PROTECT Law Enforcement Officers Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4662 To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize blocking law enforce- ment officers who have been injured by a criminal act or in the line of duty from accessing emergency medical services. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 23, 2020 Mr. GRAHAM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize block- ing law enforcement officers who have been injured by a criminal act or in the line of duty from accessing emergency medical services. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Penalizing Radicals 4 and Others who Thwart Emergency Care and Transpor- 5 tation for Law Enforcement Officers Act of 2020’’ or the 6 ‘‘PROTECT Law Enforcement Officers Act of 2020’’. 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4662.IS S4662 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4662 IS SEC. 2. PREVENTING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS FROM 1 ACCESSING EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 18, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘§ 120. Preventing law enforcement officers from ac- 6 cessing emergency medical services 7 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 8 ‘‘(1) the term ‘emergency medical services’— 9 ‘‘(A) means any health care services pro- 10 vided under emergency conditions; and 11 ‘‘(B) includes— 12 ‘‘(i) any personnel, facilities, and 13 equipment needed for the effective provi- 14 sion of services described in subparagraph 15 (A); and 16 ‘‘(ii) transportation to, from, or be- 17 tween facilities for the provision of services 18 described in subparagraph (A); 19 ‘‘(2) the term ‘law enforcement officer’ 20 means— 21 ‘‘(A) any officer, agent, or employee of a 22 State, unit of local government, or Indian Tribe 23 authorized by law or by a government agency to 24 engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, 25 or investigation of any criminal violation of law, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4662.IS S4662 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4662 IS including such an individual who is employed or 1 volunteers in a full-time, part-time, or auxiliary 2 capacity; and 3 ‘‘(B) a Federal law enforcement officer, as 4 defined in section 115; and 5 ‘‘(3) the term ‘line of duty injury’ means— 6 ‘‘(A) an injury sustained in the course of— 7 ‘‘(i) performance of line of duty activ- 8 ity or a line of duty action; or 9 ‘‘(ii) authorized commuting; or 10 ‘‘(B) any injury not described in subpara- 11 graph (A) if the injury was brought about by 12 the hostile action of an individual where— 13 ‘‘(i) the individual knew the injured 14 party was a law enforcement officer; and 15 ‘‘(ii) nothing motivated the hostile ac- 16 tion to so great a degree as did— 17 ‘‘(I) the status of the injured 18 party as a law enforcement officer; or 19 ‘‘(II) retaliation for line of duty 20 activity or a line of duty action per- 21 formed by any law enforcement offi- 22 cer. 23 ‘‘(b) OFFENSE.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4662.IS S4662 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •S 4662 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful, in any 1 circumstance described in subsection (d), to know- 2 ingly prevent, or attempt to prevent, a law enforce- 3 ment officer from immediately accessing emergency 4 medical services in response to suffering— 5 ‘‘(A) bodily injury resulting from a crimi- 6 nal act; or 7 ‘‘(B) a line of duty injury. 8 ‘‘(2) PROOF REQUIREMENTS.—In a prosecution 9 under paragraph (1), the Government shall not be 10 required to prove knowledge by the defendant that 11 the law enforcement officer suffered bodily injury re- 12 sulting from a criminal act or a line of duty injury. 13 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates sub- 14 section (b)— 15 ‘‘(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 16 for not more than 20 years, or both; and 17 ‘‘(2) if the law enforcement officer dies as a re- 18 sult of the failure to receive timely emergency med- 19 ical services, shall be fined under this title, impris- 20 oned for any term of years or for life, or both. 21 ‘‘(d) CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED.—The circum- 22 stances described in this subsection are that— 23 ‘‘(1) the conduct described in subsection (b) oc- 24 curs during the course of, or as the result of, the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4662.IS S4662 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •S 4662 IS travel of the defendant or the law enforcement offi- 1 cer— 2 ‘‘(A) across a State line or national border; 3 or 4 ‘‘(B) using a channel, facility, or instru- 5 mentality of interstate or foreign commerce; 6 ‘‘(2) the defendant uses a channel, facility, or 7 instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in 8 connection with the conduct described in subsection 9 (b); 10 ‘‘(3) in connection with the conduct described in 11 subsection (b), the defendant employs a firearm, 12 dangerous weapon, explosive or incendiary device, or 13 other weapon that has traveled in interstate or for- 14 eign commerce; or 15 ‘‘(4) the conduct described in subsection (b) 16 otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce.’’. 17 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 18 The table of sections for chapter 7 of title 18, United 19 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 20 lowing: 21 ‘‘120. Preventing law enforcement officers from accessing emergency medical services.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:12 Oct 14, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4662.IS S4662 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS