Transcripts For CSPAN House Oversight Virtual Briefing On Police Reform 20240712

Utish, inry, br short. Where was the social contract for george floyd . Where was the social contract for Breonna Taylor . Where was the social contract for tamia for tamir r ice . Put simply, for black americans, the social contract is always been contaminated by racism and white super missy, the nations original sin White Supremacy, the nations original sin. A black american has more than doubled the chance of being killed by the police as a white american. Police encounters are a leading cause of death for young black men. The problems of Police Brutality we confront today reflects the persistence of embedded Structural Racism in our country. Violent White Supremacy is the real deep state that we must uproot and discard in america. Yes, my friends across the aisle have been in search for it for several years right now. Racism is the real deep state in america. Violent White Supremacy dominated our country for an entire century, and the Supreme Court did nothing other than constitutionalize it in the dred scott decision, which determined an African American has no right a white man is bound to respect. So we had a civil war and a reconstruction come our first opportunity to purge the violence of White Supremacy, and it lasted for 12 years before it was washed away by the ku klux klan and night riders and grandfather clauses, poll taxes, literally tests literacy tests. Of it took another century jim crow, american apartheid, before we got another Civil Rights Movement led by people like our colleague john lewis, and the blood sacrifice of dr. King and thousands of other people who suffered at the hands of the violence of racists, and we got the Voting Rights act of 19 625. We got the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We got Shelby County versus holder of shelti county v. Holder, and president s like donald trump other phrases like finding put very fine people marching among racists and fascists. We conduct a briefing today on juneteenth, our National Commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. Andelebrate freedom emancipation. We should be working for a third and final reconstruction in america. Lets finish the unfinished work ,rom the Civil Rights Movement where i am proud to say, in a bipartisan spirit, it was radical republicans from ohio who led america, like john insane, who led america we must rebuild america from the ground up, not on the basis of White Supremacy, but on the basis of equality and justice for all. I want to thank all of our Witnesses Today for being part of this great struggle. Yieldack, messenger back, madam chair. Rep. Maloney thank you. [indiscernible] ok. Thew recognize representative who has been a leader on these issues. Ms. Presley. Rep. Pressley thank you for holding this important briefing. America is in the midst of a crisis within a crisis within a crisis. A Public Health pandemic has robbed us of more than 115,000 lives across our nation, disproportionately black lives. Unveiling and reiterating the start systemic inequities and says and disparities of our health care system, and has led to mass unemployment and even actions and levels of food insecurity, and the crisis of systemic racism in our policing system, a system rooted in this nations original sin of bondage and slavery. A system that for too long, has perpetuated the criminalization, the profiling and surveillance of black and brown bodies and has resulted in the lynching and murder of countless black people. Pandemic the covid19 took this nation by storm come of the only thing covid19 didnt disrupt was racism. So in this moment of truth telling in this moment of reckoning, it is critical that we center the humanity and dignity of all people and ensure those closest to the pain are informing the policymaking. Not all things that are faced can be changed, but nothing can it is faced. Til the fact of the matter is racism is not simply a point of view. It is not a point of view for the actions of a few bad apples. Marble structural as the pillars of this institution. The men made discriminatory policies that have destroyed black lives and black families in this country were very precise, from the original sin of bondage to redlining to the failed war on drugs. From this moment, we need our policy solutions to be just a specific and precise in legislating our healing and justice. The culmination of generations of hurt and trauma have led us to this moment. It is not enough to say black lives matter. Our policies and our budget must value black lives. We must heed the calls of that unity to push forward policies that will provide muchneeded accountability and structural change. Righteous rage and the pursuit of justice has driven thousands to the streets in every state across our country. Let me be clear, there can be no justice for oscar grant, for eric garner, michael brown. There can be no justice for jefferson,lor, t, natosha mckenna. There can be no justice for Rayshard Brooks, stephan clark, freddie gray, or terrence coleman. In a truly just world, they would all still be with us. There, however, must be a cut ability. This is personal must be accountability. This is personal. I am a congresswoman, but first and foremost, i am a black woman married to a black man raising a black child. Black people are yet to ask. Full freedoms and emancipation because that freedom really begins with a freedom from fear. I would like very much to pass along to our daughter, who will soon be 12, generational wisdom, wealth, joy instead of generational fear and trauma. She already knows the unbearable pain of fearing for her life or her fathers life, and for those she loves, whenever we are out of her sight. I know what it is to be surveyed, profiled, and threatened. And still we rise. Generations from now, our grandchildren will look and ask a simple question. When you had the opportunity to legislate with conviction, to summon the political courage to ensure that not another man is lynched in broad daylight, that not another woman is murdered in her own home, did you . So i think our i think our witnesses for joining us today, for lifting their voices, for holding us accountable, and for fighting to ensure that their eaths were not in vain. Thank you, and i yield. Rep. Maloney thank you that meaningful statement. Is there any republican who would like to be recognized for a statement . Another republican member who would like to speak for remove to our presenters . I will now introduce our briefers. First we have a policy strategist for the aclu of kentucky. Of oscarhave the uncle grant and the cofounder of families united for justice. Crenshaw,ve kimberly the cofounder and executive director of the africanamerican policy forum. Next, we have mark lewis, an activist with we the people oklahoma. Next, pastor michael mcbride, director for the campaign. Have the not least, we host of a show. With that, you are now recognized. Greetings. I am a policy strategist the aclu of kentucky, and also a member of lives matter in louisville. I want to thank you for inviting me to speak on this important issue of race, policing, policy, and justice. I come before you to ensure we lift up Breonna Taylors name, and as we continue to fight for justice for her end of the who have lost their lives to Police Brutality, we see protests across the country because enough is enough. During this time of coronavirus, america and the world are essentially put on pause, which forced people to stop and Pay Attention. For years, black people have been screaming and america has largely ignored us. I think the coronavirus, coupled with the horrific death of george floyd, forced america to reflect. For eight minutes and 46 seconds, the world watched as a black and begged for his life and called out to his deceased mother as he lay dying. This is not something that people can easily erase from their minds. No distraction could take those in of its those images in the video away. This time for america to respond. Killing of george floyd, ahmaud arbery, and Breonna Taylor happen, people and their voices from around the world. However, we understand people and their Attention Spans are very fickle. The cameras will turn. Immediate attention will fit the Media Attention will fade, and those people and communities rocked by Police Brutality will remain and be left to pick up the pieces. It is essential for people who live in these communities to know that they can impact legislation on a local level to stop senseless deaths from happening. In louisville, we took the first onnasith passing bre law, which bans the use of no knock warrants and requires all police chief where body cameras, to turn them on five minutes before serving a warrant and five minutes after the warrant is served. Law passed, a huge tv was what was bright outside city hall so that folks could watch. They understood their voices mattered and were able to impact legislation on the local level. They learned it was the judges they elect and the representatives they chose locally that would effect the laws that govern our daytoday living. Now people are engaging differently in different arenas. People are organizing around a more just budget and others are closely monitoring the collective Bargaining Agreement between the fraternal order of police in our local government. When organizing with people who have existed in a survival mentality for years through systematic racism, it is difficult to get them interested in local politics. The truth is it is difficult to get anyone interested in local politics. Many people are simply trying to make it from daytoday. As we organize, we are also educating people on how it is not just things that are done at a federal level, but also at a local and state level that will impact their lives. Many just do not fully understand how the political system works. Many people will go out to vote a president madam chair, i think we have lost our guest. Ok, we will go back to her. Mr. Johnson, youre are now recognized. Mr. Johnson. You, madam thank chair. Committee the house on oversight and reform, i bring you greetings on behalf of of our executive team, community numbers in the National Families united for justice network. I am also known as uncle bobby. Im the cofounder of families founder ofjustice, california families united for justice network, and the oscar grant foundation. I have been advocating for Police Accountability and transparency for 11 years, since the murder of my nephew, oscar grant, on january 1, 2009. Honor to provide testimony for such a topic is policing. On this important juneteenth day, many in the nation join in condoning the policing tactics, actions and inactions that led to the death of george floyd. We are extremely hurt, and we grieve with the nation at the horrific killing of rhianna taylor, ahmaud arbery, and Rayshard Brooks. These names represent a stay few in a much larger list of tragedies impacting communities of color. Prayer to these families. There is no horror more terrible than watching your loved ones be murdered. T is forever etched [indiscernible] the power of the police to use that response ability must be guided by the goals of safeguarding human life and protecting human rights. Current log results in officers killing civilians far more than necessary. These are many families and communities devastated, and the public less safe. These tragedies to proportionately Impact Communities of color. The death of george floyd has caused an outcry around the world. It is important that the officers involved be prosecuted. Transparencyy and is the key to civil trust in policing agencies and communities. The families united for justice is a small part of a group and more complex working to Reform Police culture. Groups of armed white men [indiscernible] sharehare what you with you what wed like to address. We strongly recommend a national use of force policy to be included in state and local policy for policing standards, mandatory deescalation requirements for all officers, and policies that require the use of deescalation tactics as a priority, prohibition of all physical restraints and maneuvers all restraint maneuvers on or above the neck what choke holds. , policederal law officers [indiscernible] qualified immunity shields them from such, unless they vi olate clearly established laws. A database of use of force data and attention data of all demographics. A National Database of officers with misconduct. [indiscernible] that continuees to allow policing strategies to be free of oversight and accountability in an environment that fosters racial tension. Mandatory requirement that all officers render immediate medical aid to any person experiencing a health crisis, whether in custody or not. Mandatory requirements to intervene where physical force is being applied, to stop when force isr being used. [indiscernible] patterns and practices of this commission. Forlosing, i thank you allowing our words to be heard. Today at this crucial time in familiesry, impacted as for legislation that provides the guidelines for a new system of policing. To hold officers accountable, has beenuff out what in policing since the beginning. [indiscernible] discriminate or a practice that remains a Hunting Ground for people of color around the nation. It is critical that we First Technology we first acknowledge the present need for a legislative approach and begin , enlisting those who value the scented tea of life and protection of human rights the sanctity of life and protection of human rights. Again, i think you i thank you. Rep. Maloney we have ms. Herron back, so youre now recognized. Keturah thank you. I was toward the end of my testimony. There is always talk about when our federal government should step in and when we should leave things to state and local jurisdictions. It is always the time to do what is right, and i believe now is the time for the federal government to take action and prohibit Police Policy and practices that brutalize communities. Today, this body should make it your duty and priority two no knock warrants, and sure Police Officers do not get special protection when they engage in misconduct or use Excessive Force, police who swear an oath to protect and serve should be held to a higher standard. We should draft policies to ensure that police have a duty to intervene when they witness their colleagues brutalizing someone. 