Kamala Harris Has a History of Passing the Buck on Police Killings
Vice President Kamala Harris now touts herself as a police reform advocate. But troubling incidents — including fatal shootings by police officers in the state — during her time as California’s “top cop” suggest that wasn’t always the case.
When Kamala Harris was California’s attorney general, she did not investigate the fatal shootings of two unarmed men by the same Anaheim police officer less than a year apart. (Gage Skidmore / Flickr)
On March 4, the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The new bill was named for George Floyd, who was killed in May 2020 by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who had previously used fatal force and had a history of misconduct complaints. Among other things, the legislation would create a grant program for state attorneys general to assist them in conducting independent investigations in police misconduct cases.
In the lead-up to the vote, Vice President Kamala Harris, who spearheaded similar legislation in the Senate with Cory Booker in June, lauded the bill on Twitter.
“The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act represents an important step towards ensuring more accountability and transparency in policing,” she tweeted. “I join [President Joe Biden] in encouraging Congress to pass this legislation and get it to the President’s desk.”
This article is for subscribers only. Please login or subscribe to access our full archives and beautiful print and digital magazine starting at just $3 a month.