Braun leads bill to increase penalties for criminals who target cops: The Thin Blue Line Act

Friday, February 17, 2023 at 8:56 AM

The Thin Blue Line Act

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Mike Braun and Senators Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, Marco Rubio, James Lankford, Eric Schmitt, Thom Tillis, Bill Hagerty, John Kennedy, John Hoeven, John Boozman, and Ted Budd reintroduced the Thin Blue Line Act, a bill to increase penalties for criminals who target our cops.

The Thin Blue Line Act makes the targeting, killing, or attempted killing of a police officer an aggravating factor in favor of maximum sentences. Currently this applies to federal law enforcement; the Thin Blue Line Act would apply this to local and state police as well.

Police are under attack in America. In just the first month of this year, thirty-four police officers were shot in the U.S. As Law Officer reports, the number of officers shot in line of duty has more than doubled since 2020.

Senator Braun decided to take the lead in re-introducing the Thin Blue Line Act in the 118^th Congress after Indiana officer Noah Shahnavaz was killed by a career violent criminal who had previously shot at Indianapolis police and struck a police cruiser multiple times during a chase, but ended up back on the streets after serving 13 years of a 25 year sentence.

Indiana has had several police officers killed or injured in the line of duty in recent years, including FBI task force officer and 30-year veteran of the Terre Haute Police Department Greg Ferency who was killed in July 2021, and 28-year old Richmond officer Seara Burton who was shot by a violent criminal during a traffic stop and died 5 weeks later.

This bill has the support of all four major police organizations in Indiana, as well as the support of several national police organizations.

Senator Braun speaks on the Senate floor about the Thin Blue Line Act