Floyd killing prompts some states to limit or ban chokeholds

FILE - In this Saturday, July 19, 2014, file photo, a memorial for Eric Garner rests on the pavement near the site of his death, in the Staten Island borough of New York. In 2014, the world witnessed a New York police officer put Garner in a chokehold while arresting him for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes in Staten Island. The video, which would go on to set precedence for the documentation of police brutality, highlighted the use of a chokehold by the police department, which had banned the method in November 1993. But unlike in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing in 2020, little to no legislative change was spurred from Garner's death. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File) FILE - In this Saturday, July 19, 2014, file photo, a memorial for Eric Garner rests on the pavement near the site of his death, in the Staten Island borough of New York. In 2014, the world witnessed a New York police officer put Garner in a chokehold while arresting him for allegedly selling illegal cigarettes in Staten Island. The video, which would go on to set precedence for the documentation of police brutality, highlighted the use of a chokehold by the police department, which had banned the method in November 1993. But unlike in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing in 2020, little to no legislative change was spurred from Garner's death. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

By FARNOUSH AMIRI, COLLEEN SLEVIN and CAMILLE FASSETT Report for America/Associated Press May 23, 2021 6 min read

Democratic Rep. Leslie Herod had no luck persuading her colleagues in the Colorado Legislature to ban police from using chokeholds after the death of a 23-year-old Black man in suburban Aurora in 2019.

She couldn’t gather enough support to even introduce a police reform bill that included a ban. That changed when George Floyd died after being pinned under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer and the video set off a summer of protests over police killings and racial injustice.

Within a month of Floyd’s death, Colorado lawmakers took the step they had avoided after the death of Elijah McClain and approved a ban on chokeholds as part of broader police reform legislation. The law overrode more limited chokehold restrictions that were put in place four years earlier.

“Making it clear that is completely banned in all circumstances has the potential to save lives,” said Herod, who is Black.

Colorado is among several states to prohibit or severely limit the use of chokeholds and neck restraints by police officers in the year since the world watched Floyd plead for air as he was pinned under the knee of former officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murder and manslaughter last month.