Vice President Kamala Harris urged Congress to pass police reform legislation after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of murdering George Floyd, calling reform “long overdue” and racism an issue “holding our nation back.”
“A measure of justice isn’t the same as equal justice … We still must reform the system,” Harris said in remarks at the White House, calling for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill that would ban chokeholds, no-knock warrants in drug cases, and alter so-called qualified immunity for law enforcement.
BIDEN CALLED GEORGE FLOYD FAMILY TO OFFER PRAYERS AHEAD OF VERDICT
“Not as a panacea for every problem,” she added, “but as a start.”
The legislation, introduced last year by Harris and Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and California Rep. Karen Bass, both Democrats, would also create a national database of police misconduct, making it easier to pursue claims.
Chauvin, who pleaded not guilty to separate charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter after kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, was convicted on all counts Tuesday.
Harris also said racial injustice in the United States was holding back the country.
“Black Americans and black men, in particular, have been treated throughout the course of our history as less than human — our fathers and brothers and sons, and uncles and grandfathers and friends and neighbors,” Harris said, calling reform “long overdue.”
Systemic racism “is not just a black American problem or a people of color problem,” she said. “It is a problem for every American. It is keeping us from fulfilling the promise of liberty and justice for all. And it is holding our nation back from realizing our full potential.”
In a phone call with Floyd’s family following the announcement by the jury, President Joe Biden promised to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act “and a lot more.”
He drew rebuke earlier in the day after he said he was praying for the “right verdict” in the trial.
Asked whether she agreed with Biden’s comments, Harris told CNN, “We all want justice.”
Biden has closely followed the trial, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, and he and Harris watched the verdict announcement with staff in the private dining room, the White House said.
Both have urged peaceful protests after demonstrators roiled Minneapolis and other cities over the weekend and have discussed the issue repeatedly in recent weeks, according to CNN. The president also raised it with Congressional Black Caucus members in a meeting last week.
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Biden, in his remarks, called Floyd’s death “a murder in the full light of day” and echoed Harris’s calls for reform.
“This can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America,” Biden said.
