Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) believes there needs to be law enforcement in the United States.
His remarks follow shortly after Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) called for “no more policing, incarceration, and militarization,” saying, “It can’t be reformed.”
“Policing in our country is inherently and intentionally racist,” she also tweeted.
In response, Durbin said during Tuesday’s CNN “New Day” interview that “the evidence gives them reason to speak up as they have.” He was referring to Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, who was fatally shot by a police officer on Sunday in Minnesota.
“We know, the bottom line here, we do need law enforcement in this country for safety and security in our homes and our neighborhoods and our cities,” he said.
Durbin added, “But we must demand of law enforcement with all the par that is given to an individual officer that this type of racial conduct be purged from law enforcement.”
He later noted there will be hearings in hopes of leading to legislation and called for bipartisan support.
Watch Durbin’s interview below:
“I think it can change things,” @SenatorDurbin says on Daunte Wright’s death. “We've got to stand by the good policing and make it clear that bad policing is unacceptable.”https://t.co/BtaXsM6mfk pic.twitter.com/h2Q0holomV
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) April 13, 2021
Durbin was also responding to Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s (D-Mass.) recent remark when she tweeted on Monday, “From slave patrols to traffic stops. We can’t reform this.”
Additionally, Durbin, the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate, said during the CNN interview that things “can change” following the killing of Wright, saying the “cumulative experience that we are seeing” is “really a call to action.”
The senator also said he believes the majority of police officers are “caring and competent” people. He added, “We’ve got to stand by the good policing and make it clear that bad policing is unacceptable.”