Ex-officer charged over fatal shooting of African American as Washington pushes for legislation on policing

U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on the case Wednesday night.

“I thought it was a terrible situation but you can’t resist a police officer,” he said in an interview with Fox News. “They ended up in a very terrible disagreement and look at the way it ended. Very bad.”

Earlier Wednesday, Senate Republicans unveiled a bill on police reform amid calls for action against police brutality and racism after the death of George Floyd in police custody.

The proposal, spearheaded by Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, seeks to ban the use of chokeholds and includes new accountability and reporting requirements.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said on Wednesday that the Republican proposal “is missing meaningful accountability for individual officers’ misconduct.”

“Without accountability measures, we’re merely exhorting police departments to be better, crossing our fingers, and hoping for the best,” the New York Democrat added.

House Democrats introduced their bill last week that aims to ensure officers can be held accountable for misconduct and increase transparency. The House Judiciary Committee sent the package to the full House for consideration next week after a partisan 24-14 vote following a marathon 11-hour markup on Wednesday.

Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, died during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, late last month after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Protests in response to Floyd’s death, and more broadly to police violence, spread across the United States and took place in some other countries.

Source: Xinhua – Washington