II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4662 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to criminalize blocking law enforcement 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 blocking law enforcement officers who have been injured by 

a criminal act or in the line of duty from accessing 

emergency medical services. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Penalizing Radicals 

5 and Others who Thwart Emergency Care and Transpor6 tation for Law Enforcement Officers Act of 2020’’ or the 

7 ‘‘PROTECT Law Enforcement Officers Act of 2020’’. 


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•S 4662 IS

1 SEC. 2. PREVENTING LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS FROM 

2 ACCESSING EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 120. Preventing law enforcement officers from ac7 cessing emergency medical services 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

9 ‘‘(1) the term ‘emergency medical services’— 

10 ‘‘(A) means any health care services pro11 vided under emergency conditions; and 

12 ‘‘(B) includes— 

13 ‘‘(i) any personnel, facilities, and 

14 equipment needed for the effective provi15 sion of services described in subparagraph 

16 (A); and 

17 ‘‘(ii) transportation to, from, or be18 tween facilities for the provision of services 

19 described in subparagraph (A); 

20 ‘‘(2) the term ‘law enforcement officer’ 

21 means— 

22 ‘‘(A) any officer, agent, or employee of a 

23 State, unit of local government, or Indian Tribe 

24 authorized by law or by a government agency to 

25 engage in or supervise the prevention, detection, 

26 or investigation of any criminal violation of law, 


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•S 4662 IS

1 including such an individual who is employed or 

2 volunteers in a full-time, part-time, or auxiliary 

3 capacity; and 

4 ‘‘(B) a Federal law enforcement officer, as 

5 defined in section 115; and 

6 ‘‘(3) the term ‘line of duty injury’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) an injury sustained in the course of— 

8 ‘‘(i) performance of line of duty activ9 ity or a line of duty action; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) authorized commuting; or 

11 ‘‘(B) any injury not described in subpara12 graph (A) if the injury was brought about by 

13 the hostile action of an individual where— 

14 ‘‘(i) the individual knew the injured 

15 party was a law enforcement officer; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) nothing motivated the hostile ac17 tion to so great a degree as did— 

18 ‘‘(I) the status of the injured 

19 party as a law enforcement officer; or 

20 ‘‘(II) retaliation for line of duty 

21 activity or a line of duty action per22 formed by any law enforcement offi23 cer. 

24 ‘‘(b) OFFENSE.— 


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•S 4662 IS

1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful, in any 

2 circumstance described in subsection (d), to know3 ingly prevent, or attempt to prevent, a law enforce4 ment officer from immediately accessing emergency 

5 medical services in response to suffering— 

6 ‘‘(A) bodily injury resulting from a crimi7 nal act; or 

8 ‘‘(B) a line of duty injury. 

9 ‘‘(2) PROOF REQUIREMENTS.—In a prosecution 

10 under paragraph (1), the Government shall not be 

11 required to prove knowledge by the defendant that 

12 the law enforcement officer suffered bodily injury re13 sulting from a criminal act or a line of duty injury. 

14 ‘‘(c) PENALTIES.—Any person who violates sub15 section (b)— 

16 ‘‘(1) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned 

17 for not more than 20 years, or both; and 

18 ‘‘(2) if the law enforcement officer dies as a re19 sult of the failure to receive timely emergency med20 ical services, shall be fined under this title, impris21 oned for any term of years or for life, or both. 

22 ‘‘(d) CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED.—The circum23 stances described in this subsection are that— 

24 ‘‘(1) the conduct described in subsection (b) oc25 curs during the course of, or as the result of, the 


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•S 4662 IS

1 travel of the defendant or the law enforcement offi2 cer— 

3 ‘‘(A) across a State line or national border; 

4 or 

5 ‘‘(B) using a channel, facility, or instru6 mentality of interstate or foreign commerce; 

7 ‘‘(2) the defendant uses a channel, facility, or 

8 instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in 

9 connection with the conduct described in subsection 

10 (b); 

11 ‘‘(3) in connection with the conduct described in 

12 subsection (b), the defendant employs a firearm, 

13 dangerous weapon, explosive or incendiary device, or 

14 other weapon that has traveled in interstate or for15 eign commerce; or 

16 ‘‘(4) the conduct described in subsection (b) 

17 otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce.’’. 

18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

19 The table of sections for chapter 7 of title 18, United 

20 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: 

‘‘120. Preventing law enforcement officers from accessing emergency medical 

services.’’. 

Æ 


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