With the U.S. Capitol and Washington Monument in the distance, a man stands at the edge of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool at sunrise, Sunday, June 7, 2020, in Washington, the morning after massive protests over the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.
Before unveiling the package, House and Senate Democrats held a moment of silence at the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, reading the names of George Floyd and others killed during police interactions.
The package would also change “qualified immunity” protections for police “to enable individuals to recover damages when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights,” it says.
Days of protest, sometimes violent, have followed in many cities across the country in response to the death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25th.
(Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)
However, the package stops short calls by leading activists to “defund the police,” a push to dismantle or reduce financial resources to police departments that has struck new intensity in the weeks of protests since Floyd’s death.
