Crime Legislation

President Bush met with Dick Thornburgh, Attorney General of the Department of Justice, to discuss the progress of the Bush Administration’s fiscal year 1992 crime bill. During a photo opportunity in the meeting, President Bush spoke about the recent videotaped beating of a criminal suspect by police in Los Angeles. The beating, which occurred on March 3, 1991, sparked a furor of protest over the allegedly racial prejudices and unchecked brutality of the Los Angeles Police Department. The head of the Los Angeles police department has refused to step down from his post despite calls from the community for his resignation. On March 15, 1991, the Department of Justice announced it would investigate every complaint of police brutality reported to the Department in the past six years. In his remarks during the photo opportunity, President Bush harshly scorned police brutality but stressed continued support for the vast majority of law-abiding officers in U.S. police departments. He said he was shocked and sickened at the violence displayed in the video, but refused to comment on whether the police chief in Los Angeles should resign after the incident.

Channel: C-SPAN Video Length: 4m 0s Date Found: Tue, Jan 11 2011 10:38 AM Category: Government Date Produced: Thu, Mar 21 1991 3:00 AM View Count: 0