reexamination of our
policing system, wholesale public safety policies, and bipartisan
national solutions to this issue before more lives are lost.
Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of Representative Kamlager-Dove and
the Congressional Black Caucus, we thank the Speaker for this
opportunity.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________