On March 25, the George Floyd Act (Home Invoice 88) was heard within the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety. The laws is authored by Chairwoman Senfronia Thompson, Chairman Harold Dutton, Vice Chairwoman Yvonne Davis, Chairman Garnet Coleman, and Chairwoman Nicole Collier.
The George Floyd Act addresses qualified immunity by making a explanation for motion for deprivation of rights; requires corroboration for the testimony of undercover cops; provides an obligation to intervene and to render help; prohibits chokeholds and limits deadly power to imminent risk of great bodily harm or loss of life. It additionally ends arrests for a lot of non-jailable fine-only violations and mandates creation of a progressive disciplinary matrix establishing totally different disciplinary actions for coverage violations and violations of regulation by police. The regulation would name for these actions to be developed by means of a statewide course of with stakeholders utilizing evidence-based practices.
Chairwoman Thompson, who holds the 2nd longest tenure within the Texas House of Representatives with over 40 years of service, laid out the invoice earlier than the committee, emphasizing that the George Floyd Act shouldn’t be about defunding the police, however concerning the sanctity of human life. Then George Floyd’s brother, Travis Cains, got here to the witness stand and described to the committee what it was like to look at his little brother publicly lynched by the police in 8 minutes and 46 seconds.
His story was one in all over 100 shared with the committee that day. Dozens of witnesses adopted, many described the violence inflicted on their households by the police. As Celeste Brown, member of the family of Darrel Zemault Sr. acknowledged, “households who’re victims of police brutality shouldn’t have to face up right here and re-hash our trauma to get you guys to see us as human beings. However we should and we are going to.”
Barbara Coats and Ali Amron have been there on behalf of their son, Jamail Amron. In response to articles recording the occasion, he was out one night time and had taken cocaine after which known as 911 for assist. When the police got here, they injected him with a sedative. Jamail fell onto the bottom. An officer then put his foot on Jamail’s face and neck for a number of minutes. Jamail vomited and suffocated.
Maria Cordero and Romona Casas advised the story of Jorge Gonzales. Throughout his arrest for a category C misdemeanor, an arrest that will not happen below the George Floyd Act, his neck was damaged. He was not given medical therapy or taken to the hospital. Police needed to maintain his head up for his mugshot after which positioned him within the “drunk tank” for 21 hours.
Bernice Roundtree advised the story of San Antonio police division officers strolling into her home, saying “what’s up,” with out figuring out themselves or their cause for being there, after which capturing her teenage son Charles Roundtree. The officers left him on the ground to bleed to loss of life whereas forcing the opposite kids out of the home. If the cops had rendered help, her son would nonetheless be alive in the present day
The household of Alex Gonzales stood earlier than the committee just a few months after his loss of life by the hands of the Austin Police Division. Whereas Angel Gonzales and her mom confirmed unmatchable power talking out in opposition to the injustice within the face of unfathomable loss, the cops who shot him are nonetheless strolling free.
Brenda Ramos advised the story of her son Mike Ramos, who was shot by Austin Police Division a number of occasions after it was recognized he didn’t have a gun: “I simply don’t perceive why they stored screaming at him when he stated he was scared. I simply don’t perceive why they couldn’t speak to him like he was a human being. Like he mattered in any respect.”
Many witnesses described their kids being shot within the again whereas attempting to depart:
Marian Tolan was slammed in opposition to a storage door by cops as they accused her son Robbie Tolan of stealing his personal automotive. He was shot by the police as she was restrained.
Pamela Barnes’s son Adrian Barnes was leaving a celebration on the house of an off-duty police officer when the officer shot her son within the again as he drove away from the social gathering.
Deborah Bush’s son Marquise Jones was shot 9 occasions within the again after strolling away from a battle that broke out in a drive-thru. As Ms. Bush eloquently acknowledged, “Households won’t ever be capable to heal as a result of we activate the TV and see one other one. One other one. One other one.”
Household after household stood and advised comparable tales about police violence. Throughout these tales, no officers stepped in to assist. Few of the officers have been completely terminated. Most civil instances have been dismissed utilizing certified immunity or have been fought within the courts till the household couldn’t afford to battle any extra.
Essentially the most intensely symbolic second got here when Trina Miller testified concerning the loss of life of her son Tre’Shun Miller, who was brutalized by Arlington Police Division. He was crushed to loss of life by Robert Coleman, who was then put in control of the next investigation. As she ran previous the 2 minute mark telling the story of her son’s loss of life, Chairman James White tried to chop her off, however she continued her story. She described Tre’Shun bleeding out whereas many first responders refused to render help to her son; the officer who refused to render help later obtained a reward. Whereas employees tried to take away her and Texas Department of Public Safety officers got here to the room, individuals stood in entrance of her. The Sergeant-at-Arms stopped DPS from intervening and allowed the household to complete giving testimony on the homicide of their son.
