Ocasio-Cortez to introduce bill requiring federal officers to identify themselves

Authored by thehill.com and submitted by rebelliousmuse
image for Ocasio-Cortez to introduce bill requiring federal officers to identify themselves

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezTrump threatens to double down on Portland in other major cities House seeks ways to honor John Lewis House to bring controversial Homeland Security bill to floor MORE (D-N.Y.) and District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton Eleanor Holmes NortonDemocrats set to hold out for big police reform Texas Democrat proposes legislation requiring masks in federal facilities Jackson, Mississippi votes to remove Andrew Jackson statue from City Hall MORE (D) will introduce a bill that would require all federal law enforcement officials to clearly identify themselves.

The bill would compel all on-duty agents to clearly display their agency name, their own last name and their identification number and would create a new oversight process within the Justice Department requiring recurring audits by its inspector general, The Nation reported.

While the issue has dominated the news in recent days since the Department of Homeland Security Personnel, many of them in unmarked vehicles, descended on Portland, Ore., Ocasio-Cortez’s office told the publication the legislation had been in the works before they were dispatched.

“Lots of lawyers are asking the same thing: Where’s the transparency? Unidentified internal security forces are apprehending American citizens, and accounts allege these apprehension processes are more similar to overseas renditions than traditional arrests,” Irvin McCullough, deputy director of legislation at the Government Accountability Project, told The Nation after viewing the draft bill.

“Citizens deserve to know who’s arresting them—or at least what entity—to report any abuses they suffer or witness,” he added.

“Federal law enforcement officers should have their identifying information displayed while on duty,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “This is basic.”

Federal law enforcement officers should have their identifying information displayed while on duty.

This is basic.@EleanorNorton and I have introduced legislation to make it law:https://t.co/xcL1j15STo — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 20, 2020

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad WolfChad WolfTrump threatens to double down on Portland in other major cities Fox's Napolitano rips 'unconstitutional' Trump crackdown on Portland: 'Just plain wrong' Acting DHS secretary: I don't need 'invitation' from Portland to deploy officers MORE has said local officials’ approval is not needed to launch such operations, and President Trump Donald John TrumpDHS expands authority of personnel to collect information on people threatening monuments: report GOP signals Trump's payroll-tax cut in Republican coronavirus bill — for now Trump threatens to double down on Portland in other major cities MORE on Monday suggested similar deployments are in the works for other major cities.

The officers’ presence has also drawn criticism from Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulTrump threatens to double down on Portland in other major cities Fox's Napolitano rips 'unconstitutional' Trump crackdown on Portland: 'Just plain wrong' Rand Paul: 'No place' for feds 'rounding people up at will' in Portland MORE (R-Ky.), who tweeted Monday that “local law enforcement can and should be handling these situations in our cities but there is no place for federal troops or unidentified federal agents rounding people up at will.”

ArtisanJagon on July 21st, 2020 at 16:52 UTC »

Going to laugh when "small government" Republicans shoot this down.

BoobieFaceMcgee on July 21st, 2020 at 14:43 UTC »

Where it will die in the senate graveyard.

I fully see a bunch of dem bills getting rammed through if the senate is flipped this November.

8to24 on July 21st, 2020 at 14:06 UTC »

How the f#ck is this not already the law!!! It is outrageous our representatives have to waste time fighting for what should absolutely already be the case.