1033 programd the which militarize is our police and stop attacking Peaceful Protesters with tear gas and other tactics using war zones. We must reimagine Public Safety. Policing andt in incarceration and invest in systems that provide equal access to housing, education, health care, safety and opportunity. Thank you for allowing me to speak today, and i also encourage you to read my full testimony, which should be provided for you. Thank you for your time. You. Maloney thank mr. Crenshaw, you are now recognized. Ranking number jordan, members of the committee, i am kimberly crenshaw, professor of law at ucla and faculty director for International Cultural studies. I am pleased to be here on this juneteenth. Webinar on the stories of African Americans killed by police. For two hours, we bore witness to the stories that revealed the individual and institutional problem transcending the frame of a few bad apples. They told us about how the war on drugs, racial profiling, paramilitary policing, permissive lethal force, explicit and implicit biases, police sourced solutions to Mental Health and other problems all lead to disproportionate black deaths. They talked about how the impunity with which to me police insulatedct remains by qualified immunity and special protections that help them escape accountability. We talked about how the last words uttered by diane black people must guide that by dying ying black people must guide our approach to policing. Promisedbreathe, you not to kill me, or simply and heartbreakingly, mama. You match the names to the stories you know. Eric garner, george floyd. But the names we talked about this week were not names of those you might think. They were black women. Fry, Sandra Shelley bland. Black women and girls as young as seven and as old as 93 have been killed by police. They have been shot, choked, body slammed, and tasered to death for driving while black, having mental disabilities while black, being homeless while andk, sleeping while black, asserting their rights while black. One was killed when a swat team fired 50 rounds into her car, knowing that she and her fourmonthold son had done absolutely nothing wrong. Natasha mckenna, a five foot woman, strapped nude to a chair by officers and hazmat gear, tasered her while handcuffed. She uttered the words that should haunt us all, you promised not to kill me. Tragic stories are amplified by images of black men and girls being abused by black women and girls being abused by Law Enforcement, hogtied and dragged, a disabled and elderly black woman paraded nude in police precincts. Police violence against black women is very real. It is visceral. It is dehumanizing. Yet, in this discourse, it is relatively invisible. Ow the structural and intersectional dimension of Police Violence cannot be overlooked. Began to sayt aaps her name to elevate the fact are subjectomen to Police Violence. Black women were the only race group to have a majority of its numbers unarmed when killed. This means among women killed by police, blackness may be a greater risk factor than being armed. Stories underscore the current conversation about police reform. Anddeaths of black women metal Health Situations amplify the need to rethink both the role of police has first responders, as well as the that use ofims force was reasonable or necessary. These deaths enforce that unless no knock warrants are illuminated and deescalation mandates are required are eliminated and deescalation minutes are required, even in the sanctity of their own home, we might die. The death of escalation the escalation over a traffic ticket shows the need for deescalation tactics. So this sort of largely unregulated discretion that initiates encounters with police, facilitated by a wildly permissive for the men meant, and hence is the risk of other kind of permissive fourth amendment, enhances the risk of violence, like sexual violence. We support the george floyd policing act as a first step. We call for a further intersectional approach to the act, including desegregating race, gender, and other factors in assessing institutional and individual bias, in developing Training Programs and civilian protocols, and in creating alternatives to Law Enforcement activity. I want to end with two quotes from the 19th century that shape the polar possibilities at this moment. Chief Justice Tommy spring famously wrote that, from our founding, black men were so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man werent bound to respect. Orator1896, a black wrote, only the black women can say when and where i enter without violence. Then and there, the whole race enters with me. In this democracy, it is up to congress to lead the way in ensuring that when it comes to life, liberty, and freedom from yolice abuse, justice tawn will finally be made dead wrong and cooper willfully stand in the right. Thank you. Lewis, you arer. Now recognized. Thank you, chairwoman, Ranking Member jordan, and distinguished committee numbers. Committee members. I am grateful for the invitation to speak today and share our Community Concerns regarding abusive policing practices and the need to reform. , communitymark lewis organizer and founder of we the people oklahoma. Our organization has been instrumental in getting necessary changes made in our local Police Department, including a grand jury for the former tulsa county sheriff, that led to the removal of officers negatively impacting the community. Today i would like to discuss policy changes, decertification, and racial disparity. In 2016, and officerinvolved shooting which ended the life of a man showed just how slanted policies are to protect officers from facing, no indictment. The officer in question was not given drug or alcohol tests after the shooting. The officer was allowed to review the video of the shooting, making a statement, and the officer was not interviewed for three days immediately after the shooting. Nor did the officer render aid to mr. Crutcher, even though she was trained and registered as an emt. Wenot know the seth may know the suspects victims, the suspects criminal history, and what could possibly have impaired that person, yet we do not know what impaired that officer. This is common across officerrelated shootings. I submit that each officer who discharges their weapon should have a mandatory immediate blood and alcohol test , along with psychological evaluation. This will help the departments to avoid broken officers back in the field. There must be specific federal definition of Excessive Force. It should not be left up to the jury to determine what a reasonable law officer should do in various situations. We must have a federal standard that red flags and officer for use of force and Excessive Force complaints. Now chargedvin, with the murder of george floyd, had dozens of complaints in his career, and 16 of those were closed about disciplinary action. [no audio] bob bates, who was convicted of killing an unarmed African American has not been decertified. Ast recently in tolstoy, former detention officer who had a history of racial bias and use of force claims, he was able to become a security guard. He just shot and killed in unarmed black man. Had any of these officers been decertified, would it have been possible that they would not inflict any death or trauma they have caused . Governor Charles Baker of massachusetts proposed a bill that would decertify officers who failed to live up to their oath by falsifying evidence, making false arrests, or if they are convicted of crimes. This should be the national standard. Currently, the process of decertification is up to the board in each state. Therefore, a federal database of negligence and instructive Law Enforcement officers needs to be created to weed out those, and should be decertified. Obviously, Racial Disparities play a part in abusive policing practices and training. In oklahoma, officers are required to have 70 hours of firearm training and 69 hours of custody and physical control training. Yet, they are only required to have nine hours of Community Relations training and four hours of Mental Health training. Tulsa world,the African Americans arrested twice higher and they have a level of those in custody for lowerlevel crimes. Black women were admitted on municipal charges 3. 5 times the rate of white women and black men at 3. 8 times the rate of white men. This is according to the bureau institute. Gang Task Force Units that target minority areas in recruitment of young teenagers risked minor infractions into becoming confidential informants. Racial disparities and biases are used daily to intimidate and traumatize people of color. In my conclusion, in order to reduce the abuses of Law Enforcement, we must root out racial biases, increase communitybased training, decertify officers for Excessive Force, and other negative have years, and create a federal standard that is rooted in justice. Our people have suffered at the hands of rogue officers. Now is the time to bring about these changes so our children can grow up in an america where they do not have to fear the person who took an oath. A mother and father should not hear the words coming from their children, and my next . Am i next . Must never be, we silent until we are all free. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Lewis. We will not recognize pastor mcbride. Pastor mcbride to chairwoman maloney, Ranking Member jordan, and the members of the committee, on behalf of my friends and comrades, as well as the victims and survivors of state violence, i thank you for the invitation to testify. My name is michael mcbride. I am a father, husband, minister. Over 20 years ago on march 9, 1999, i was physically and sexually assaulted by san jose Police Officers. I was a student at a Bible College living with my pastor and his family. That night, the police could not see my humanity. While returning home from visiting family, i was racially profiled. Officers ran their hands to my underwear, claiming to look for weapons they would never find. I was thrown to the ground with guns pointed at me and my arm felt like it was on the verge of snapping in two. Verbal insults and obscenities were hurled at me with no provocation. That evening, these men i did not know, try to crush my dignity by leaving marks on my body and trauma in my spirit that persisted this day. I am glad i did not die that night while their guns were trained on me, there were moments i thought i would die. I felt so unprotected. I felt so disposable. These last 20 years of activism and practice is the fruit that emerged from the soil of that horrific night. For so many of us who have had our humanity degraded, our bodies mishandled, our most sacred parts violently abused under the guise of the law, there is a pain that never leaves us. A shame and anger that never subsides. There are ever present questions that echo in our minds, why did this happen to me, and why was no one held responsible . For many of us who show up in the streets to protest, arrived with unscarred bodies and trauma, still in mourning, and raise the case of almost every person who was harmed under a hired Police Officer in our communities with accountability no accountability or remorse. I protest comes a cathartic release and it is righteous and stately, but it is not enough. Our country must do the hard but necessary work to uncouple itself from a 300 year long legacy of antiblack racism and violence that has come centralized in the system of policing today. On this juneteenth day, when we memorialize the emancipation news arriving to the enslaved africans in texas, how could we ask for anything less then freedom from this system of policing . This is what abolition points to. Saying abolish the police, we are not saying abolish Public Safety. Far from it. We are saying, lets formally bring to an end this current form of policing, a system all too willing to sacrifice native bodies, dark skin bodies, trans bodies, womens bodies, males honor of eightan false statements. All of us should agree this system of policing cannot continue at the cost of black lives and black safety and security. The good news is we need not sacrifice Public Safety to end this system of policing. Neither must we start from scratch to imagine a 21st century Public Safety system. I have been immersed in the work of Public Safety at the intersection of ending gun violence and mass incarceration. My journey as a survivor, a faith leader and practitioner, organizer and National Leader have, that victim and perpetrators in urban communities are often the very same people. Their networks of violence are concentrated and over. Here is some evidence with respect to Violent Crime recent from the prison policy initiative, it tells us only 5 of all arrests for Violent Crimes. Our experience reinforces that less than half of 1 of the city 60 ofion drives almost gun related shootings and homicides. We have the strategy to save lives. Watching the footprints of policing for the sole purpose of programs for Mental Health is a success. Can you imagine how different our country would have looked up we released hundreds of thousands of Health Nurses in the 1980s and 1990s rather than more cops . We can still write that wrong today. As i close, i know many members of congress are uncomfortable with the language to defund the police as it has been defined as a zerosum game. May i suggest we think of this differently because after decades of failed systems, all the people are asking for is a refund. Refund our tax dollars so we can put it into schools. Refund our school so we can hire Public Health representatives, refund our tax dollars so we can prioritize housing the homeless and feeding the hungry. The fierce urgency of now compels me to ask how much longer will you ask us to wait for progress . Merely at stake are not politics and budgets for dignity, life, our sense of belonging to one another, our shared humanity. Fuseds moment, courage, with imagination, can usher in a bloodless revolution, one that brings to an end centuries of uninterrupted trauma visited upon the body, the spirit, and the souls of black americans. May our progeny look back on our times and say, to paraphrase langston hughes, these are the days when america became america , for the many who have never had america, the america for them, may we launch this third reconstruction and change the system of policing for black americans and allamericans in this country. God