WATCH: ‘Would Open Up Police Officers To More Lawsuits From The Very Criminals They Are Arresting’: Tom Cotton Blasts Biden’s ‘George Floyd’ Bill

On Wednesday, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) appeared on Fox News with host Laura Ingraham, and blasted the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act” that President Biden and Democrats are pushing, asserting, “It would open up police officers to more lawsuits from the very criminals they are arresting.”

When Ingraham pointed out that Democrats and leftist media had accused the GOP of being absent from discussions about policing, Cotton fired back, “If they’re waiting around for the Republican plan to make it easier for criminals to sue police officers, they’re going to be waiting for a long time.”

Ingraham began by asking Cotton about the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act,” querying, “What is actually in this bill that people might not know that could damage law and order and public safety?”

“What they should think about when they think about that bill, Laura, is the need to get security systems for their homes, and firearms for their families, and talk to their police officer [inaudible] probably going to be heading for retirement,” Cotton replied. “Because that bill would make it so dangerous to be a police officer, and so dangerous for our communities. Just look at the fact that it would open up police officers to more lawsuits from the very criminals they are arresting to protect our communities. The last thing we need to do is make it even harder to police our streets in America at a time when we see a crime wave crashing across America’s cities.”

Ingraham asked if it was more dangerous for police officers in areas plagued by crime now than it was a week ago.

“It’s very dangerous, Laura,” Cotton answered. “Just look [at] what happened in Columbus, Ohio. You had an officer who showed up apparently in the middle of an attempted murder, and he shot this women who apparently had a knife in her had, and saved the would-be victim. Now, that’s just the videotape we’ve seen. We don’t want to jump to conclusions, but that’s what appears to happen in that videotape. We’ll have a thorough and fair inquiry into it.”

“But what did LeBron James, one of the most famous and influential people in the world, do today?” Cotton continued. “He posted that officer’s picture on social media, and said, ‘You’re next.’ That is the kind of incitement to violence against police officers that is revolting. Now LeBron James later took down that statement, but you can’t erase the kind of terrible judgment that that shows, especially when it comes from someone who’s so deeply in bed with the Chinese Communist Party, yet he will slander his fellow citizens who are simply trying to protect innocent victims from an attempted murder.”

Ingraham asked Cotton about the FBI, which sent a warning of a prospective rise in crime this summer.

“We just saw the biggest one-year increase in the murder rate on record in America, and as more police officers are worried about the feds coming down on them like a ton of bricks, you shouldn’t be surprised if the police become more hesitant to aggressively do their job to protect our communities, which just means there’s going to be more crime,” Cotton predicted. “Then you have big cities, sometimes even states, eliminating the bail system and turning out violent criminals who just got arrested and arraigned for committing a crime onto the streets again. So many times we’ve seen crimes committed by people who should be locked away in prison.”

When Ingraham played clips of Democrats and leftist media accusing the GOP of being absent from discussions about policing, Cotton responded, “If they’re waiting around for the Republican plan to make it easier for criminals to sue police officers, they’re going to be waiting for a long time. What we need to do is support our police officers, support law enforcement as they’re confronting this epidemic of crime across our country.”

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