The Texas Republican who cast the party’s only vote in favor of the George Floyd Policing Justice Act said in a now-deleted tweet that “he accidentally hit the wrong button,” said a report.
The House voted according to party lines on Wednesday to approve the measure, a Democratic-backed bill that seeks to enact comprehensive police reform after Floyd’s death during a meeting with police in Minneapolis last May.
Congressman Lance Gooden accessed Twitter shortly after the vote to mention the error and alert followers that he “changed the official record to reflect my opposition to the George Floyd Police Act”.
HOUSE APPROVES ELECTORAL SCANNING REFORM PROJECT
The Hill was the first to report the tweet.
REPUBLICAN STUDY COMMITTEE RETURNS TO THE DEMOCRATS HR 1 ELECTORAL PROJECT
“I have, without a doubt, the most conservative / America First voting record in Congress!” he tweeted later. “Of course, I would not support the Radical Left Anti-Police Act. I changed the official record to reflect my opposition!”
The broad bill would review the standards of police tactics and conduct at the federal level. Prominent measures include the federal ban on warrants and strangulations, limits on qualified immunity to protect the police from civil proceedings, a framework to prevent racial profiling and the establishment of a national registry on allegations of police misconduct.
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Critics of the Republican Party, including Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, argued that removing the liability shield would undermine public security and hinder recruitment.
Thomas Barrabi of Fox News contributed to this report