bless you, thank you. Thank you very much, reverend mcbride. Chairman maloneys system is down. Outagere is an area of in her neighborhood, so i am going to recognize the next five minutes of testimony. Thank you, congressman raskin and making member jordan to address the committee on this critical issue. The death of george floyd was typical to watch for all of us. None of us will forget that you do. Outrage. Nt of sincere tragically, that moment is otaged by the many women tragically, that moment is sabotaged by Police Officers. Yes, we should focus on police reform. Our Police Officers do have enormous power, the power to take away freedom and in some cases life, but defunding the police is unquestionably the road to destruction. And atg is a stressful times emotionally overwhelming job. Nowhere outside the military do we are so much of our men and women. No one on this panel is being asked to meet interactive people at the worst and potentially most perilous moments of their life for eight hours a day, potentially seven days a week. No one on this panel. It is devastating. It takes an emotional toll on our brave Police Officers, the men and women in blue. An emotional toll that few will ever know. Having said that, Police Officers can have bad days. We can and we should do better. But this National Debate is more from the conversation about improving the quality of policing to defunding them and tainting them with grotesquely offensive labels, such as systemically racist. I asked, what system are you referring to . Nots a fair question, is it . If you believe in a system, this is a fair question, is it not . And the system that may have been part of these cases is run by democrats for decades. Ignoring this reality while insinuating the good Police Officers working within it are willingly compliant with the basis system is tragic. I proudly served in the 75 precinct in a largely minority precinct and recline, and the Police Officers i worked with always reported for duty, looking to assist the people in that neighborhood, who were largely minorities, black and hispanic. I will say in closing, fathers day is approaching, and while some are using our Police Officers as political footballs in this instructive game, i humbly ask you to think about the many families across the country that will wake up on fathers day, staring at nothing more than a picture of a Police Officers father they once hugged , a photo of a Police Officer lost in the line of duty will never, never take the place of an embrace. About that as you choose your words when referring to the finest men and women that i have ever had the honor to work with. Thanks for your time. Thank you. I now recognize representative presley for five minutes for questioning. Presley thank you all for being here. The people closest to the pain should be the closest to the power, driving an important policy making. We are grateful you are lending your expertise to this moment. Mr. Johnson, i want to extend my condolences to the loss of your nephew oscar. You are a member of a tragic , and im grateful you join us today. Mothers andomen and surviving family members have had to relive the trauma of seeing their loved ones livestreamed on national television. Mothers of the movement have been trying to tell us for generations. Stop murdering our children. We must listen and centered the experiences in the moment of truth telling and reckoning, and while juneteenth is meant to be a day of celebration, freedom and emancipation, we must take stock of the moment and be sober about the work that lies ahead. Mr. Crenshaw, is it fair to say that the Police System in our nation throughout the practice of capturing and murdering individuals trying to escape from history . Could you speak to our policing system and how you see that influencing modernday policing . Thank you, congresswoman presley. Indeed. One of the historical dimensions is overlooked in these conversations and overvalued. Our policing system is grounded in the notion of patty rollers, driveively those who plantations to secure the safety of plantation owners and others. More broadly, one has to understand that when we talk about policing as a way of enforcing the order, one has to understand what the order was based on. When africanamericans were able to escape, when they were captured, if they were, what they were charged with was theft. They were stealing themselves, right . Thate very system of law backs up a racist Economic System is the thing that police were reinforcing and securing against what would otherwise be seen as selfhelp, freeing oneself against a baseline of freedom does not look like that. It looks like freedom. Policing,g history of tied together with an existing p racial inequality has been so close that policing does not really ever get that far away from that history. So that is why it is important in this moment that we historic size the problem, that we see how it comes up again and again, and we have an understanding that so many africanamericans are experiencing this moment as a sickly being captured and taken back to a past in the same way runaways were captured and taken back to slavery. That is what this moment is really about, and that is why we need a much more fundamental structural solution to the problem of racist policing. That historical contextualizing. Can you speak to how qualified immunity contributes to immunity impunity and the Police Culture . Yes, i think one of the and onee are seeing thing i have been explaining is if you are working at a place like kroger or if you have your own business, and you identify a bad employee or someone who has taken money out of the Cash Register on a daily basis or not coming back from their break or a no call or noshow, there are things you put in place to say this person is bad for our business and we need to get rid of them. What we are seeing locally across the nation his police have so many protections around them that when we identify there is about Police Officer, there is no way to get rid of them. I think the thing that needs to be known and said is that we know there are some good Police Officers out there. However, we know the structure of policing has not been favorable to black bodies and the policies in which they operate under have not been favorable to black bodies and communities. That whened to see is departments or families recognize that a Police Officer starting to engage in those behaviors that make them not a good employee, then we have to to get with them, not only for the safety of Police Officers and their family, but also to protect the community. That is what Public Safety is, and when folks were talking about defunding the police, that is what we are talking about, how do we get rid of those bad Police Officers to make sure the structure of policing is fair and equitable for everyone . Rep. Presley thank you. I appreciate that context. Doctors can be sued for malpractice, lawyers for negligence, and so on. Policing should be no exception. My colleague, representative introduced ane immunity doctrine and that would allow americans to seek justice when their civil rights were violated. I hope my colleagues will support that. Ms. Crenshaw, you have coined and it is inlity order to realize equitable outcomes, considered at the intersection of interpersonal oppression. I just wanted to yield the floor to you for you to educate those on the term who may be unfamiliar. Ms. Crenshaw intersectionality is basically when it allows us to see that problems in inequality are often not single issue problems. When we look at the Police Violence issue i was talking about earlier, it is often not just a matter of race but a matter of race in conjunction withclass, in conjunction gender, in conjunction with gender identity, so intersectionality tells us as a framework that we have to look at all the different ways that vulnerability is structured into our society. It is not about the body itself. It is about how the body is situated in our society and various social structures. For example, some of the women that we lift up are those who have Mental Health crises, but they were also africanamerican or they were africanamerican and trends, and all of these thingsand all of these come together to shape how the officers interacted. We needtionality says interventions and understanding of the problem to look at the systems that create vulnerability. No single issue or single prism frame prison frame is going to solve the vulnerability. Presley i would like to bring oscar into this space. Tragically, when we are robbed of a life in this manner, the public knows them in the way they were killed, but i want the American People to know who your nephew was, so in the final seconds of my line of questioning, would you share with us about your nephew and the kind of young man he was . Most definitely. I did want to share our team that most people dont know about. Florida, mr. Of ,oseph out of tampa, florida michael brown, we all know, who was a part of our team, cory but i and i could go on, will talk about oscar. Oscarose who do not know, [no audio] at the station in oakland, california. Man. S a young, 22yearold oscar was beloved by his family, definitely his daughter, tatiana, who was four years old when he was murdered, and he had promised he would take her to chuck e. Cheese the next day but never made it home. He was loved by his friends in his community and high school. As a witness on the platform that watched him get murdered. He was my first nephew, so, you know, i had a very special love for him because i was an uncle, and he had a Good Relationship with my son, who adored each other. I had the opportunity to watch them grow up, spent a lot of time with them, so i am deeply hurt witnessing what happened to him on video. I think the world should know that in the 21st century, oscar is like the emmett till of the Civil Rights Movement, but oscar of the black lives Matter Movement because they were all based in oakland when oscar was murdered. Between oscar in 2012, there were 3000 bodies killed by the police that we seem to have forgotten about. So we cannot minimize the impact of the violence. Since oscars death, over 12,000 black folks, white folks, and brown folks. Know there are good officers. But good officers who do not Say Something are just as culpable. Legislation needs to be put in place to encourage them to become responsible agents to ensure bad Police Officers are removed and held accountable for the murders. But, yes, oscar was loved by his mom. He was loved by his grandmother. He was loved all of us and the community that witnessed what happened to him. That was oscar. He is part of the movement we see happening today. Rep. Maloney the time has expired. Now, we recognize the next representative for five minutes. Thank you, chairwoman. We are now one hour and 15 minutes into this time together, and this remote concept is not working. It is time for us to get back to washington and do what we are called upon to do. I would like to put that out. Secondly, madame chairwoman, i would like to say this is yet another faith hearing under the guise of a briefing, where, yet again, the Minority Party is disproportionately not allowed to have a voice or witnesses in a proportionate manner. Not to take anything away from the witnesses we have had. Their testimonies have been powerful. I enjoy them. Yet again, we only have one witness, and i would ask the chairwoman to learn who are witness is. Who we have today is dan, and we are honored to have him with us. In light of that, i am honored to say i am grateful to participate in the hearing that addresses a serious problem. No question. Lack lives do matter they matter enormously, and i will do everything i can to help in that cause to defend and protect black lives. It is my hope that at some point, we would expand our briefings or hearings to include. Iolence in places like chicago over memorial day weekend alone, they had 10 africanamerican lives lost. This past weekend, 80 chicagoans were shot by driveby shootings. There were 21 fatalities overwhelmingly within the black community. That needs to be addressed. I hope we will also when they look at the black babies lives that matter, where again, disproportionately black babies are being aborted. Of women of childbearing age abortionsbut 36 of are in the africanAmerican Community. 