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Harris says Texas House Democrats' protest shows "extraordinary courage"

12 July 2021
Dan Ackermann

Vice President Harris on Monday applauded Texas House Democrats who fled the state in protest of Republicans' proposed voting restrictions.

Why it matters: Texas' partisan tussle represents a broader fight over voting rights taking place in state legislatures across the country, as well as in the federal government.

What she's saying: At a voting rights event in Detroit, Harris said the Democrats were "showing extraordinary courage and commitment."

  • "I applaud them standing for the rights of all Americans and all Texans to express their voice through their vote, unencumbered," Harris said. "I will say that they are leaders who are marching in the path that so many others before did, when they fought and many died for our right to vote."
  • "Fighting for the right to vote is as American as apple pie," she added.

State of play: In Texas, Republicans in both chambers have introduced bills that would ban drive-through and 24-hour voting options and expand access for partisan poll watchers, among other provisions.

  • The House is set to reconvene Tuesday morning, but with at least 51 of the 67 Democrats leaving the state for D.C., there will not be enough members present to conduct business under House rules, according to the Tribune.

Worth noting: Breaking quorum to prevent legislation from advancing is rare, and the representatives risk being arrested and forced to return to the Capitol if state Republicans ask the Texas Department of Public Safety to track them down, Axios' Jacob Knutson writes.

What to watch: In D.C., Texas Democrats plan to demand that Congress pass the For the People Act and "save our democracy," state Rep. James Talarico tweeted.

The big picture: Harris met with Texas Democrats last month after they staged a walkout to block a restrictive elections bill in the regular session, per the Tribune.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.