Democrats slam Republican police reform bill over lack of officer accountability – live

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy praised senator Tim Scott’s police reform bill, saying the legislation would improve relationships between “hardworking cops” and the communities they serve.

McCarthy has complained that Democratic leaders have blocked Republicans from negotiations over the House police reform bill, but the Democrats already have enough co-sponsors to pass the legislation.

At Senate Republicans’ press conference today, Scott noted there were a number of overlaps between the Senate and House bills. However, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has already said Scott’s bill does not go far enough to address police misconduct.

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer sharply criticized Republicans’ police reform bill, but he appeared to leave the door open to debating the measure next week.

Democrats hold 47 seats in the Senate, which would be enough to block the motion to proceed on the legislation if they are unified in opposition to taking up the bill.

Senator Tim Scott said at Senate Republicans’ press conference today, “If we don’t have the votes on a motion to proceed, that means that politics is more important than restoring confidence in communities of color in the institutions of authority.”

Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer is already criticizing Republicans’ police reform bill, saying the legislation does not include meaningful changes to address misconduct.

“We’ve only had the bill for a few hours and are reviewing it,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “But what’s clear is that the Senate Republican proposal on policing does not rise to the moment.”

The New York Democrat said the bill’s “greatest flaw” was that it is “missing real, meaningful accountability for individual officers’ misconduct.” “This bill will need dramatic improvement,” Schumer said.

Democrats have called for banning qualified immunity so that police officers can be held accountable for misconduct in civil court, but Republican senator Tim Scott described that proposal as a “poison pill.”

Senator Tim Scott noted there were overlaps between his police reform bill and House Democrats’ bill, particularly on issues like the duty to intervene and police chokeholds.

“The legislation is already bipartisan,” the Republican senator said of his bill. “The question is, can we get bipartisan support?”

Scott added moments later, “If we don’t have the votes on a motion to proceed, that means that politics is more important than restoring confidence in communities of color in the institutions of authority.”

A reporter noted Republicans have not been using the word “systemic racism” to describe the problem with policing, as many Democrats have. She asked if that would impede negotiations between the two parties.

Scott, the only black Republican in the senator, emphasized the two bills shared many similarities and added, “We’re not a racist county. We deal with racism because there’s racism in the country.”

Senator Tim Scott took several reporters’ questions about his police reform bill. Asked if he was worried about the effort losing momentum if it is not passed next week, Scott said, “I don’t think the nation is going to allow us to lose the momentum.”

The Republican senator added he hoped Trump would support the bill as well. “I hope the president will join forces and jump on board,” Scott said.

Scott noted Trump was “the most presidential I’ve seen him” yesterday, as he met with families who had lost loved ones to police brutality.

Republican congressman Pete Stauber, a former police officer, will lead the effort on the House side to get senator Tim Scott’s police reform bill passed.

While introducing Stauber at the press conference, Scott noted Stauber had been shot in the head on the job in 1995.

Stauber said he was “devastated” by the video of George Floyd’s last moments, which showed a white police officer kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

“What I saw in that video goes against everything I stood for as a police officer,” Stauber said. “George Floyd’s life mattered. And the best way to honor his memory is by enacting meaningful and lasting change within policing.”

Republican senator Shelley Moore Capito said Tim Scott’s police reform bill represented an opportunity to be “pro-civil rights and pro-law enforcement.”

One of their Republican colleagues, Ben Sasse, added that the legislation would “restore and build more public trust” between law enforcement and communities of color.

Sasse also said the bill was an opportunity to use technology to address the issue of police brutality, noting officers are already being held more accountable thanks to cell phones.

This is Joan Greve in Washington, taking over for Martin Belam.

A Tulsa judge has denied a request to block the Trump campaign from holding a campaign rally this Friday, despite concerns that the large indoor event could intensify the spread of coronavirus.

Some of Tulsa’s residents and businessowners had asked Judge Rebecca Nightingale to intervene in order “to protect against a substantial, imminent, and deadly risk to the community,” but she declined to do so.

Many Democratic lawmakers and public health experts have expressed concern about holding the rally in the 19,000-seat BOK Center, but the Trump campaign appears determined to move forward.

Even Tulsa’s Republican mayor has expressed some concerns about the rally. “Do I share anxiety about having a full house at the BOK Center? Of course,” mayor GT Bynum said in a statement last night.

“As someone who is cautious by nature, I don’t like to be the first to try anything. I would have loved some other city to have proven the safety of such an event already.”

In England, soccer is re-starting today, playing in front of empty stands due to coronavirus restrictions. Some teams are filling the grounds with cardboard cut-outs of fans and celebrities so it doesn’t look so bleak.

Donald Trump is expected to feature in the crowd at a match due to be played in Cheltenham on Monday night – possibly the only match he’ll be seen at for some time since he has said he will no longer watch domestic matches after US Soccer repealed rule requiring players to stand for anthem. Shaquille O’Neal is also among those whose presence will be felt in the crowds in England.

Players in the country’s top division, the Premier League, will have their names on their shirts replaced with the slogan Black Lives Matter for one round of games. London-based side Tottenham Hotspur just posted a picture of their squad taking the knee before the re-opening matches.