AUSTIN, Texas – The Homeland Security and Public Safety Committee will convene at the Texas Capitol on Thursday morning to discuss bills related to police on reality television and police brutality.
The hearing will be livestreamed in this article around 10:30 a.m. but delays are possible. If there is not a livestream available, check back at a later time.
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The committee will hear HB 88, otherwise known as the George Floyd Act, that relates to interactions between law enforcement and people arrested or detained.
It reflects the challenges facing the efforts in Texas, where Floyd, who was Black, was laid to rest following his death in May after Derek Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against his neck for about nine minutes while he was handcuffed and pleading that he couldn’t breathe. Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter in a trial that begins Monday in Minneapolis.
Members of Floyd’s family are expected to testify in Texas, as is the sister of a second Black man, Javier Ambler, who also died in police custody and was heard saying on body camera video that he was having trouble breathing while being detained by sheriff’s deputies near Austin.
Provisions of the bill include banning chokeholds and requiring officers to intervene if another officer is using excessive force.
HB 54 relates to prohibiting law enforcement departments from contracting with television crews to create reality shows.
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