Hank Johnson: “I thank my colleague, Congressman Jeffries from New York, for organizing this very important Special Order. Thank you…”

“I thank my colleague, Congressman Jeffries from New York, for organizing this very important Special Order. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for hosting this. We are here to talk about a very important subject, the extrajudicial killing of Black males in America. It seems to be an epidemic, but it is really not. It is just simply the fact that we are hearing more about it. We are hearing more about the deaths that are occurring. We are seeing with our very eyes, looking at video, we are seeing that some of these killings appear to be unjustified. When we understand that we are seeing what has been going on for a long time but which has not been addressed, we understand that if we don't do something to address the problem, then these killings will continue. Now, why is it that we have what appear to be unjustified homicides of African American males at the hands of law enforcement repeated daily? In the 108 days or so since the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, we have heard of so many African American males losing their lives. It is very disturbing. Why is it that it continues to happen? Well, I would submit, Congressman Jeffries, that one of the reasons is because there seems to be two systems of justice involved: one for police officers and the other for civilians. It seems that there has been a reluctance to prosecute police officers when their actions go across the line.…”