1000 liveons per births. I hope we will look at that at some point in the future. All that said, dan, thank you for joining us. Im sure you recently saw the shooting of shari brooks Rayshard Brooks and Atlanta Police department. One thing i wanted to bring up, Fulton County da, paul howard, actually said that brooks pointing the taser at the officer did not constitute a death threat, and, yet, just one week before he made that statement, he charged six atlanta officers with inappropriate use of a taser as a deadly force. I am not trying to adjudicate one way or another the circumstances of the case. My concern, however, is the of ouron that so many judicial departments are creating with a double standard where a taser in this case is a Deadly Weapon and in one case and not in another. How important is it that we get these policies, these rules clearly defined so that our officers are enabled to do the work they are called upon to do . It is critical and thank you for the opportunity to speak on this. If we are not willing to have a legitimate, factbased conversation on the standards, what is the point . Ago, asew weeks indicated, i am not attacking mr. Howard. It is his own words. Just a few weeks ago, he quoted georgia law and clearly said taser is a Deadly Weapon. Anyone watching this can consult. They are his words. Two weeks later, he indicates a taser pointed at near point blank range by an untrained person, mr. Bricks and his death is tragic, i do not wish death or harm on anyone, let me be crystal clear, but having said that, attacking a Police Officer and his partner, having fled into a parking lot with the said weapon, and pointing it at the base of the Police Officer, or it could penetrate eyeballs and potentially the skull, how do you indicate that is of deadly force is absurd. You could argue the use of force, affair. Police officers have the power to take a life. That is a power the president of the United States does not have, and every incident should be looked at. Having said that, thegbi had not finished their investigation. That isnt due process either. In the hands of someone untrained who assaulted you, it is a Deadly Weapon. Let me ask you this, too, because i think that is a great point and powerfully stated, but it looks to me like we also have another problem, besides the double standards in the judicial clarification of what is a Deadly Weapon, but Police Unions themselves appear to me to be problematic in that they protect some bad actors. It was brought up in one of the witnesses earlier about officer derek chafin. Had multiple complaints chavin. He had multiple complaints and im assuming the ones protecting him are the Police Unions. Ton when it is difficult remove the bad actors, and even if they are removed, if any of them are reinstated, how serious of an issue do think the unions are, and what do we do about it . Mr. Bongino it is very serious, and some of the panelists have had powerful comments on that. I dont instinctively disagree with all of them, but the good and the back of the unions, the bad is obviously, there are times there are really bad officers. In the case of mr. Floyd, which resulted in the death of mr. Floyd and that horrific video, and it is hard to watch. If he was protected by the union, then, yes, it is time for serious reform. Having said that, they are not officially unions, but associations are whatever you call them, there are times they protect the public, too, and i remember when there was an informal quota system policing for profit in new york city when i was a Police Officer, and the people who spoke out against that because they were being forced to harass the citizens of the minority neighborhoods i worked in, were the associations that said this isnt fair. You are putting our officers in a situation to serve a certain number of parking tickets and harass citizens. Having said that, im glad you brought it up, and we need to have a sit down with the unions, not everything they do is bad. Theast question, what is role of federal government with state and local Law Enforcement officers . Should the federal government be involved in a one size approach fits all . Every district and Police Officer is different. Rural versus urban, all of these things, what is the role of the federal government in these state and local departments . Mr. Bongino i think the president s executive order is a good first step. Information sharing is a positive peer read we dont want bad Police Officers contaminating Police Departments elsewhere. That is a must. Grand, big that, a federal use of force, i think the president has rights to use incentives and not edicts. Having worked in the secret service under president obama, president bush, and president clinton, and the nypd, there were techniques we use like dumb restraints, or if someone was shaking a hand that would not let go, we learned to get them off. That is not what you do as a Police Officer, but when you look at saving the president , that is a use of force technique specific to the secret service. Think about that in terms of rural areas and urban areas,. Urban areas. They are different. The federal law should incentivize good, solid use of force but to stay out of national edicts and let localities tailored to their specific what they need to do in their job function. Appreciate you being here and i yield back. I now recognize myself for five minutes for questions. On march 13, 2020, four Louisville Police broke into Breonna Taylors home and shot her eight times in the dead of night. They were executing an arrest warrant for someone they already had a custody, and who did not live with Breonna Taylor or in the complex. Later, all four officers are still Police Officers in louisville. Eric garner was killed by an officer who held him in a choke hold. Choke holds were barred by the nypd. Mr. Garner cried i cannot breathe 11 times. The officer was never arrested. He kept his job for five years after mr. Garners death. Amir rieps, a 12yearold child was shot and killed by police two seconds after Police Officers arrived in the car for playing. The officer responded to call that a child was playing with a gun that was probably a fake gun. The officer was never arrested. Tragicallyragic, just a few of countless love drawings, sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, and friends, lost unnecessary Police Violence. The Police Officers who commit horrific abuses against black americans have not faced consequences, not even when they take a life. Can youlike to ask, talk briefly about the current lack of accountability for Police Misconduct . Yes, thank you for that and explaining everything. I am happy to announce that they it was announced that officer was fired from lmpd. That is a first step, and i think that is because of pressure on citizens in louisville and across the nation him to be arrested, but just like you said and explained, it is super frustrating when we know that Police Officers are engaging in misconduct from many Police Officers weve seen across the nation. It is not their first time that things are building up, and there are all these Different Things that are happening. So, you know, i think a couple of people hit on this earlier today. We just want to make sure that police are held accountable, and the only way that they are going to be held accountable is that if there is legislation put into place that counteracts the production they have right now. I know that many jurisdictions rights and other things that pretty much protect just like you know, representative presley said earlier, if you are a lawyer or doctor and engage in such behaviors, then you will lose your license and no longer be able to practice. That is the same thing we want for Police Officers, and that ensures our community does not continue to be brutalized and traumatized. Rep. Maloney thank you. Thank you. You brieflyan discuss the issues you have encountered in trying to introduce reform in tulsa. Mr. Lewis thank you, madame chairwoman. It has been challenging said,he republicans have we do need to look at the fop, fraternal order of police. The problem with this is that barring an officer and trying to get that officer decertified so they will not go to another department, you had mentioned to mia wrights you had mentioned the officer that killed tamir rice, went to work with another agency. Agencies andany community. Tulsa, we have seven different agencies, and they each have their own set of policies, so to hold them accountable, for example, to hold them accountable with the tolson county sheriffss office, they have one set of t policies and theulsa Police Department has another set of policies. We have asked for all of Law Enforcement to publish their policies online so that all of the citizens can see that, but the tulsa Police Department has done it with the Sheriff Department has not. It has just been a struggle just to go one step. Those are the things that we go through daily just to hold them accountable, just to make sure that these officers who create these types of poison within the department. Currently, we have an officer who made National Headlines by pinning and saying that black people should be shot more and this officer has had a history writing an article that said this is war, after declaring black life matter hate group. That officer is still an officer. And that officer submitted to the minneapolis Police Department that we will give you warrior style training after the oror has banned the warrior that type of training. That particular Police Officer is a cancer in the Police Department. Having that rooted out, we went to the mayor, we went to the chief, and we get the very passive type of, well, we will go through a process. Policy,d to have a zero where they are going at them and saying, we will not tolerate this, and that you cannot bring on this type of behavior and poison other officers who are trying to do their job. Thank you. Y mcbride, can you discuss the notions that there are only a few bad apples that need to be identified and removed, is this true or are there larger issues at work . Pastor mcbride i do not believe the average Police Officer is a bad person. I have family members and loved ones who have served with honor and distinction. I do mean to say that the culture of policing turns to many good people into bad officers. We must reckon with this ugly truth that in 300 years of policing, we have yet to reach a consensus in this country that you cannot be a racist and a cop. We have not agreed that you cannot be a cop and affiliate with white supremacist groups alt rightmbers, and members and neonazis. There are elements in Police Departments that must be rooted out at the core to preserve the Public Safety servants who do embrace a different and reimagined way of Public Safety. Our task has to be taken seriously, part by part, the kinds of Public Safety servants we want in a 20 remodel, recognizing the culture of the department turns good people into bad cops, purge those elements, and lets reimagined those who remain in ways that move them from people who are through guardians, protectors, and bring in the ultimate modes of Community Base and Public Safety that includes our strategy. It was great to hear our republican member mentioned gun violence and some of our early communities. We would love to have bipartisan support to bring the cycle of violence with these kinds of strategies that we know save lives without increasing Police Department. It decreases Police Budget and it keeps our young men, women, and others from going to jail. There are solutions but we must have the political will and imagination, and we must have the fortitude to look at the institution, not the individual and to root out the culture and what remains will be a Public Safety system for the 21st century. Rep. Maloney thank you. Names,keep saying their Breonna Taylor, george floyd, and i hope my colleagues will work with me to ensure we never have to add anyone else to this list. I now recognize of the Ranking Member jim jordan for five minutes for as long as he would like to question. Mr. Jordan, your recognized. [no audio] mr. Jordan hello, can you hear me . Chair . Rep. Maloney i can hear you. Mr. Jordan i would like to think eyeWitnesses Today for your testimony. You served with the secret service and the nypd, is that right . Mr. Bongino can you hear me . Yes, sir, that is right. Mr. Jordan in both of those organizations, there is a chain of command, is that accurate . Mr. Bongino that is accurate. Pastor mcbride ultimately, mr. Jordan ultimately, the highest authority in police is the chief of police . Mr. Bongino that is correct. Mr. Jordan and the police chief in our system has the answer to elected officials, so the police chief answers to him . Mr. Bongino that is right. Of the in the case secret service, your answer to the president of the United States. Mr. Jordan in the case of municipal Police Departments, they answer to the mayor and city council. Mr. Bongino that is correct. Mr. Jordan they dont answer to the president of the United States. Mr. Bongino not if they are not federal entities, no. Mr. Jordan do you know who the mayor of minneapoliss question mark mr. Bongino mayor frey. He is a democrat. Mr. Jordan do you know who the mayor was before mr. Fry . Mr. Bongino he was a democrat for sure. Mr. Jordan ms. Hodges, and she was a democrat. Before ms. Hodges, do you know who the mayor happened to be . Mr. Bongino it was definitely a democrat because they have not had republican mayor in a long time. Mr. Jordan you are right again. You know the last time there was a republican mayor in minneapolis . Mr. Bongino a long, long time ago . Mr. Jordan 1963. I am getting old and that was before i was born. The last time we had a republican mayor was in 1963. 50 something years ago. It is not just the mayors. There is a city council involved, as well. There are 13 members of the minneapolis city council. Take a guess which party has the majority. Mr. Bongino my guess would be the democrats. Mr. Jordan once again, youd be right. There were 13 members of the minneapolis 1 throughil and wards 12 are democrats. So 12 of the 13 are democrats. But they are not republican either, they are in the green party. So you have a city controlled by the democrats. The city council is overwhelmingly democrat. No republicans, and they have been run by democrats by over 50 years, and yet, you have so many people on the left. Even mr. Raskin referenced President Trump. So many people who want to blame the president for the tragedy that took place in minneapolis. Which i just find astounding. And, now, after that tragedy, you have rioters, looters, and destroyedrorist to businesses, estimated at 55 million in damages, and across the country, 700 Law Enforcement personnel injured in these protests and riots around the country. Somehow, that is also blamed on President Trump. , theirir slogan statement is three words. Defund the police, which i found astounding. Tell me how because i think this is the most insane policy proposal i have heard. Talk to me about the defined the police concept as a guy who wore the uniform. An nypdngle day as officer, tell me how dangerous that is. Mr. Bongino congressman, there are policies we talk about and legitimate disagreements with tax rates and things like that. A lot of that is esoteric. Tax rates probably in the long run are not going to kill you. That is not theirs. If you support defund the police, i said in the last hearing and i say again, you should take an oath to your constituents and see all the funerals you will see because make no mistake, i will say this on the record, on paper, and broadcasted, people will die. Kids will die, teenagers will die, adults, moms and dads will die. That is not just the first order. What i mean by that is we are not just talking about less uniformed presence on the streets, but when there are Police Presence is around, crime goes down. Im also talking about the late officers that god for bid your house is glamorized, and those who have years of experience pulling fingerprints that will never be pulled. Or the officer who knows how to say, what happened here . That trained Domestic Violence or child abuse who interviews hundreds of kids in tragic situations that knows exactly when that child is trying to protect an abusive parent because they have heard it 100 times before, that is going to go. You want to defund that . Who are you going to bring in . Social workers . I did my graduate degree in psychology and they do a great job, they are not Police Officers. They are not on the front lines. I respect what everyone said, and i mean that, but nobody is going to tell me that d policing neighborhood makes them depolicing neighborhood makes them safer because i lived through new york police in one of the busiest, high crime areas in East New York brooklyn, which is largely blacks and hispanics, and the residents would tap me on the shoulder and say, officer, please, dont tell them i said it, but this guy is slinging crack on my corner and will not leave my family alone. What is going to be a lecture on d having policing . Have a social worker, . I sat on that damn corner and you will not tell me that did not happen. That happened more than once. They deserve a Police Officer. Having said that, they deserve a good one and the concerns are legitimate, but people will die if you support this abomination of a policy and i cannot ask you is Strong Enough terms to please stop talking about this on the other side. It is a nightmare for me and any of the Good American citizens who just want peace for this country and safety and security. Mr. Jordan well said. Lack ofertise police leads to unsafe neighborhoods. You have seen it. You came into your career where you saw that happening and you saw the increased Police Presence. Do you take them at their word . We have had a lot of people who said defund the police does not mean defund the police. I find that interesting. It is three words, defund the police. Yet, they say that is not what it means. Do take them afterward when they talk about this concept . Rep. Maloney the gentlemans time has expired but the gentleman may answer. Mr. Bongino i can only take them at their words, defined means defund defund means defund. If you are not going to pay them, you will not have police and government employees. It is a. Mean it it is englishlanguage. If you do not mean it, dont say it. Mr. Jordan thank you. Thank you to the folks who have served and protected and thank you for being with us today. I yield back. Rep. Maloney chairman raskin for five minutes for questions and then following that, we will take over the process of letting members know who is next due to my ongoing connectivity issues. I am staying on until the end of this, but it is hard with the connection we have an option able to see anyone. I yield to the distinguished chairman raskin antiwiper is hard work on developing the hearing we have today. Thank you, chairman raskin. Thank you, chairman maloney. I would like to agree with my friend about the priority of being in washington together. This covid19 pandemic, which livesst 117,000 american that we mourn and have sickened 2 Million People and brought our economy to its knees, has caused problems for congress, and i hope we can get back quickly. I hope we have a meaningful Contact Tracing strategy, and above all, i hope every member of this committee will wear a ask because that is becoming serious obstruction to as doing our business in congress. With thent to agree importance of getting back as quickly as possible. Professor crenshaw, it seems like when we get the nations attention through massive nonviolent protest and mobilization on the problems of Police Brutality, people want to change the subject. Do we have to overturn the Supreme Courts decision in roe versus wade . Do we have to deal with the issue of abortion before we make policing safer our citizens . Ms. Crenshaw thank you, congressman. Absolutely not. For those who are concerned about the lives and the welfare of black children, i cannot agree more that we should bring their lives into the conversation. Here is how i would suggest we do so. Most of the women i mentioned have children, and at least three of them lost their lives in front of their children. Two of them experienced their children being harmed by the Police Shooting and killing their mothers. One word at least expect that if black children are of concern to who is involved in this conversation, they would certainly start with the black children who were shot by the police. They might extend that concern to children who when their parents attempt to sue the police for the loss of their able to have not been secure any significant settlement to reflect what the loss of their parent means to them across their entire lives. And the one case that i am aware of, in which the jury provided a verdict in the killing of current gains for 36 million, karen gaines, for they overturn the verdict, citing for the first time immunity. There would bee a concern about this matter and that deescalation would also be tied to the fact that in many of these instances, children and other family members are present. I welcome the concern about children. I would hope it would be placed where the actual violence is happening. Mr. Raskin thank you, professor. Lewis b, mr. Ongino in his mr. Lewis, mr. Bongino said in his testimony that people should stop talking about defunding the police because it is endangering the police. I dont know any member who has made a speech on the house floor about this who has advocated for a policy, who is championing defunding the police. It is the other side that keeps ringing it up and it is an distraction from our legislation which is about banning chokeholds and racial and ethnic profiling and. Eveloping a National Database we always start with banning the chokehold. I see that mr. Bongino has something to say about that in the wall street journal on december 4. He was quoted as saying and he is talking about eric garner, this regulation and death of eric garner. I can tell you it is not a garner isoke because oddly still talking. I cant breathe means you can breathe. What is your reaction to officer bonginos statement . Is itelp us rebuild helpful for us to rebuild the American Contract . Mr. Lewis no, it is not. When you have someone like officer bongino, you have that power that exudes to other officers that say, i want to be like him. I want to do it like he does. If you have a person in the chokehold, it should be outlawed and that is it, plain and simple. If a suspect says he cannot breathe, you take them at their word, he cannot breathe. But it is not your duty to be a medical advisor to find out whether or not if they are speaking that means they cannot breathe. Mr. Raskin should we wait for them to die before we believe them . Mr. Lewis absolutely not. Their job is to preserve life. It should not be to take life. That should be their job. Unfortunately, when the officer has the mentality that im going home tonight, i believe that mentality creates the concept of im going to get you before you get me. I understand, there are neighborhoods where officers are on heightened alert, but when we are talking about defunding or putting money and resources that are needed and my opening testimony, i talked about how little Mental Health training is given. Locally, within tulsa, we have all heard within reference to any more money, more cops, more funding. Has had, the mayor unveiled a new police car rep. That when is going to wrap police cars. Could you imagine how much money could be given to deescalation, Mental Health services, racial bias training . Mr. Raskin my time is almost up, and i would like to make one point, in the heroes act, which we passed several weeks ago, the democratic majority has funded state and local governments, including police forces, first responders, fire departments, and it was their republican representatives who refuse to put money in state, county and local chair thank you. Mr. Roy, your recognize. You are recognized. Thank you. I cosponsored remarks made by my friend from georgia. It is important we can look each other in the eye and engage together to work through issues such as these. One thing i would point out to my friend from maryland, chairman raskin of the , the heroes act he laments not being passed had priorities for the majority of the house and it was not straightforward. Im happy to work with my like getting bills the ppp flexibility act and to work with my friend from minnesota. Would drop at massive bill with a lot of provisions and it and a significant amount of dollars attached. Real debate and sick can input from the minority without significant input from the minority or the majority. We need to restore order. This is not even a comment on the virus. Lets get on the floor with simple, straightforward bills and lets have debate on this amendment. Lets discuss them. Lets talk about what we need to do to make sure place have the backing of the American People but that we are making short liberty is being protected. Sureat we are making liberties been protected. We all want order and liberty. Mr. Bangino if he could shed light, i have been trying to understand two things. One is the extent to which Police Officers, broadly, are being painted with a broad brush stroke, in a way that is undermining their ability to do their job and painting them with a brush that is not fair for all members of police. Like 65e something million interactions between americans and Law Enforcement each year. If you could comment on that and the extent to which of all the interactions , the vast majority resulted in no force being applied. And of those in which force was applied, 98 of those resulted in either no injury or a mild form of injury. And narrow that down. I want tos iran on the problem. I want to zero in on the problem. If you could comment on that, the overall engagement between Law Enforcement and civilians throughout the nation, and how we approach that. And secondly, what do we do to cops. S that actors, dirty ones that are doing at the wrong way. We have situations like we saw in minneapolis, to be clear. Where you have an officer with 12 previous complaints, and a significant number of complaints in the minneapolis Police Department, some of which were not necessarily pursued. How do we make sure the right cops are on the beat . In the wrong ones are not . On the first one as evidenced by mr. Raskin, who entirely mischaracterized what i was trying to get across in the wall street journal interview, because he has a lack of understanding about use of force and he was not a Police Officer. What i was trying to get across in that interview with the wall street journal, theres a lot of misinformation out there about use of force when it comes to placing. As we just sadly had to witness. I have the numbers here. 0. 0004 of Police Interactions actually result in the lethal use of force by Police Officer. Again, all of those incidents are tragic. I do not even support the Death Penalty after adjudication which offends some of my conservative friends. But having said that, these are not civil questions. The reasons Police Officers engage in use of force are very generisd aris sui and specific to that situation. When you throw out talking points like, we need to get rid of chokehold, heavy thought that through . When you ask members what a chalk members of congress what a toke called is, they have no idea. Are you talking about the compression of the windpipe or trachea . That is dangerous. That is unquestionably deadly force and can be almost instant deadly force if asked applied wrong or with a lot of pressure. The point i was making in the interview is that a tracheal chokehold is not a carotid restraint. They may look this same but there looking the same because you are not trained to apply either one. A carotid restraint is a can pression of the carotid artery on both side of the neck and that technique is not dangerous. It is not dangerous and if it were dangerous there would be no mixed martial arts, additions where it happens every night. Arts mixed martial competitions what happens every night. It is the safe technique that can it render a subject temporarily unconscious sort so they stop attacking you. It is not to be thrown around in a parking lot situation. But if you notice in the Rayshard Brooks case, it is a tragic case when man died. One of the officers attempts that and later lets ago which later resulted in the use of a earm lets it go without which later resulted in the use of a firearm. I ask you a civil question. If you do not a simple question. If you do not want to use that, do we go to impact weapons in a firearm . Second, how do we get rid of bad cops . Asy cameras are a good start they protect the Police Officer and the public. The public can go to the videotape if they are by Police Officer. Secondly we have to work with the Police Unions. They have to step up here and they know that and good cops know that. We have to stop protecting bad cops. Not only are you crating harm for the community which is deadly in some cases, but they are contaminating the reputation of the good cops, who sincerely show up to work everyday with the desire to help the community. One more question. I posited we need potentially more police on the streets forming relationships and walking beats and engaging, not fewer. That is why i get concerned that defund and where will go. You talk about toys and we have talked about civil Asset Forfeiture for years. From marylandiend we may have agreement on some of these areas with guard to civil liberties. I have introduced a bill, hr 727 0 which would require doj to compile an inventory of criminal codes. Chair your time has expired. It wouldn finish, require doj to compile an inventory of criminal codes so congress can take a look at open criminal is a. We have a significant number of criminal statutes and regulations. To think reducing the number of crimes might make things simpler and easier for Law Enforcement to focus on crimes that matter and are over in our highly over criminalized society . I think thats a great question. That tragic death of mr. Garner was because of untaxed cigarettes. Of not suggesting we get rid every law and situation but policing for profit has created a lot of incendiary situations in the community that were unnecessary and i agree with your insertion your assertion wholeheartedly. Chair ms. Norton . I want to thank all of our witnesses for being here. Including our place witness. Our police witness. Is important to listen for us to depend on the place and not take a slogan above the police and what all of us want from police. I cannot help but have a question for mr. Lewis. He is from oklahoma and even tulsa. Weis tulsa at a moment when are looking at Structural Racism in policing, that is in the spotlight. Not as much because of what happened has is happening in tulsa now. But as to what happened in tulsa in 1921. To woosident was forced his rally to move his rally from juneteenth, the day when africanamericans in some parts including texas first understood they had been emancipated. The reasoning that we have invited im sure a witness from tulsa, is not because of necessarily the rally there, but because of what occurred in tulsa, which is only now being recognized. Say thatbably fair to in no American Community has there been violence by police that equaled what happened in massacre ofrtual africanamericans, which is only now being recognized nationally. And that largely because of the george floyd eyewitness killing. The reason your city is of importance to this discussion, is what had been built there, before this massacre, which occurred after an africanamerican was accused of killing a white person. Mr. Lewis, it is where the greenwood section is located, the socalled black wall street. And i understand there is still a search for the dead going on there. Nobody was ever charged. The governor has invited the president to tour greenwood. Once he comes for this rally. Mr. Ld like your reaction, lewis, by the reaction of the tocanAmerican Community, the rally being held here. In light of the massacre that took place there. Theou think that inviting president there is for recognition of what happened to encourageerhaps greater recognition of what happened . What is the reaction of the africanAmerican Community . To this issue . Thank you, congresswoman. Tulsaricanamericans in are still reeling. Thatve descendents here have not been able to say goodbye to their loved ones. There have been mass graves, that the mayor has now commissioned a team to look for. This happened. It is a 1921 race massacre and you are correct in reference to massacre. They did not have a chance. This was a black Thriving Community. Black dollars paved the streets of greenwood. This was a Thriving Community and it was gone by White Supremacy. White supremacists came in and destroyed this community. 