Though former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd nearly a year ago, Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said there is much more work to be done to increase police accountability.
Smith, whose hometown is Minneapolis, told Cheddar that people have to continue organizing and bringing grassroots movements to the forefront so this isolated and rare conviction of a police officer can become a more commonplace reality.
“I think a lot of people in Minnesota and probably around the country were feeling a sense of great relief, that in this most egregious murder that we all saw play out on our video screens, that there was accountability," she said. "But we know that the work ahead to really address these challenges and to fight to make sure that there is true equal justice in this country is a long road ahead of us, and we’ve got to get on it.”
Smith is encouraging her Senate colleagues to support the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which the House passed in March, though it is expected to hit a few roadblocks, particularly when it comes to altering qualified immunity for police officers. Such a change would make it easier for citizens to bring civil lawsuits against officers for police misconduct.
The bill would also eliminate several problematic policing tactics used by various departments nationwide, including no-knock warrants, like the one obtained by police in the lead-up to the killing of Breonna Taylor, and chokeholds, a restraint technique already banned by the NYPD before it was used on Eric Garner. It would also provide an easier path for the Justice Department to investigate patterns of misconduct.
“I believe that addressing qualified immunity is what it’s going to take to change the culture in police departments and to change the ways in which we then hold police departments and law enforcement accountable for excessive use of force,” Smith noted.
“I’m not naive. This is going to be difficult to get support for, but you can see some little inklings among some of my Republican colleagues who are willing to take a look at this," she said. "I want to thank and commend Senator Tim Scott who has shown a real interest in trying to address this because he himself as United States Senator and a Black man has experienced this kind of disproportionate effect of law enforcement on him personally.”
Drastically different from the Democrats’ reform bill, Scott (R-S.C.) introduced his own police reform bill, which includes incentives for cities to end the use of chokeholds but stops short of completely banning them. Smith said she is willing to negotiate and believes some bipartisan progress can be made since more GOP members may be recognizing that changes in American policing are necessary.
“The thing we cannot do is to take steps that are not that meaningful, that aren’t going to result in real change, declare victory, and then reduce the pressure to really change these systems that result in such disproportionate impact on Black and Brown people and all people of color,” she added.
Florida lawmakers have introduced a controversial bill restricting some discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms with young students. Supporters say the move empowers parents to have more of a say in what their children learn. Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
Congress this week passed a bill that would end forced arbitration for workplace sexual assault and harassment, one of the most significant changes to employment law in years. Cheddar News speaks with Marjorie Mesidor, Sexual Harassment Attorney, who explains that arbitrators are often retired judges or attorneys who "tends to have a more conservative view both to law and rewards."
As the situation with Russia has grown more precarious, the White House urged Americans remaining in Ukraine to leave immediately. The Biden administration that it sees continuing signs of escalation but did not have specific information detailing a timetable for a potential invasion. Kristine Berzina, senior fellow and head of the geopolitics team at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, joined Cheddar News to provide her analysis. "There's talk of an impending phone call between President Putin, President Biden," Berzina said. "That is certainly a good sign to indicate that there would be significant cost."
Terrell Starr, host of 'Black Diplomats' podcast and senior nonresident fellow at the Eurasia Center for Atlantic Council, joins Cheddar News from Kyiv, Ukraine to discuss the mounting tension there.
The White House laid out plans for a $5 billion investment into a national network of charging stations to ease EV driving anxiety. Bruce Brimacombe, CEO of EV infrastructure GOe3 joined Cheddar News to discuss how much needs to be done for drivers to get over the fear of running out of energy. "People need to be able to do what they're doing now," he said. "But that is the way that if you're going to buy an electric car, you got to feel like you're not changing your world." Brimacombe noted that building out the infrastructure between cities was GOe3's own focus.
U.S. automakers are saying that the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, a crucial border crossing between the U.S. and Canada, is affecting their production lines. Michelle Krebs of Cox Automotive warns that the disruption "couldn't come at a worst time," amid chip and labor shortages in Detroit.
AND DETROIT-BASED AUTO MAKERS SAY THEY ARE SHUTTING DOWN PLANTS OR SCALING BACK PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF PARTS SHORTAGES.
Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
David Tafuri, Former Obama Campaign Foreign Policy Advisor & Former State Department Official, joined Cheddar News to break down the latest geopolitical stories from Beijing, amid China's human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and yet another Russian doping scandal.
Dr. Jennifer Haythe of Columbia University's Irving Medical Center, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss the latest with the pandemic, as the debate over child safety rages amid low vaccination rates and states easing school mask mandates.
