During an appearance on "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, expressed dismay at the beating death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols at the hands of five Memphis police officers — and then dismissed the idea that new laws need to be implemented to stop police abuse.
Speaking with host Chuck Todd, the Ohio Republican stated, "I don't know that there's any law that can stop that evil that we saw," before later adding, "But no amount of training's going to change what we saw in that video."
That led GOP campaign consultant Susan Del Percio to pounce on the new House Judiciary Committee chairman for blowing off the idea that changes need to be made.
Appearing on MSNBC, she stated, "There are so many things that have happened over the years that should be bringing both parties together but they don't."
"What I find particularly offensive about Jim Jordan's argument about no law would change what happened in this incident," she said, continuing, "It's the same line that they use when it comes to gun safety. It's not about the individual. As horrific as it is and of course, it is for that family member. But what it represents is having a systemic problem in policing our cities"
"Yes, there are things that we can do federally, there are things that need to be looked at," she lectured. "Such as qualified immunity — getting rid of that. What's really painful and a little bit to Don's point, when you look at the five officers that committed those hard crimes, they'd all begun in the police department for a relatively short period of time; anywhere from 2 to 5 years. They should have been trained properly. They've been in the 'new policing' if you will, for the last 5 to 10 years."
"This is systemic. It has to be addressed and we can't simply defund the police or abolish the whole system because we still need policing in our cities and states," she continued. "There does have to be an open dialogue. I think the most important thing at the national level is getting that qualified immunity off the table."
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