Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said a police reform bill passed by Democrats in the House in 2021 is a "nonstarter."
"Resurrecting the House progressives' police reform bill is a nonstarter. I've been working toward common-ground solutions that actually have a shot at passing. Solutions to increase funding and training to make sure only the best wear the badge. Solutions that would have made a difference in places like Memphis & Kenosha," Scott said in a Twitter thread.
Scott was referencing the cases of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who was beaten to death by Memphis, Tennessee, police officers in January, and Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was left partly paralyzed in 2020 after a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot him seven times in the back.
The police reform bill passed by the House, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, stalled in the Senate over the issue of qualified immunity for officers.
The bill would have sought to address racial profiling and use of deadly force, lowered the legal standard for prosecuting officers from willfulness to recklessness, and would've limited qualified immunity as a defense to liability in a private civil action against an officer.
Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., both said Monday they are still actively negotiating for police reform.
"Sen. Scott has been working on police funding and reform for the better part of the last decade," a spokesperson for Scott told Fox News Digital. "He never left the negotiating table and has encouraged his colleagues on the other side of the aisle to join him in his continued efforts to increase safety in our communities."
A spokesperson for Booker told Fox News that he "has spent the past several days engaged in conversations with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and is considering all legislative options to raise the levels of transparency, accountability, and professionalism in American policing," adding that he's hopeful that his colleagues will "step up."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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