The Department of Justice has positioned itself to begin canceling agreements with Minneapolis and Louisville that called for an overhaul of their police departments following the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Additionally, the Trump administration announced that it will be retracting the findings of several DOJ investigations into other police departments that the Biden administration had accused of civil rights violations, according to the Associated Press.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who now leads the civil rights division of the department, told reporters: “It’s our view at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division under the Trump administration that federal micromanagement of local police should be a rare exception, and not the norm."
The previous leader of the civil rights division under the Biden administration, Kristen Clarke, defended her office's findings, saying they were "based on data, body camera footage and information provided by officers themselves.”
She added: “To wholesale ignore and disregard these systemic violations, laid bare in well-documented and detailed public reports, shows patent disregard for our federal civil rights and the Constitution."
Popular advocates for police reform are already up-in-arms about the decision. Rev. Al. Sharpton said: “This move isn’t just a policy reversal. It’s a moral retreat that sends a chilling message that accountability is optional when it comes to Black and Brown victims. Trump’s decision to dismiss these lawsuits with prejudice solidifies a dangerous political precedent that police departments are above scrutiny, even when they’ve clearly demonstrated a failure to protect the communities they’re sworn to serve.”
Donald Trump Police Reform
Both the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor sparked nation-wide protests over police brutality. A white police officer murdered Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020. The officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd's neck and back for over nine minutes, leading to his death.
Taylor was a medical worker who died on March 13, 2020 after police officers burst into her home. Her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired a warning shot, mistaking them to be burglars. The officers responded with gunfire that resulted in Taylor's death.
