Sponsors (3)
The bill clarifies federal protection for people harmed by force at protests and eliminates the death penalty for §242 offenses, at the cost of increasing the likelihood of federal prosecutions of on‑duty officers and removing capital punishment as an option for victims seeking the maximum sentence.
People targeted by excessive force at protests—particularly racial and ethnic minorities and immigrants—gain clearer federal protection because the statute explicitly covers force used during responses to protests.
People charged under the federal civil‑rights statute (including law-enforcement defendants) no longer face the federal death penalty for §242 offenses because the bill removes capital punishment as a possible sentence.
On‑duty law enforcement officers face increased risk of federal prosecution and related litigation because the statute's broadened coverage explicitly includes responses to protests.
Victims' families and advocates may see reduced avenues for maximum accountability because removing the death penalty eliminates the option of capital punishment for the most extreme civil‑rights violations under §242.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds protest-related use-of-force to the federal deprivation-of-rights crime and removes the death-penalty option from that statute.
Introduced May 29, 2025 by Ilhan Omar · Last progress May 29, 2025
Expands the federal criminal statute that bars officials acting under color of law from depriving people of rights to explicitly cover “the use of force during a response to a protest,” and removes language in that statute that allowed the death penalty as a possible sentence. The bill does not create new funding, agencies, or deadlines; it is a direct change to the text of the federal criminal law governing deprivation of rights by government actors.