House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland dismissed calls to defund the police in the wake of a fatal Minneapolis police shooting last week and expressed support for reform efforts.
“Defunding the police is not an answer,” Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, told reporters on Tuesday when asked about congressional efforts to reform police conduct in light of the shooting.
“Defunding the police is not a policy that would be supported by the American people and is not supported because they know we need the police,” Hoyer said. “The police perform an absolutely essential service in our democracy. Without an orderly context, democracy cannot work.”
RISING CRIME WAVE THREATENS DEMOCRATS’ HOLD ON POWER IN CONGRESS
Minneapolis police last week fatally shot Amir Locke, a 22-year-old black man, after a SWAT team executed a warrant at his apartment. Locke was holding a gun when he was shot. The incident prompted the mayor of Minneapolis, which was rocked by protests and riots after the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, to ban no-knock warrants.
Missouri Democratic Rep. Cori Bush, who dove into politics following 2013 Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson, Missouri, renewed calls to defund the police following the shooting.
My colleagues keep telling us to wait.
They keep telling us defunding the police and investing in communities won’t work.
Well their policies keep ending up with police murdering Black people.
Enough patronizing. Listen to the movements that are telling you how to save lives.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) February 5, 2022
“My colleagues keep telling us to wait. They keep telling us defunding the police and investing in communities won’t work,” Bush tweeted.
“Well their policies keep ending up with police murdering Black people. Enough patronizing. Listen to the movements that are telling you how to save lives.”
California Democratic Rep. Karen Bass led negotiations on police reform efforts with a bipartisan group of senators last year, but talks fell through in part because of disagreement on reforming “qualified immunity,” which shields police officers from liability.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The House last year passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a Democratic bill that would create sweeping police reforms, but the legislation is essentially dead in the Senate due to being unable to overcome a Republican filibuster.
Hoyer said that he has not talked to Bass about any new efforts on police reform in light of the shooting, but he said that he hopes lawmakers continue to look at prohibiting no-knock warrants and police chokeholds.