The room was crammed with suffocating ache and anger and gut-wrenching tales from individuals who misplaced their moms, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, and pals. Whereas representatives on the committee and people watching have been introduced face-to-face with this ache for six or 7 hours, it’s these individuals who should spend the remainder of their lives lacking their family members. Members of the family robbed from them by the hands of state sanctioned violence, every loss of life totally preventable. The George Floyd Act shouldn’t be about politics, it’s concerning the tales of people who find themselves deeply struggling a ache they’ll by no means heal from.
By way of the George Floyd Act, we have been in a position to hear some atrocities of what Texans have suffered on account of police brutality empowered by certified immunity. Many witnesses who have been victims of police violence or whose members of the family have been victims have been stored from justice by certified immunity. A number of civil rights attorneys, together with Gary Bledsoe, the president of the Texas NAACP, described the failings of certified immunity. For instance, instances in opposition to cops fail if there hasn’t been an identical case previously. The rights violation in each instances needs to be virtually an identical; variations which have led to case failure embrace issues just like the sufferer sitting up as an alternative of mendacity down. When no case could be established during which it wasn’t used, certified immunity is used de facto.
Many police officer representatives testified in opposition to ending certified immunity, reasoning that it punishes good cops for the actions of dangerous cops. Additionally they tried to say that ending certified immunity would result in recruitment points. Nevertheless, as Vice Chairwoman Bowers identified, “good cops don’t have anything to fret about from this invoice.”
The reality is that many cops who could conduct themselves ethically on the road of responsibility are complicit within the system that produces and protects dangerous cops. We heard tales of a police officer capturing a toddler, then the police division placing this identical officer in control of his personal subsequent investigation. On this case, your complete division is complicit with enabling a foul cop. A number of officers stood by whereas an officer had his foot on the mouth and nostril of Jamail Amron whereas he was unconscious on account of medicine injected by the police, and he died because of this. Each officer on the scene and all those that got here after corroborating totally different testimony than the bystanders are complicit with enabling a foul cop. Households taking their case all the way in which to the Supreme Courtroom and successful as a result of the conservative fifth circuit court docket dismissed appeals. It’s not simply the actions of dangerous cops that allow state-sanctioned violence. It’s police chiefs, metropolis courts, county courts, the fifth circuit, and plenty of extra who propagate and proceed the vicious cycle of white supremacy in policing. These entities have to be held accountable if good cops are to cease being punished for the actions of dangerous cops.
Nothing will ever assist the households of family members misplaced by means of the fully preventable deaths created by state sanctioned violence. Ending certified immunity is not going to carry again these human beings sacrificed to the regime of white supremacy. However the George Floyd Act is a begin to ensuring extra lives aren’t unjustly robbed, and truthfully, it’s the very least we will do to carry any semblance of justice for these households who’ve suffered a lot.
All through the listening to, I steadily considered protests over the summer time after George Floyd’s loss of life, particularly the chants of “silence is violence.” In that committee room on March twenty fifth, I noticed firsthand simply how a lot silence really is violence. The silence of cops complicit within the deaths of Black and Brown individuals, the silence of the courts refusing to result in justice, the silence of presidency doing nothing to repair certified immunity, and the silence of 8 minutes and 46 seconds are all of the trigger and product of state-sanctioned police violence enabled by white supremacy. Households of victims stood in entrance of state representatives, many not even shedding a single tear regardless of all their ache, and boldly despatched the message that they won’t be silenced and they won’t go away. It was really a privilege to witness their testimony, I’ll always remember the tales and ache from the George Floyd Act.
72% of Texans support this felony justice reform laws. On the Federal degree, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 was voted by means of the U.S. Home of Representatives and is quickly to be heard by the U.S. Senate. I hope the passing of federal laws can spur legislators in Texas to make a lot wanted adjustments ending certified immunity and beginning the method of holding our state authorities accountable for crimes dedicated by cops. Till then, silence is violence and with out justice there shall be no peace.
By: Cassidy Kenyon, intern within the Texas Legislative Study Group
Initially posted from College of Houston Graduate College of Social Work’s Austin Legislative Internship Program. The Faculty selects graduate MSW college students to intern on the Texas Legislature throughout its legislative session each two years. This put up was syndicated with permission from its authors
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