George Floyd bill to outlaw chokeholds and other police tactics passes the House but faces challenge in the Senate as Minneapolis boards up ahead of Derek Chauvin's trial next week
Congress on Wednesday passed the 'George Floyd Bill' to ban controversial policing tactics, as the city of Minneapolis braced itself for the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer accused of killing him.
Chauvin's trial begins with jury selection beginning on Monday - a process that could take up to three weeks.
He will be tried separately from the three other former Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd's death. Their trial is in August.
Derek Chauvin will be tried at Hennepin County Government Center from Monday
Floyd died on May 25 after he was arrested for using a counterfeit $20 bill in Minneapolis and Chauvin (right) placed his knee on Floyd's neck
Officers involved in Floyd's death, L-R: Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao
Floyd, 46, an African-American man, died when he was detained with Chauvin kneeling on his neck for nearly eight minutes.
His killing sparked weeks of nationwide and global protests, many of which were led by Black Lives Matter activists.
Downtown Minneapolis has begun boarding up businesses, ahead of one of the most high-profile trials in years.
The City Center shopping mall is reusing plywood barricades erected during the summer's protests, and the managers will add more private security and likely reduce hours during the trial, The Star Tribune reported.
Businesses and government buildings are seen boarded up in Minneapolis on Wednesday
Barricades, razor wire and barbed wires fences are seen in front of the courthouse
The area surrounding the courthouse has been reinforced ahead of the March 8 trial
Steve Cramer, president of the Downtown Council and Downtown Improvement District, encouraged business owners to have faith in authorities.
'Downtown will continue to fully function during this period, and that's largely a result of a really thorough preparation,' he said.
Yet the city's Community Planning and Economic Development department warned business owners to take emergency precautions and make sure insurance policies are up to date.
'You might want to consider adding physical barriers, such as boarding or permanent security gates,' said Erik Hansen, Economic Policy and Development Director, at a recent news conference.
As Minneapolis prepared for the trial, in Washington DC the House of Representatives passed the bill through a vote 220-212, with the support of only one Republican.
Officially known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, it now moves to the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain.
Protesters outside the site of Floyd's killing, the day after the 46-year-old died
A woman weeps outside the George Floyd memorial on May 20, four days after he was killed
A man takes a photo of protest signs in Los Angeles on June 3 during the George Floyd protests
'How many more people have to die, how many more people have to be brutalized on videotape' before police reforms become law, asked Democratic Representative Karen Bass, who wrote the legislation with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler.
She said the bill would hold police 'accountable' when constitutional rights are violated but would also support local law enforcement by fostering improvements in community policing, especially for minority neighborhoods.
One of its most controversial provisions would change 'qualified immunity' for police, further opening the door for lawsuits over the use of excessive force.
Reuters in May 2020 published an investigation revealing how qualified immunity, with the Supreme Court's continual refinements, had made it easier for police officers to kill or injure civilians with impunity.
Conservative Republicans have attacked the Democratic bill, saying it would put law enforcement lives in danger and make communities less safe.
The police reform effort sputtered in Congress last summer after the House passed the so-called George Floyd bill and Democrats blocked a Senate Republican bill.
While it also addressed issues such as police choke holds, no-knock warrants and use of police body cameras, Democrats complained it relied on incentives rather than mandating changes.
Senator Tim Scott, the author of the Republican bill, told Reuters in a statement he welcomed conversations with Democrats over qualified immunity.
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