State of the Union: Biden says America needs to ‘finish the job of police reform’

Washington – President Joe Biden said America needs to “finish the job of reforming the police” during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

During one of the night’s most powerful moments, he said, “I know most policemen and their families are good, decent, honorable people. The vast majority. They risk their lives every time they put on that armor.” “But what happened to Tire in Memphis happens too often. We have to do better.”

Watch President Biden’s full 2023 State of the Union address, read the transcript

The expected remarks come nearly a month after Tyre Nichols, 29, was struck during a confrontation with Memphis police officers after he fled a traffic stop on January 7. He died three days later. Five officers involved in the beating were fired and charged with second-degree murder in connection with Nichols’ death.

Addressing Nichols’ parents, Biden said, “There are no words to describe the heartbreak or grief of losing a child. But imagine, imagine losing that child at the hands of the law.” “Imagine having to worry whether your son or daughter comes home from walking down the street, playing in the park, or just driving around in the car.”

He continued, “Most of us here have never had to have the conversation, the conversation that brown and black parents have to have with their children,” implying that he did not have to have that conversation with his children. “Imagine having to worry like this every single day in America.”

He also called for law enforcement to get “the training they need,” as well as increased resources to reduce violent crime and gun crime, community intervention programs and investments in housing, education, and job training.

“All of this can help prevent violence in the first place,” Biden said, adding that officers or departments should be held accountable when they “violate the public trust.”

Biden said that when RowVaughn Wells asked how she found the courage to speak, he said, “Her son was a beautiful soul and something good will come of that.”

Let’s commit ourselves to crafting Tyler’s words [sic] True mom – something good must come of this. He said something good.

“All of us in this room need to live up to this moment,” Biden said. “We can’t get away. Let’s do what we know in our hearts, what we need to do. Let’s come together to finish the job of police reform. Do something.”

During Nichols’ funeral last week, RowVaughn Wells tearfully called for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Police bill.

“We need to take some action because there should be no other child suffering like mine [did] RowVaughn Wells and all the other parents here who have lost their children said. “We need to agree to the bill because if we don’t, the blood — the next child to die — is going to be that blood on their hands.”

The bill, which was intended to address racial profiling and the use of lethal force, was approved by the Democratic-led House of Representatives in 2021 but stalled in the Senate over the issue of qualifying immunity for officers.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Ben Crump, an attorney for the Nichols family, have all pressed lawmakers to revive talks on the legislation, which was drafted in the wake of the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. .

“We demand that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice in Police Act,” Harris said at Nichols’ funeral. “Joe Biden will sign it. We must not delay, we shall not be dismissed. It is not negotiable.”

Calls for police reform surfaced during Biden’s second State of the Union address.

The families of George Floyd, Eric Garner, Walter Scott and Tamir Rice – who were all killed by police officers – were invited by the Congressional Black Caucus to attend the speech.

Some Democrats also wore black pins with the 1870s appearing in white, referring to the first known case of a police officer killing an unarmed black person in the United States, according to lawmakers.

ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.