99 years later, we are still trying to hold on to those truths. We are still trying to hold onto rebuilding. The president coming to tulsa, oklahoma, was a slap in the face of those descendents. It was a slap in the face of africanamericans in the city, African Americans in oklahoma. We have heard the president s rhetoric. We have heard everything he has said. We have seen African Americans have been used as pawns. We have seen that, we are not ignorant. We can walk and chew gum. The one thing we are, we will not tolerate someone using us as props. So a lot of organizations have gotten together to put pressure back on the governor, to say that we do not want him to come to greenwood. We do not want his people, and we know that the president travels with white supremacists. We do not want those people in greenwood. We have already experienced greenwood burned down by White Supremacy. And is what we do not want we do not have it we will not have it. One of the things that we love about our city, is that we have always been peaceful. The only violence that has happened to our city, has been brought by the hands of whites premises. Soap white supremacists. So we lock arms in love and patience and prayer. Tolift up the ancestors, let them know we are still fighting on their behalf. To date, compensation is not been given to any of the survivors or their members. That is something we have to look for. We have to look to ford to Say Something has to be done we have to look forward to Say Something has to be done and we are preserving whatever legacy we have and are trying to build from. The president did not make juneteenth popular. He did not make greenwood popular. I urge everyone to please go and do your research. Please go up and look at the 1921 race massacre. Please go find out about great what. Find out about greenwood. Come tour and find out more. Find out how this once thriving city was once dubbed, little africa. Demonstrationse where you lock arms or otherwise recognize what happened in 1921 . Yes. There will be demonstrations that will be there. There are groups who always go through ceremonial libations to give credence to the ancestors, those who were burned. There would be tours. I think rev. Al sharpton would be there to speak. It is going to be a celebration. And we celebrate juneteenth here in tulsa. And it is not a misnomer. We celebrate that. We want everyone to know that tulsa is a beginning of hope and a beginning of life. We also have to let people know that we will not tolerate any form of White Supremacy in our community. Thank you very much, mr. Lewis, very important testimony for this hearing. Chair next, mr. Lynch . Can you hear me . First, i want to thank the chair. Want to thank our witnesses. Going down tod washington, d. C. , and doing the hearings live, which i miss. I did attend for the last two ays for 20 hours, a markup, im on the Transportation Infrastructure Committee as well. While icerned because, did go down there and wear a mask, many of my republican colleagues did not wear a mask. So i think we need to get together on that to protect each other. Last couple of days in washington, d. C. , was any example of what is going on, i leery aboutry getting into that situation again if a lot of people are not going to wear masks. Lets protect each other and lets wear masks and lets do our work. My subcommittee, i want to think the witnesses. My subcommittee is on national security. So i have more experience, 30 trips to iraq, 15 trips to afghanistan, yemen, sudan, mali, somalia. Most of my experience looking at the treatment of detainees, is in the military context. I have reviewed a lot of rules for our sons cases and daughters in uniform overseas, and less so on the domestic side. But i was stunned when i read that use of force policy in that the use of force policy there, that calls for rendering a detainee, an unarmed detainee unconscious. Would violate the rules of engagement for u. S. Ground forces in afghanistan, interact, and elsewhere around the world. And elsewhere around the world. It would also violate the geneva convention. So i was very surprised to hear mr. Bonginos remarks about a Police Officer on the street rendering a detainee unconscious. I really do think we need to look at that policy, that chokehold policy. There are only two people authorized to now to render an individual unconscious. That is a Police Officer, apparently, under this use of force policy that is active in minneapolis. And an anesthesiologist. One works on the street and will do it on a sidewalk. The other goes through 12 years of training and it does that in a hospital setting, with huge implications for liability. I just do not, i do not believe that we should have a policy. We have 16,000 Police Departments across the country include sheriffs offices. We put folks through police academies, but we do not, think about that. We do not train our Police Officers to the degree where we can safely assume that they can render a person on the street, in the middle of a struggle, unconscious. He margin of error there, between rendering a person unconscious and strangling him, like what happened in minneapolis, and with eric garner and others, is just unacceptable. And we cannot, we cannot in good conscience continue that practice. I know that mr. Lewis, you remarked earlier on Governor Police reform policies. I wonder if you would comment on that. I work with governor baker regularly. Perspective and his policy. I wonder if you want to elaborate on that a little bit, you seem very wellversed in that. Muted, mr. Lewis. Are you able to hear me . If we cann start is a big solution, if we can start decertify nice officers, we will not have them go to smaller agencies. These decertifying officers, we will not have them go to smaller agencies. You have agencies that spent so much money training them and they can quit and go to a Smaller Agency and that Smaller Agency will not have the funding they need though they will get these people who are decorated officers, trained, but yet they have a bad they have a track record. That officer should have been decertified prior to going to that agency. And we know that use of force goes to excessive use of force, and it goes to killing and [] and if we can stop it in the beginning, we will not have aicers choking a person, citizen in the streets. Because there was a pattern that was there. My solution was, like the governor, is to go out and try to find out what is going on with these officers. And lets decertify them, so they will never become a Police Officer in that particular field. And they will not create harm going forward. You, i yield back. Chair mr. Connelly . Witnesses all of our here today. I particularly want to thank the passion of our colleagues from massachusetts especially have expressed and i wish every american could hear it. I also want to thank mr. Raskin for his eloquence and putting in context what we are dealing with today. Not a new issue, unfortunately. And i will ask you to keep your answer brief, is it your position that there is systemic racism that needs to be rooted out of Law Enforcement . Or is it just a few bad apples who need to be culled . My position is yes, racism exists. But thankfully it is isolated and becoming more so. I do not think any of the other fellow panelists would agree with that. I think they would say it is systemic. To be addressed on a much more fundamental way than simply calling out that actors. Actors. Ng out bad although the overwhelming majority of Law Enforcement and the vigils may be good people, the institution enforces racism and allows with impunity excessive use of force, particle and the end that people of color. That seems to be a fact. Not just an opinion. Let me ask mr. Crenshaw and mr. Lewis. It seems to meet we are dealing with a culture of impunity. So that when a Police Officer is charged, if that ever happens, with brutality for you lately use of force or lethal use of force, and that was excessive or unjustified, what happens culturally is a circle the wagons mentality. And we see that now in buffalo. We saw squad of 50 resigned from a special unit in protest to the fact that one of their own had force,arged with lethal unjustified force, that led to a concussion and the inability of the victim to walk. A person by the way accused of being antifa who in fact was someone associated with a Catholic Justice movement, an older man, 75 years old, practical and cannot walk cracked his skull and cannot walk. And afterward when he was arraigned in court, a number of his colleagues came out to applaud him walking out of the courthouse, as if they fully supported his use of Excessive Force. We saw Police Officers in louisville turned their backs on the mayor because the mayor dared to some police say, i think we have to have fundamental reforms. We are seeing your police call in with the blue flu, and protest to the fact that they are being held accountable at all. Historically we are seeing Police Unions, police associations, in the aggregate, oppose body cameras for more accountability, the panel for accountability. Andconsistently defending reinstating cops who had repeatedly been charged with brutality. Especially brutality against people of color. How do we get to a culture of accountability, when we are still denying that this is a fundamental structural problem . And we have built a culture of impunity that is this at all costs any kind of accountability. Thank you for that important question. You for that a port question and i cannot agree more with your assessment of how the culture reinforces the lack of accountability. Lets take for example the head of the union in minneapolis. He has had 20 complaints against him, and been involved in three shootings. He said he does not feel a thing about that. And is proud of it. Thaty well be the fact there are a few bad apples in the sense that there are those inling to resort to violence circumstances that are questionable. The institutionalized admission of it is the fact that that kind of behavior is not punished, but it is rewarded. So those officers who are to rise up the ranks, by having this attitude that they are actually at war with the people they are meant to serve. And let me underscore the notion of the unions actually creating an collective bargaining, in particular of preferences for potential wrongdoing that Police Officers might do. That no one else gets. No one else gets the opportunity to take two or three days before they have to testify or say what happened. No one else gets a chance to hold onto their jobs, unless there is concrete evidence of video ofg, such as a them doing something wrong. But yet, turning off their videos is not enough for the presumption to be that perhaps you have done something wrong and so you have to take the risk if you turn off your video and cannot provide the proof of what happened. So we need to rollback the concessions that have been made to Police Unions. We have to create incentives and spending so those communities that have real limits on what can be negotiated away, in terms of the lives of individuals the rights of individuals to be able to have cases against Police Officers proceed in the same way as if it was anyone else. Would you allow mr. Reed lewis to answer the question would you allow mr. Lewis to answer the question . I believe when there are investigations, that be public. The general public should know if the officers are under investigation. That is something the general public does not know. A lot of the stuff comes out after the officers terminated or something has happened on the media. Then we look back into their past. That should not be a personnel record. Be general public information. The accountability of the blue line, im sorry, but i, my gang. Sometimes they have the mentality i call them a gang. Because sometimes they are going to go, no one crosses this blue line. And ive seen other officers and i believe right now her name is carolyn horn, in buffalo, she lost her job because she tried to correct an officer. She lost her job for that. Now we have the mayor of buffalo who is going to reopen that and try to get her job back. So there are good officers. But they get penalized when they go out there and try to do the right thing. So how do we stop this culture . In my opinion, it starts from the head, from the elected official. In most meanest apologies the