What happened in Minneapolis is not an isolated incident. The response to his killing did not occur in a vacuum. The at-times violent protests you are seeing across the country reflect a nation deeply hurt and angered by a broken system. We, as a nation, are hurting, seemingly perpetually divided. We are reminded of police brutality in America every couple of months, with repeating tragic cases of innocent Americans losing their lives. There is always subsequent outcry––a Twitter hashtag, a few peaceful protests––and then we forget. In the case of George Floyd, we refuse to forget. Let this moment open your eyes to what is truly occurring in America. Let this moment make you understand the necessity of systematic change in our system. Let this moment force you to realize that reform is needed.

Sheriff Lewis, my hope is that our Greenville community will never find themselves needing to protest the unjust treatment of an innocent man in police custody. To ensure that our citizen's are being served and protected, I propose the establishment of a review-focused Civilian Police Oversight Agency to foster a strong relationship between the Greenville County PD and its' citizens. This committee would focus on providing community input into police investigation processes, ensuring that the community that the police have jurisdiction over has a voice. To do so, the Civilian Police Oversight Agency would take in community complaints, review the police investigations of complaints from the community, make community recommendations to high level police directors, listen to community appeals, and obtain and analyze community input.  

Senator Scott, I applaud you for your dedication to criminal justice reform, specifically the Walter Scott Notifications Act, which would financially pressure states into reporting data on deadly shootings by law enforcement. Introduced into the Senate in 2017, the current environment indicates that this act must be passed immediately.  

In addition, Libertarian Congressman Justin Amash plans to introduce the Ending Qualified Immunity Act into Congress. This would end qualified immunity, allowing civilians to file lawsuits against police officers due to rights violation. The current environment indicates that this act must be passed immediately as well.  

If the past week has taught us anything, it's that it is time for fundamental change, on every level.