Sen. Lindsey Graham believes the Senate should hold hearings on police violence against black citizens.
While appearing on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show Thursday, the South Carolina Republican was asked if there’s a role for the Senate Judiciary Committee to look into instances of police brutality against black residents, to which Graham said it’s an endeavor he intends to pursue.
“I think a lot of African Americans have a legitimate claim to a hearing on the issue of police violence against African American men in these situations. What do you think, Senator Graham?” Hewitt asked.
“You know, that’s not a bad idea at all,” Graham responded while adding that he does not want to interfere with the investigation into the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was pronounced dead at a hospital after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him down by placing a knee on the back of his neck for approximately eight minutes until he became unresponsive.
“To take a 30,000-foot view of things: Why does this happen? How often is it? Is it an aberration? The rule of law depends on honest, ethical cops, and judges, and prosecutors. If the cops are not honest, ethical, they don’t follow the rules, they don’t turn over Brady materials, they use excessive force, then the rule of law deteriorates,” he continued, adding that he view’s Floyd’s death as a man dying for “no good reason.”
Hewitt suggested Graham’s fellow South Carolina senator, Tim Scott, a black Republican, appear before the committee to discuss the issue’s impact on the black community, an idea Graham called “good judgment.”
“Tim’s been stopped multiple times on Capitol Hill. I’ve never been stopped driving around,” Graham noted. “Tim probably could shed light on this different from any other United States senator because he’s a conservative Republican.”
