Sen. McSally Urges Police to 'Step in and Stop' Excessive Force, Tells Americans Not to 'Live in Fear' of COVID-19

The Republican-backed police reform bill unveiled Wednesday incentivizes police departments to stop using chokeholds and trains law enforcement officers on a "duty to intervene."

US Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ), in a wide-ranging interview with CBN News, said police officers need to learn how to "step in and stop" other officers from using excessive force. 

"Anybody who watched the horrific murder of George Floyd, not only could you see the murder happening right there, but you saw three other officers who were facilitating or standing by and doing nothing as others were pleading for his life," said the Arizona Republican.

The GOP-led congressional legislation from Sen. McSally and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) sets up a showdown between Democrats in the House who say the legislation does not go far enough to change policing in America. 

The duty to intervene is a key element in the Scott-McSally bill. McSally said her experience in the military as an Air Force fighter pilot taught her that, "if you see another officer using excessive force, doing something wrong, even if they outrank you, you need to step in and stop it. You don't facilitate or just standby and do nothing."

The first woman in the US to fly in combat and the first woman to command a US fighter squadron, McSally is in a closely-watched Senate race against Democratic challenger Mark Kelly.

"I am standing on the wall to make sure the Senate majority does not flip," said McSally, who is among at least seven GOP senators facing tough-fought reelection in November. 

"I've been under constant attack," she said, adding that, "We say as fighter pilots you know you're over the target when you're getting flack."

Arizona is one of nearly two dozen states experiencing a major spike in COVID-19 cases as the country faces a surge in infections amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"A lot of people are really fearful right now," McSally said, but "we need not live in fear."

"Individuals who are vulnerable," to COVID-19, "have to be way more careful than everybody else because of their vulnerability," said McSally. 

"For those who are young and healthy, as you're returning to work, do it safely. As you go about your lives, be mindful and cognizant of the risks," she said. 

"We can all relate to fear," said McSally. 

In her new book Dare to Fly: Lessons in Never Giving Up, she shares her journey of grief and adversity after losing her father at the 
age of 12. 

McSally was with her father the day before he died. Before he took his last breath, "he told me to make him proud," she said. 

The youngest of five children, she was told she could be anything she wanted. McSally joined the Air Force after her father's death both to channel her life in a positive way and, unwilling to burden her single mother, to pay back her education through service instead of student debt.

McSally said that "in the darkest hours of my life" she found that "what others intended for evil God used for good."

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