WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday applauded inclusion of the Law Enforcement Identification Act, their legislation that requires 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 in the United States in the final FY2021 NDAA.

“Donald Trump tried to militarize our streets this year by ordering unidentified federal law enforcement officers to intimidate peaceful protestors. Regardless of political party, we all should have been appalled at this massive abuse of power, and I’m glad that Republicans and Democrats agreed it should never happen again by including the Law Enforcement Identification Act, which I introduced earlier this year with Leader Schumer, in this year’s NDAA. Protestors are not the enemy, nor are our streets the battlefield,” said Murphy.

“This year, millions of Americans watched in horror as the Trump administration turned our streets into war zones. President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr deployed an army of unidentifiable federal officers in riot gear to crackdown on peaceful demonstrators exercising their constitutional rights across the country and treated American citizens like they were an enemy. The legislation Sen. Murphy and I worked to include in the NDAA puts an end to this abuse of power and ensures that federal law enforcement is transparent, identifiable, and accountable,” said Schumer.  

Last June as demonstrations against George Floyd's death grew, Attorney General Barr ordered hundreds of heavily armed federal law enforcement officers to Washington DC and cities across the country.  In many circumstances, these federal law enforcement officers wore no identify insignia and refused to identify their affiliation with law enforcement agencies. In addition to the legislation, Murphy and Schumer also wrote President Trump demanding that he require all federal officers engaged in riot control to identify themselves and what agency they are with.

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