# Plain Language Summary: Law Enforcement Officer Protection Act

This bill creates a new federal crime specifically for attacking someone because they're a police officer or other law enforcement worker. Right now, if someone assaults a cop, they can be charged with regular assault or battery. This bill would add a separate, distinct crime that prosecutors could use instead—one that focuses specifically on the fact that the victim was a law enforcement officer.

The main impact is that it gives federal prosecutors another tool to charge and potentially punish people more severely when they target officers. If you attack a police officer, federal agent, or other law enforcement worker because of their job, you could face charges under this new law. The bill essentially says that attacking someone *because* they wear a badge is a different kind of crime than attacking someone else, and it should be treated that way in the criminal justice system.

This would primarily affect people who commit violent crimes against law enforcement—it doesn't change anything for regular citizens or affect everyday life for most people. However, it does reflect a policy choice that Congress is making: that crimes motivated by someone's status as a law enforcement officer deserve their own legal category, similar to how hate crimes are treated as distinct offenses when someone is targeted because of their race, religion, or other protected characteristics.

A bill to establish a separate criminal offense for targeting an individual based on their status as law enforcement officer.

Hawley, Josh

 <p>This bill establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly causing bodily injury to a person (or attempting to do so) because of their actual or perceived status as a law enforcement officer in circumstances that affect interstate commerce.</p> <p>It imposes criminal penalties&#8212;a prison term, a fine, or both&#8212;on a violator.</p>