WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday wrote to President Trump calling on him to require all federal officers engaged in domestic security, including crowd control at protests and demonstrations, to identify themselves and their agency. This letter comes after Murphy and Schumer announced legislation last week requiring unidentified law enforcement officers and members of the Armed Forces to clearly identify themselves and their agency or service while they are engaged in crowd control or arresting individuals involved in civil disobedience or protests in the United States. You can find text of the Law Enforcement Identification Act here.
“No law enforcement officer should be anonymous when engaging with the public in this manner. Not only does it make it impossible to hold personnel accountable for their actions, it also poses serious public safety concerns when members of the public are unable to differentiate a legitimate law enforcement officer from someone just dressed up like one,” wrote Murphy and Schumer.
Murphy and Schumer continued: “To prevent this situation from happening in the future, we have introduced legislation requiring officers, members of the Armed Services, and contractors to display identifying information, including their Federal agency, last name, and badge number or rank, when they are engaged in crowd control, riot control, or the arrest or detainment of protestors. No administration, regardless of political party, should have the authority to deploy unidentifiable law enforcement who cannot be held accountable to the American people.”
Full text of the letter can be viewed here and below.
Dear Mr. President:
As millions of Americans peacefully protest the death of George Floyd and the broader issue of systemic racial injustice in our country, we are deeply troubled by the deployment of unidentifiable federal law enforcement officers and Armed Services personnel to contain protesters in Washington, DC. We are particularly concerned given reports that these officers and military personnel refused to identify themselves to peacefully protesting Americans and journalists.
No law enforcement officer should be anonymous when engaging with the public in this manner. Not only does it make it impossible to hold personnel accountable for their actions, it also poses serious public safety concerns when members of the public are unable to differentiate a legitimate law enforcement officer from someone just dressed up like one. To prevent this situation from happening in the future, we have introduced legislation requiring officers, members of the Armed Services, and contractors to display identifying information, including their Federal agency, last name, and badge number or rank, when they are engaged in crowd control, riot control, or the arrest or detainment of protestors. No administration, regardless of political party, should have the authority to deploy unidentifiable law enforcement who cannot be held accountable to the American people.
While we push for this legislation to be taken up and passed immediately, we encourage you to proactively require all federal officers and Armed Services members who are engaged in domestic security duties like policing protests to clearly identify who they are and who they work for.
We must ensure the safety of Americans who gather to peacefully exercise their constitutional rights. Thank you for your attention to this critical matter.
Sincerely,
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