mayor is over the Police Department. In most municipalities, that mayor is over the Police Department. But the sheriff has absolute power and theres nobody over the sheriff and that is something we need to revisit. Because that is a first form of Law Enforcement, is the sheriffs department. Back. D chair thank you. Ms. Wasserman schultz . Friday, may 29th, the morning after protesters and police clash in minneapolis, President Trump took to twitter, to declare that thugs were dishonoring the memory of george floyd. He asserted when the looting starts the shooting start. I want to ask a rapidfire series of questions because i want to really establish the impacts [inaudible] has on the overall cascade of events that follow. And the choices people make with their words relate shape the that the protests and followup to an egregious act like the murder of mr. Floyd can go. Professor crenshaw, can you tell us that historical roots of that statement . when the looting starts, the shooting startbriefly and what the present was invoking . Yes and thank you so much for that question. The statement refers to the historical fact that Law Enforcement was used and continued to be used by mayors and other government officials, reinforcing a White Supremacy. Specifically it was a by walter hadley, the chief of police and was usingrida, who that as a warning, a threat, justification about the use of violence against those who were seen as lawbreakers. When we are clear, talking about lawbreakers we were talking about individuals and groups who were protesting discrimination. Protesting White Supremacy. The history we are talking about is that history, the history of even turning Law Enforcement against mark luther king. So we need to be clear about this. Yes and being that i represent part of miami and date county on the role that you never ask questions you do not know the answer to, i appreciate having an expert articulate that so thank you so much. Mr. Lewis, what does it mean to you when you hear, the looting starts, the shooting starts . Dog whistles. We know what that means. We here in the media constantly. We know what they are talking about, they are talking about minorities. At it as an insult. Minorities are not once were always looting. Thank you you and it is ridiculous. To president later attempted verify his remarks and says that it was spoken as a fact, not a statement and know whichever problem with it other than haters on social media. There been countless other nationwide protests in this administration. The womens march. The protest against the muslim ban. The march that took place after the murder of douglas shootings. Marchesinst kids against kids in cages. The administration did not react to any of those protests. Professor crenshaw, why do you think governments reacted to protests of Racial Justice so differently . I want to zero in on, theres a double standard we see when the trump administration, which appears to be written and racism. No matter what tactics they use, the Trip Administration always, always seems to really zero in on an inappropriate, overthetop, unacceptable, what iting reaction, is people of color protesting. The trumpet administration. Boys you had other protests in one case a Million People protesting. Where do you think that comes from . Double standard has many of us deeply and despair. Partly because of the continuation of a double standard. Lets be clear, over the course of history, when black people protested discrimination, that protest has been seen as out of order. Our own fbi called Martin Luther king the greatest threat to the security of america. But extends even today you have a category called black identity extremism. That has been applied to black lives matter. People have been framed as a deep threat. And sometimes that frame has extended beyond the kkk and other white supremacist organizations that are a threat. Thank you, and quickly, ms. Herron, would you agree the leg which from the white house was not mere words but reflective of how this Administration Polices black americans . Absolutely. When i hear those words i hear property over people. And i think that is something we have seen historically in our nation, and definitely something that the current president , what he lives by. Thank you. Kelly . Ms. Thank you. I represent the chicago area and am compelled to comment on what my colleagues said when we talk about the people who recently were shot in chicago. Unborno talked about children losing their lives. I find it interesting that comments were made about that because i ran on gun violence prevention. Since ive been in congress, seven years, when the democrats took over, to even get a vote on having background checks or closing the charleston loophole, very few republicans put for those bills. And the Maternal Mortality bill, where all women, too many women have died and black women have died at three times to four times the rate of white women and illinois six times the rate and i could not get one republican on my bill for that. It is interesting to me they talk about how much they care when given the opportunity to save lives they have not done that. Ms. Crenshaw, i want you to know my office has participated in nametweeter yesterday for 12 hours and we had a most every slot felt for 50 minute increments. I want to thank all of you for what you are doing. 15minute increments. I want to ask is this a moment . Or something going to happen. And why has this gotten to the goal of to the soul of americans, it seems like. Crenshaw, this is the question of the hour. Is this a movement, or is this a moment . I think our indications this may partly than a moment. Because as has been mentioned by many people today, when the police were actually in everybodys view, and we could see exactly how police and many of these cities were reacting, one did not have to go back to old video. Want to not have to just trust our testimony. For so long the idea was, because it is happening out of sight and out of mind cannot really get society to look seriously at the problem. For two weeks every day seven days a week, there was plenty to see. And it was important that it was not just pictures of africanamericans that were under the baton as it were, but even white americans and others, who came out to protest. So i think that vision was abundantly clear. Fromt gives that the text which to seat so many things which have not been legible until this moment. Mr. Lewis . Believe this is a fitting moment. Fading moment. People are tired and we talk about the institution of racism, which is a foundation of this country. I want to make sure everyone is aware about crystal nation, about to serve five years and press for just voting. That is the institution five years in prison for just voting. That is the institution we have. This is not a fleeting moment. We are here. When i first started, people who were on the opposite side said, mark, you are wrong, something that is not fair. They were so pro police. They thought i was a problem. Now the same people are coming back to me and saying, i am sorry. I thought it was that. Thank you. I definitely think what you are seeing now, it is a movement and it is more than the moment. For us here in kentucky, we have seen our young people lead. I have seen across the nation, our young luck folks lead. One thing our young black folks lead. And we have seen some of the other movements with young folks, the gun violence. The black voice has been left out. And the black voice is not going away anytime soon. I think what you are seeing is that people have to look into this voice now. Our young people will not give up. This is their nation. This is their society. Theyre the ones were going to be raising the next generation of kids, paying taxes and being our next legislators. I have run out of time and i do not know if they will let the other two witnesses be, thank you other two witnesses speak. Chair mr. Grossman . I am not aiming this at anyone in particular. I have a long history and politics but i was in the state legislature and had a built 12 years ago, making it easier to get rid of about Police Officer. I got almost no help at the time. I did not get one democratic senator to sign on. I am very proplace but i think the good police do not want to protect the bad place. But sometimes the power of the police union and politicians going to bat for them, are a problem. And it is particularly a problem in big cities. There are rumors it was a big problem in minneapolis, that may have resulted in this death. An someone comment on why lot of you here live in big cities. People vote for politicians in big cities who really, as part of their campaign, their major goal is to help the unions, for one of their goals is to help the unions protect the worst actors . To have a reason why historically that has been true . Why those politicians have a tendency to get elected in our big urban cities . I would say i believe it is because we have not yet created a robust imagination for the electorate, to understand. This has been going on for 20 years. My book came out 13 years ago and it is not a unit new thing. I understand. Thethe last 50 years, inability to understand Public Safety beyond policing for the electorate, allows politicians to only depend on that one tool exclusively, and not paint a broad picture for folks to imagine that we can, indeed, have Public Safety beyond policing. I think elected officials are afraid of the police units because people in our communities do not understand that we can indeed implement strategies that can make our community safe. Ok. I want to point out on behalf of people in my district who have come from all over the world. They bristle at the idea that we have a racist society. Not everyone feels that way. I talked to people who come here from all of the world and are making it. When they compare america to their country, at home, they feel it is so much easier to be a success in america than in asia, southeast asia, africa, what have you, so at least my experience in my district is with people who have done very well despite coming here and not if you being able to speak the language, have a get of a religion having a different religion. They do not look european and they make it all the way. We can go overboard in saying that it is difficult to make it in america, if you are not a european background because many people make it, and in my district so many make it and i think they take it as a little bit of an insult to america when they imply you cannot make it. I see have a picture of angela politics. D i know her it concerns me. Do you buy into her politics . Someone idavis is have looked up to and studied and i admire her as a black forn, and her fighting black folks to be free. I look to on a daily basis to ensure that as i fight this fight im well protected and have the knowledge that i need. One thing i would like to say is that historically, black folks are the only folks in this nation who have been enslaved in that way. So when we are talking about what things need to do and what things need to change, [inaudible] our nation built on the backs of black slaves and our policies crated whether health care criminal justice, have been to keep and keep black folk repressed. Until we address the systemic policies on the federal level and on the local level, we are going to continue to have issues. I was trying to make it easier to get rid of a bad cop 14 years ago before it was fashionable, but one thing that frustrates me in my district adjacent to the city of markey of milwaukee, right now our murders are up 20 more than this time last year. I haveng one person heard about who died working at an online gas station. Late into the morning after a demonstration. 20 more people have died this year than last year. Nevertheless we are having hearings. And everyone cares about it as well as they should if there are bad problems about that gel men who died in minnesota. But we have 70 people dying in milwaukee. Sohad a weekend we have many people dying in milwaukee. We had 30 people dying in chicago. It makes me wonder, wheres the outrage more people die in the north sidewalk year the southwest side of chicago . Guns. Than i do not blame guns as being the problem, we have guns all over my district and not a high murder rate. Where is the outrage over these deaths which are so wildly more than a handful of deaths and police . It frustrates me when i see, to meet i do not see why black lives matter cannot take out a gofundme page for the people he died, in the aftermath of the protests. Outrage or sympathy for this larger group of people who are dying . There is outrage and there is sympathy. I work with people in milwaukee. Reggie moore, the 414 for life, and they walk every time there are people who are killed. In theutraged congregation and in the home. People are weeping and grieving in the loss of life and it is often not covered by the press. I believe we should continue to ask these kinds of questions but also lift up solutions. We have solutions the urban progress act is a solution. Skilling up gun violence prevention programs is a solution. If in milwaukee they were resourced to the full extent of their budget we would eliminate those kinds of shootings. I want to push back on this idea that there is no outrage, there is outrage. Ok. One more question. Chair your time has expired. Porter . Thank you for being here. My colleague referenced the gel men from minneapolis who died. He said name. George floyd. That is who died. That is what is prompting this long overdue continued National Discussion about what we are going to do about the systemic racism in this country, which manifests itself in our Police System and in some any other aspects of our country as well. Today on june 19, juneteenth, and important, significant day in our countrys history for all of us. Especially for our black community. Most people do not really know about juneteenth. Growing up in rural iowa in the 1980s, we do not learn what juneteenth was in school. And even as i went off to college, and as an american studies major. Even my own exposure to black cities and African American history x. To this country was more limited than it should have been. This has not changed today. In 2017 Southern Poverty Law Center surveyed social studies teachers in High School Seniors to understand how american slavery is taught in our schools. The findings were alarming. One