FACT CHECK: Did The House Pass A Bill That Allows The United Nations To Run ‘Local Police Boards’ In US Cities?
A viral Facebook post shared over 2,600 times claims the House passed a bill that allows the United Nations (U.N.) to run “local police boards” in 46 U.S. cities.
Verdict: False
No clause in the bill empowers the U.N. to run “local police boards” in U.S. cities.
Fact Check:
Various police reform measures have been proposed since George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died on May 25 in Minneapolis police custody, according to Axios. In recent days, over 2,600 Facebook users have shared a post claiming the House passed a bill, purportedly H.R. 7120, that pays the U.N. to run “local police boards” in 46 U.S. cities. (RELATED: Viral Image Falsely Claims Nazi Germany Defunded The Police)
The post, however, mischaracterizes H.R. 7120, also known as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The bill, which the Democratic-controlled House passed in late June, seeks “to increase accountability for law enforcement misconduct, to enhance transparency and data collection, and to eliminate discriminatory policing practices,” according to its description on Congress.gov.
A review of the bill by Check Your Fact found no mention of the U.N. nor a clause empowering it to run “local police boards” in the U.S. The “local police boards” mentioned in the post likely refer to the civilian review boards defined as an “administrative entity that investigates civilian complaints against law enforcement officers” in the bill’s text. In reference to a grant program, the bill proposes “to develop best practices for and to create civilian review boards.”
H.R. 7120 proposes, among other measures, changing “qualified immunity” protections for law enforcement, banning no-knock warrants on the federal level for drug cases and tying some federal grants to the adoption of anti-discrimination training and practices, The New York Times reported. It would also create a national database of police misconduct that the Department of Justice would maintain, according to CNN.
The New York Times reported that the bill is not expected to pass in the Senate.
