II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 868 

To amend title 18, United States Code, to make the murder of a Federal, 

State, or local law enforcement officer a crime punishable by life in 

prison or death. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 16, 2023 

Mr. COTTON 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 make the murder 

of a Federal, State, or local law enforcement officer 

a crime punishable by life in prison or death. 

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 ‘‘Defending Our De5 fenders Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MURDER OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 51 of title 18, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1123. Murder of law enforcement officers 

2 ‘‘(a) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.—In 

3 the case of an individual who commits an offense described 

4 in section 1111 and the victim of the offense is a Federal 

5 law enforcement officer (as defined in section 2 of the Law 

6 Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery Act of 2008 

7 (34 U.S.C. 50301)) acting in the course of the official du8 ties of the officer, the individual shall be punished by 

9 death or by imprisonment for life. 

10 ‘‘(b) STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFI11 CERS.—In the case of an individual who travels in inter12 state or foreign commerce or uses any facility of interstate 

13 or foreign commerce, including the mail, telephone, radio, 

14 or television, with the intent to commit an offense de15 scribed in section 1111 or who uses a weapon or instru16 ment that has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce 

17 to commit said offense, and the victim of the offense is 

18 a State or local law enforcement officer (as defined in sec19 tion 2 of the Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of 

20 Bravery Act of 2008 (34 U.S.C. 50301)) acting in the 

21 course of the official duties of the officer, the individual 

22 shall be punished by death or by imprisonment for life. 

23 ‘‘(c) AGGRAVATING FACTORS.—In determining 

24 whether a sentence of death is to be imposed on a defend25 ant convicted of an offense described in subsection (a) or 

26 (b), the jury, or if there is no jury, the court, shall conVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:22 Mar 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S868.IS S868

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1 sider, in addition to the factors described in section 

2 3592(c), each of the following aggravating factors for 

3 which notice has been given and determine which, if any, 

4 exist: 

5 ‘‘(1) INTENT TO AMBUSH.—The defendant com6 mitted the offense by an act of ambush. 

7 ‘‘(2) PRIOR STATEMENTS ADVOCATING FOR OR

8 PROMOTING VIOLENCE AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT

9 OFFICERS.—The defendant has a prior history of 

10 advocating for or promoting acts of violence, includ11 ing murder or assault, against a law enforcement of12 ficer. 

13 ‘‘(3) PARTICIPATION IN OR AFFILIATION WITH

14 ANARCHIST OR OTHER VIOLENCE PROMOTING ORGA15 NIZATION.—The defendant is a member of or affili16 ated with any organization that the Attorney Gen17 eral or other high ranking law enforcement official 

18 has determined to be an anarchist organization, a 

19 domestic terrorist organization, or any other organi20 zation or group that actively promotes violence or 

21 the overthrow of the Federal Government. 

22 ‘‘(4) OCCURRENCE DURING ORGANIZED ANTI23 LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER ACTIVITY.—The of24 fense was committed during a time and in a place 


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1 when there was active organized activity against or 

2 targeting law enforcement officers. 

3 ‘‘(5) ATTEMPT TO PREVENT LAWFUL EXECU4 TION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT DUTIES.—The defend5 ant committed the offense in attempt to evade or 

6 otherwise prevent the law enforcement officer from 

7 carrying out a lawful arrest or other lawful author8 ized law enforcement activity. 

9 ‘‘(6) PRIOR THREATS.—The defendant has per10 sonally made prior threats of violence against a law 

11 enforcement officer. 

12 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec13 tion shall be construed as— 

14 ‘‘(1) indicating an intent on the part of Con15 gress to prevent any State, any possession or Com16 monwealth of the United States, or the District of 

17 Columbia, from exercising jurisdiction over any of18 fense over which the State, possession, Common19 wealth, or District of Columbia would have jurisdic20 tion in the absence of this section; or 

21 ‘‘(2) depriving State and local law enforcement 

22 agencies of responsibility for prosecuting acts that 

23 may be violations of this section and that are viola24 tions of State or local law.’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections for 

2 chapter 51 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

3 by inserting after the item relating to section 1122 the 

4 following: 

‘‘1123. Murder of law enforcement officers.’’. 

Æ 


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