Bass: ‘Maximum’ sentence ‘absolutely needed’ in George Floyd death

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) said on Sunday that the “maximum” sentence is “absolutely needed” after a jury convicted former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of two counts of murder and one count of manslaugher in George Floyd’s death. 

During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Bass told host George Stephanopoulos that she felt “relieved” after hearing the verdicts on Tuesday.

“I was definitely relieved. I was relieved when it happened and it was guilty on all counts,” Bass said.

“[W]hen we have seen the occasional guilty verdict, it is rarely followed by the maximum sentence,” she added. “And considering the egregious nature of the torturing, the death of George Floyd, a maximum sentence, I think, is absolutely needed.” 

On the significance of the Derek Chauvin verdict, Rep. Karen Bass tells @gstephanopoulos “I was definitely relieved,” adding: “We need the verdict to be at the maximum level.” https://t.co/UpcGAa1Mv3 pic.twitter.com/siZLrQgnyP

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 25, 2021

Stephanopoulus also asked Bass about police reform, which President Biden is expected to discuss this week, noting that observers say “you can’t just focus on police reform, you have to invest in entire communities.” 

“I absolutely agree with that. And as a matter of fact, what we have done over the years is we have divested from communities. We’ve cut health care. We’ve cut social services. And then when there are problems that result, we expect the police to pick up the pieces,” Bass said.

“So, one of the most glaring examples is with mental illness in our country. We don’t treat mental illness properly and the people — people — people get — go into a crisis, you wind up calling the police and the individual gets killed. Why do we do that? Why do we incarcerate people who are mentally ill? Why don’t we treat them, provide them health care and services upfront so they don’t deteriorate into a crisis?” she asked. 

.@GStephanopoulos on push for police reform: “Some of the critics are saying you can’t just invest in policing, you can’t just focus on police reform, you have to invest in entire communities.”

Rep. Karen Bass: “Oh, I absolutely agree with that.” https://t.co/UpcGAa1Mv3 pic.twitter.com/8z23rTc1Rp

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) April 25, 2021