Today marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. Ahead of the day, the NBA social justice coalition released a statement on Monday urging for the U.S. Senate to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The call to action is stated to honor the memory of Floyd and “others who have been victims of police brutality.”
The Act would ban chokeholds and “qualified immunity” for law enforcement and create national standards to bolster police accountability. The Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in March.
The statement from the board members asks for the “elected representatives of both parties to work together to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in the U.S. Senate now and present it to President [Joe] Biden for him to sign into law this year.”
The WNBA Players Association also revealed a statement citing that the act is “the important first step for comprehensive policing reform at the federal level.”
“America has a serious problem when it comes to discriminatory policing,” the WNBPA said. “It is a deadly problem for Black and brown people. Excessive force used against communities of color is past crisis-level. Excessive force used against communities of color demands action by Congress.”
You can read the full statement here.