Tennessee GOP Takes First Step To Roll Back Local Police Reforms

The Tennessee House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to strip local governments of their ability to enact police reform measures, which would in effect roll back significant efforts made in Memphis last year following the high-profile death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols at the hands of police.

House Bill 1931 aims to prohibit local governments in Tennessee from approving ordinances that could bring change to police department practices.

State Rep. John Gillespie and Sen. Brent Taylor , Republicans who represent parts of the Memphis area, sponsored the controversial legislation in their chambers. It passed the House with 68 “yes” votes and 24 “no” votes.

The legislation will now go to the state Senate.

Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson, whose district includes parts of Memphis, told HuffPost that the bill’s passage in the House undermines efforts made by people looking to bring change to the city they live in.

“The implications of this decision hurt any efforts of the process of local communities,” Pearson told HuffPost . “We believe in a democracy, which means a belief in people to govern themselves, a belief for people to pass laws.”

Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, was outraged by the bill’s passage. He said that Gillespie told him and RowVaughn Wells, his wife and Nichols’ mother, that a final House vote would be tabled until later in the month and that their family could be present for it.

The family had attended a session for the bill Monday. But legislators delayed a vote on it without explanation, with Gillespie putting the legislation on the calendar for Thursday morning, when Nichols’ family was not in attendance.

“They lied to my face. It does not surprise me,” Wells told HuffPost in an