Congressman Cohen Statement on Recent Uses of Deadly Force Against African Americans

MEMPHIS – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today released a statement in response to the recent killings of African Americans in rural southeast Georgia, Louisville, and Minneapolis:

"We can't keep adding to the list of names that includes the high-profile cases of Philando Castille, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland and countless others – including Darrius Stewart in 2015 and Steven Askew in 2013, both in Memphis -- without acknowledging that police encounters with African Americans turn deadly at a disproportionate rate. This is a systemic injustice and – like the disproportionate impact the coronavirus is having on people of color -- it exposes our failure to address the underlying racial, economic and social justice inequities we have ignored for far too long.

"Congress must act to address the unfair treatment of African Americans in their interactions with police. The recent outrageous mishandling of the Ahmaud Arbery murder case in Georgia, the police shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville and the videotaped asphyxiation of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer are just the most recent examples of an injustice African Americans have endured for centuries. It's long past time to stop talking and act. As a first step, I have introduced two bills in previous Congresses and in the current Congress – H.R. 119, the National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act, and H.R. 125, the Police Training and Independent Review Act – that could be marked up in the Judiciary Committee and sent to the floor immediately to help address this injustice. I believe they were ripe for consideration in the past but they are especially relevant now. I have been a longstanding supporter of the Office of the Community Oriented Policing (COPS programs). We must further invest in community-law enforcement relations and successful alternative models like restorative justice.

"I have already started discussions with my colleagues to find the best way for the families of the victims to speak directly to Congress. I also call on my colleagues to urgently move my legislation and uphold our responsibility under the Fourteenth Amendment to ensure that all Americans receive the full due process and equal protection of the laws they are entitled to. It is critical that we take a comprehensive approach to this issue and expand restorative justice programs.

"As Presidential candidate and Senator Robert F. Kennedy said on the night Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated: ‘What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country.'"

On Thursday, Congressman Cohen joined House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler and colleagues from the Committee in a letter to Attorney General William Barr and the head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division demanding they open an investigation into these cases and the pattern of police misconduct. The House Judiciary Committee also announced that it will be pursuing additional oversight and legislative action to address the unjust policing practices that have resulted in the deaths of African Americans across the country. See that letter here.