The entire nation, including Washington, is bracing as the Memphis Police Department prepares to release footage of the brutal assault that led to Tyre Nichols' death.
Mr Biden won the presidency just months after video footage showed a Minneapolis police officer placing his knee on the neck of George Floyd, which led to his death. In his victory speech, he specifically said "the African American community stood up again for me" and promised: "They always have my back, and I'll have yours."
Accordingly, Mr Biden has once again called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. But the bill stands little to no chance of passing this Congress after it failed last time.
Bipartisan talks on police reform between Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, along with former Representative Karen Bass, fell apart in September of 2021.
But even then, Republicans had found that weaponising the "Defund the Police" term, which some activists but few elected Democrats embraced, against their opponents would be politically useful. Mr Biden for his part has taken lengths to push back against the slogan, saying the answer is to "fund the police."
Mr Scott, who has spoken about his experiences being racially profiled as a Black man even as a member of Congress, for his part said in 2021 that talks fell apart because Democrats wanted to "defund the police." Republicans have since then latched onto blaming Democrats for rising crime in cities, even though a study by Third Way showed states that vote Republican have a higher murder rate. Anxieties about crime contributed partially to Democrats underperforming in some blue states like New York (which incidentally led to George Santos's election).
Now, of course, Republicans control the House of Representatives, which decreases the chances of any type of police reform passing. Meanwhile, even though Democrats increased their majority by one Senate seat, that isn't enough to overcome a filibuster.
As a result, there likely won't be much reform, but if there is any instance of violence in American cities, Republicans will find a way to peg it to Democratic weakness on crime.
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Keep a civil tongue.