“If you target a police officer, you’re going to pay the highest price possible. When a police officer is killed in the line of duty, it sends a shockwave through the community. It’s happening in far too many places,” said Braun.

The Thin Blue Line Act would make the intentional killing or attempted killing of a local or state law enforcement officer, prosecutor, firefighter or other first responder acting in the line of duty an aggravating factor under the federal death penalty statute.

Under current federal law, the unlawful killing of a local or state law enforcement officer does not serve as an aggravator for purposes of the federal death penalty—although the unlawful killing of a federal law enforcement officer does qualify as an aggravator. Critics have argued that this makes criminals less afraid to attack police because this discrepancy lessens the likelihood of being charged with the death penalty for the murder of a local or state law enforcement officer, versus a federal law enforcement officer.

“A big part of this is not about the laws that we have. We have a lot of laws that are on the books. They’re not enforced. In my state’s capitol of Indianapolis, we have a prosecutor that will not enforce those laws. We have to everything we can to protect those who protect us. The one thing we can do is support those who are on the front line,” said Braun.

Braun also took a moment to remember several members of law enforcement in Indiana who have been killed on the job recently. Those include FBI task force officer and 30-year veteran of the Terre Haute Police Department Greg Ferency who was killed in July 2021, Richmond Police Officer Seara Burton who was killed last year, and Elwood Police Officer Noah Shahnavaz. Shahnavaz was only 24 years old. Burton was only 28.

The Thin Blue Line Act also has support from Senators Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, Marco Rubio, James Lankford, Eric Schmitt, and others. It also has the approval of all four major police organizations in Indiana as well as the support of seveeral national police organizations.

So far in 2023, more than 30 police officers have been shot in the U.S.

You can see Braun’s full remarks here.