Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called for an end to the destructive rioting in U.S. cities while acknowledging social injustices following the deaths of several black people in relation to law enforcement.
“Obviously, this struggle remains incomplete,” McConnell said, noting the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd.
McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer both spoke about the rioting, which began after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck while Floyd was face down and handcuffed.
“These disturbing events do not look like three isolated incidents,” McConnell said. “They look more like the latest chapter in our national struggle to make equal justice and equal protection of the law into the facts of life for all Americans rather than contingencies that sometimes depend on the color of one’s skin.”
Schumer promised to “propose and push bold action” to respond to the problem and called for McConnell to bring a “law enforcement reform bill” by July 4.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the individuals burning cars, throwing bricks, and causing destruction represent “a small minority” of the protesters and “are wrong and do not promote the cause of justice.”
Schumer said the violence could be explained by a lack of accountability in the Minneapolis Police Department, which has only charged one of the four officers present during Floyd’s arrest and subsequent death.
“It certainly helps to explain the frustration and anger right now,” Schumer said. “There is accountability when everyday citizens and protesters violate the law, but that same accountability is far too often lacking when law enforcement violates the law. We have to fix that.”
McConnell called on the rioting to end and said the federal government should step in if local governments cannot stop the destruction.
“There is no constitutional right to commit violent crime or to terrorize communities, period,” the Kentucky Republican said. “This cannot continue. It’s already gone on for entirely too long.”
