Sec. 2. Findings

339 words·~2 min read·/bill/116/hr/7786/ih/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress finds the following: Law enforcement officers are vital to the protection and safety of communities. Elected officials and other senior officials abuse the public’s trust and endanger their citizens when they refuse to provide law enforcement services to protect life and property. The right to life, liberty, and property are ensured by the Constitution of the United States, and the protection of these rights is the duty of the Federal, State, and local governments. Many local governments have refused to protect the fundamental rights described in paragraph

(3)by voluntarily standing down law enforcement officers and allowing roving mobs to destroy property and individual livelihoods, including in— Minneapolis, Minnesota, where unrest and violence destroyed hundreds of buildings and further eroded trust in local law enforcement officers to devastating effect; and Portland, Oregon, where a mob set fire to the Multnomah County Justice Center, looted numerous businesses in the downtown area, injured two police officers, and physically assaulted multiple peaceful protestors and other individuals. Other local governments have gone further still by recognizing autonomous zones in which law enforcement officers are not allowed to operate, including in Seattle, Washington, where the decision of the Mayor of Seattle to withdraw law enforcement officers from multiple blocks of the City of Seattle to create a police free autonomous zone led to significant destruction of property, 4 shootings, and the murder of 2 young Americans in the zone. Elected officials or other senior officials in the State and local governments who refuse to protect life and property from the ravages of a riot or mob behavior make their communities less safe by inviting more crime and violence, and act with willful disregard for the safety, comfort, and livelihoods of the individuals who they refuse to protect. State and local governments that publicly announce the withdrawal of law enforcement protection from individuals or geographical areas so as to encourage and endorse the political and social viewpoints of protestors or rioters erode the public’s trust and fail to provide equal protection of the law.