Citing the elections of former President Barack Obama, who is African American, and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is both Black and South Asian, Graham told Fox News that “our systems are not racist. America’s not a racist country,” adding: “Within every society you have bad actors.”
“The Chauvin trial was a just result,” Graham said. “What’s happening in Ohio, where the police officer had to use deadly force to prevent a young girl from being stabbed to death, is a different situation in my view. So this attack on police and policing — reform the police, yes, call them all racist, no.”
“America is a work in progress,” he added.
Congress, too, has grappled with the issue in recent months, with lawmakers currently debating a bipartisan bill to overhaul laws surrounding policing.
Scott said he is proposing shifting the burden of responsibility from individual police officers to their employers: police departments. He said the idea of allowing police departments to be taken to court but not individual officers “seems to be resonating” in his talks with both Democrats and Republicans.