third of students thought the emancipation proclamation ended slavery, not the 13th amendment. They were not aware of that. Nearly 60 of teachers did not believe their textbooks coverage of slavery was adequate. I will not even get into how art teaches are constrained by curriculum, by textbooks and by testing. There are some any parts of this countrys history that we have intentionally overlooked, that we have shielded ourselves from viewing, that we have hidden our eyes from seeing, that have been wiped from our history books. Professor crenshaw, i want to ask you how we can improve education . For children and adults, about systemic racism in the long history of Racial Injustice in our communities. Can you start by briefly explaining to everyone, what intersectionality is . Thank you for the question. Is a frameworkty for understanding the way racism , sexism, and other forms of illegitimate disk of a nation come together, to create burdens and obstacles and experiences that are greater than the sum of its parts. It is to say that if you have an understanding of racism, that does not look at the way race plays out across gender, that is limited. If your understanding of sexism does not look at it intersections with race, it is a partial understanding. We can see many of these examples in the conversation about policing. One issue i mentioned earlier, was sexual abuse against back women just black women. There was a case sexual abuse against black women. There was a case in all, city where one police was accused of raping 13 black women. That is an intersectional vulnerability but Many Organizations that fight against interpersonal violence do not see interpersonal violence when it happens by Police Officers, as part of their agenda. And some who fight against antiblack racism do not often see how that intersects with patriarchy and sexism. So intersectionality is saying, lets look at the way we think about this issue because that will help see it more clearly and our solutions will follow. How can we integrate intersectionality into educational curricula . I have seen for my education and my childrens education, more effort to teach about different cultures and people and parts of our country, but it is treated as a unit. Like this is our unit on this and are month on this. How can intersectionality help us crate a more rich curriculum, that recognizes the experience of black americans are the expenses of americans . And that are the experiences of americans, and that this ought to be woven through our studies rather than treated as a special topic . That is the essential question of the moment. How to retake the energy and conversations we are having and make them a fundamental part of what we teach children. One challenge of intersectionality in a broader structural race understanding, is many parents and some School Districts really do not feel comfortable with interrogating our past, understanding how our past constitutes this moment. I case in point, the africanamerican policy forum has an unequal opportunity race video on youtube. People have used it in black History Month and for other occasions to try to show people when an entire group of people has been cut out and not allowed to participate, even formally. In 19 until 1965. That shapes everything. Parents got upset about this and one local district and the school board withdrew the unequal opportunity rates and called it a white video. Isking honestly at history often framed as generating white guilt and that creates the massive grants we see across American Society about massive ignorance we see across American Society about how racism shapes the baseline we take for granted. Chair mr. Raskin . To maloney. We are waiting for jackie spear and it is good to see my spierre. S. I would like to ask mr. Jonathan, im glad to have you here today. You have spent years advocating on behalf of your nephew and families across the country, who have lost loved ones. As we consider next steps of sweeping reforms, what do you and those families want members of congress to know . Today, here on the west coast, the question was asked, is this a movement or a moment . Today on the west coast, all 29 ports are shut down for eight hours, in regard to Police Accountability and transparency. With the rest0, of the longshoreman ports up and down the west coast, has stopped worked today. International cargo coming into the west coast cannot enter because of what we are witnessing happening to people of color, when it comes to dealing with police, and the failure to be held accountable, and the failure of transparency being given. I do not want us to forget the iona jones, seven years old, killed and detroit, the same way breonna was killed. And our failure to Pay Attention to these murders and learn from them, Breonna Taylor was murdered. Honor jones was seven years old. Years old and 107 a swat team kick down his door and murdered him. A person of color regardless of regardless is excused from being murdered by these rogue Police Officers. We know that good Police Officers exist, however the good Police Officers need to hear our cry, and that is to become accountable and hold those bat officers accountable, and to begin to those bad officers accountable and get to have them removed from the system. Accountability with the kind of scourgeuld eradicate the we have today. I have fought for legislation for the last eight years, ab 171 supports data collection. 923 the racial profiling act. The audio relays, the strictest in the nation. The question is, our agencies locally and statewide provided by the laws being passed . I say no. It requires on a national level, that the department of justice get involved to create National Legislation that these agencies are held accountable to abide by. That in itself would begin to and the hope begin to murders we see happening consistently by these rogue Police Officers. It is a call out from the family members that the good officers come on our side and begin to cross the blue line so those bat officers can be arrested and charged and sent to yelp bad officers can be arrested and charged and sent to jail. California, the most deadly country, one officer is the only one arrested, charged and sent to jail and he only did 11 months. Just because we get an officer arrested and convicted, does that mean the da system does not fail . It does not mean that the judges to thet on these cases jury instructions and reduce the time theyre supposed to do, which happens on a regular basis. We have much work to do, but i believe that there is a Real Movement that has taken place. When labor comes on board, we will really then see the impact of this movement. Much. Nk you so please, Jackie Speier is available now, is that correct . Hello . Madam chair, can you hear me . Yes. Thank you. I want to thank you, madam chair, for bringing this powerful panel together. I have just one question that uld be addressed to many ofhe deaths of so these innocent victims is the number of guns we have in the United States. We look at the number of deaths by Police Officers per year, i think it is about [indiscernible] canada, none. I am just curious from the panelists, to what extent do we also attribute this brutality to the fact that there are so many guns in our society . It is is without a doubt without a doubt the proliferation of weapons in the United States is certainly an issue, and yet we know that there are ways and strategies to reduce gun violence in our country without having to fall into Second Amendment rights. Theo believe that strategies that have been championed by so many across the country in cities like oakland, stockton, new york, boston, los angeles, have decreased gun violence in the cities by 30 on the low end and 70 on the high end in less than 24 months. A comprehensive gun violence prevention strategy is about limiting the illegal trafficking of weapons but also scaling up interventions that can indeed leverage the techbased tax base of our local municipalities that allow us to rely less and less on the kind of policing strategy that causes some rights abuses, that cause the kind of civil rights abuses, that cause the kind of collective punishment of all communities. These strategies are at our disposal. The breaking the cycle of violence act is a wonderful start. We hope that as we talk about Police Violence and the concerns about Public Safety, we can indeed talk about solutions to those fears being the strategies that are championed by so many across the country. Any of the other panelists want to answer that question . I think i would like to point out a couple of problems with the way in which much of the conversation about gun violence undervalues the concerns of africanamerican gunowners. There seems to be a functional reality that africanamerican gunowners are basically operating under a sort of a lower form of protection under the Second Amendment. Breonna taylors boyfriend was initially arrested and charged with attempted murder because he exercised what he thought was his right to protect his family from what looked like a break and. A breakin. The same thing happened with fully new castille philando castille. Entering gains had a firearm which she said she had when she got the police were breaking into her home. She ended up being killed after facebook turned off her stream of her effort to protect herself and her child. Significant and important to be concerned about gun violence, it is also important to be concerned about what appears to be the disparity. No one i know thinks that africanamericans could march into a State Capitol and have a standoff with officers with legislators inside holding guns. We very much are concerned about the disparity and asymmetry in the Second Amendment rights. Thank you. Thank you, madam chair. [indiscernible] hi, jackie, are you finished . Ok, mr. Raskin is recognized for question. Thank you, manager. I have one final question for reverend mcbride. Professor crenshaw made a powerful point to representative porter that too often people interpret the efforts to educate about the actual history of our country as an effort to impose guilt on white people. Braw interesting speech by yan stevenson where he said this moment in history is not about assigning guilt and punishment. It is about liberation and about us liberating ourselves from the injustices and the cruelties of the past. It occurred to me when i had a constituent who called who is republican whose children had gone down to protest at the white house and they got caught up in the paramilitary riot that bill barr and donald trump unleashed on the protesters in Lafayette Square with rubber bullets and pepper spray. He said he could not believe his family was treated like that. I wonder if you would reflect a little bit about what it is not just about the africanAmerican Community but all americans for us to take away this power of arbitrary violence where some Police Officers have abrogated themselves aroorogated themselves. I am convinced as a victim of violence and someone who is working with Law Enforcement officers on Justice Training and other forms of training that violence erases your humanity. It erases your capacity to have compassion. It erases your ability to respond to people with gentleness, tenderness, and patience. It steals your soul and it steals your heart. I believe the importance of this says, thes dr. King greatest exporter of a violence in the world is the United States government. The apparatus and the appendages of our government at the local and Even National level must become less addicted to violence uls 10 be redeemed and our bodies can be saved. It is all of us at this moment, we have an opportunity to do what 300 years of previous lawmakers and citizens have been unable to, to begin to build a community and a system and a structure and a nation that is not dominated by the forces of violence and dehumanization that is at work, and it is ubiquitous. I say to all of our countrymen, love ones,n, that violence is not the way to securities. It is an illusion that violence must be the solution to because of issues we are facing. There are other ways to use our tax dollars, our talents, our gifts, our human ingenuity to solve our conditions. Violence cannot be our tool. It must be our ultimate, ultimate last resort. Right now it is our first option in too many instances. Well, thank you very much. Oft is a beautiful evocation reverend king and his message of nonviolence for everybody in america and all races and creeds and people in uniform as well. We have got to move toward a nonviolent society. I yield back to the madam chair. You. Ank i want to thank all of our briefers who were all very insightful and inspiring. We thank you for being here today, and i want to respond to uncle bobbys statement, that impacted people do have a voice. It will not forget what you feel, what you have gone through, and what you have expressed today. And we are grateful to all of you for your presence, your voice, and everything that you have expressed today. I encourage all of my colleagues to vote for the George Floyd Justice in policing act. We must not let this moment pass us by. And in the words of our former chairman elijah cummings, we can and we must do better. I thank the staff, i thank all the members, i specially thank ers today for their insight, their experience, and wisdom, and we will carry that to the floor of congress when we vote next week and we will carry it to our colleagues in congress as we work for the passage of this important bill. Thank you, and i yield back. 10 00e this saturday at a. M. , the Poor Peoples Campaign rally, an online gathering of people across the country speaking out against social injustice. Speakers include activist cornell west, actor danny glover, comedian wanda sykes messing,ess debra former Vice President al gore and his daughter karenna, and actress and activist jane fonda. Live on saturday, 10 00 a. M. Eastern, the poor peoples rally against social injustice, on cspan, online at cspan. Orgl, or listen life on the free cspan radio app. Trump this november we are going to take back the house, we are going to hold the senate, and were going to keep the white house. President trump returns to the campaign trail saturday for a rally in tulsa. Watch our live coverage starting at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan, ondemand at cspan. Org, or listen on the go with the free cspan radio app