Georgia Republicans apparently think police need more tools in their arsenal to defend brutalizing Black and brown people, and legislators were willing to bind much-needed hate crime legislation in the state to exactly that principle. Following a failed last-ditch effort to sneak police and other first responders into a hate crimes bill meant to protect marginalized groups, the Georgia GOP settled for separating their measure in a bill that basically considers intimidating, harassing, or terrorizing a police officer a hate crime. The gotcha is that the bill Republicans repurposed to serve police brutality was originally just a measure to rename the Office of Public Safety Officer Support, according to the legislation drafted in January.
Sadly, to get hate crime legislation passed with House Bill 426, both branches of the state’s legislature also passed what the Georgia NAACP is calling the "Police Hate Crimes Bill." Now—heaven help us—it’s up to Gov. Brian Kemp to reject the measure.
He signed House Bill 426 into law, and in a joint statement Monday with Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, applauded the measure as “an important, necessary step forward for Georgia … Today we reaffirmed our desire to put progress ahead of politics,” he said of the law that goes into effect July 1.
About 100 protesters rallied outside the governor's mansion Monday to urge him to keep that same energy and veto the “Police Hate Crimes Bill,” or House Bill 838, according to 11 Alive. The bill would allow first responders to sue those who file a false report against police officers. Violators guilty of “bias motivated intimidation” could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to the legislation. "I'm a Black woman in America. They're going to always feel intimidated by me," one protestor told 11 Alive. “So what, you’re going to sue me for intimidating you?”
Duncan, however, kept his focus on police in a Georgia Public Broadcasting article. "At a time when officers feel under siege when police fear politically motivated prosecution when extreme voices are calling to 'defund the police,' our state must stand up for those who put their lives on the line for us," he said.
RELATED: What does defund the police actually mean? Here's what protesters and activists are talking about
Fair Fight, an election reform organization, called the police bill "one of the most expansive police protections bills in the country" in a tweet Friday. It "disincentivizes" filing misconduct claims against officers and could be used by "corrupt officers for retaliation against citizens seeking justice," the organization explained.
"As @GovKemp prepares to sign the overdue and much needed hate crimes bill HB 426 today, he should prove that his willingness to sign HB 426 isn’t hypocrisy by vetoing the dangerous police protections expansions bill, HB 838," Fair Fight said Friday.
RELATED: Georgia GOP hijacks hate crimes legislation in 'sneaky' ploy to pass 'killer cop coverup bill'
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