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"Let the people of America vote": Sen. Manchin says he doesn't support D.C. statehood

30 April 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said in a radio interview on Friday that he doesn't support the D.C. statehood bill.

Why it matters: Without Manchin's support in the closely divided Senate, the bill, whichpassed the House last week, is unlikely to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to send it to President Biden's desk.

  • D.C. statehood is a priority for Democrats, who call it a civil rights issue that would enfranchise the city's Black plurality.
  • Republicans say the measure is an unconstitutional power grab.

What he's saying: "If Congress wants to make D.C. a state, it should propose a constitutional amendment ... and let the people of America vote," Manchin told Hoppy Kercheval of West Virginia's MetroNews.

  • Congressional action would likely lead to a Supreme Court challenge, he noted.
  • "Every legal scholar has told us that, so why not do it the right way and let the people vote to see if they want to change?"

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.