Image
Image Credit
Probal Rashid / Contributor via Getty Images
Image Alt
Sonya Massey memorial
Image Size
landscape-medium
Image Position
center
The national rebuke of police killings is not dwindling down as the families of individuals whose lives were lost in recent years rally their support behind the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
On Friday (Sept. 13), members of Breonna Taylor, Tyre Nichols, and Sonya Massey’s families reinvigorated demands that the Senate approve the bill. In a press conference held during the annual Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C., they reiterated widespread beliefs that it is time police are held accountable for their actions.
The proposed legislation was named in honor of George Floyd, a Black man who died when white Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest in 2020.
The harrowing death was filmed by bystanders as the man’s cries of “I can’t breathe” went unaddressed. Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter in a highly publicized case in 2021. He was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison.
Then-Senator Kamala Harris and lawmakers first introduced the bill in 2020. Despite clearing the House of Representatives twice and President Joe Biden’s intention to sign it into law, it has faced hurdles in the Senate. It calls for an end to chokeholds and no-knock warrants, as well as proposes a national registry for police conduct among its acts of reform. The act was reintroduced to legislators in August, following the police killing of Sonya near Springfield, Illinois.
Thirty-six-year-old Sonya was fatally shot in the face by white Sangamon County deputy Sean Grayson inside her home on July 6. Her death occurred after she called 911 to report concern of a possible prowler in the residence. Grayson, 30, was terminated and indicted on multiple counts of first degree murder and aggravated assault. At the press conference, her uncle, Raymond Massey, remembered Sonya as a queen who was experiencing a mental crisis when she “ended up being killed in her own home.”
Taylor, a Black 26-year-old EMT, died by police gunfire when Louisville, Kentucky, officers raided her apartment during the execution of a botched no-knock warrant in March 2020. Last month, a U.S. District judge dismissed felony charges of civil rights violations against two detectives accused of falsifying affidavits to misdemeanors. A third officer involved in the incident previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges and is expected to cooperate with prosecutors when the trial against his former colleagues begins.
But for Tamika Palmer, Taylor’s mother, justice has been a long road with no end in sight. “I am tired of begging for people to do the right thing, because it’s bigger than Breonna. It’s all these women up here crying for their babies,” she said. Palmer continued, “I don’t know why we have to beg for justice. We are asking you to do the right thing, and it’s just that simple.”
Nichols, a Black 29-year-old father of one, was brutally beaten by the since-disbanded Memphis Police Department’s tactical SCORPION street crime team during a traffic stop in January 2023. Five officers, all of whom are Black, were charged with a range of offenses, including excessive force, failure to intervene, conspiring to cover up misconduct, aggravated assault, and second degree murder.
The federal trial for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith began last Monday (Sept. 9). Thus far, testimony includes Larnce Wright, who trained the five men, stating they each submitted response-to-resistance forms that neglected to mention that kicked and punched the young man.
RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, delivered an impassioned plea to lawmakers when she spoke. The grieving mother said during the conference, “We have too many children dying at the hands of the police, and I must say that Congress is currently holding up progress. To Congress, I want to make it clear: the blood of all the children who have been murdered is on your hands.”