Kamala Harris says protests "must make meaningful change"

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) called upon Americans to "make meaningful change" as a result of the nationwide protests against police violence and systemic racism in an op-ed published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Sentinel, the city's black-owned newspaper.

Why it matters: The former California attorney general — one of just 10 black members to ever serve in the Senate — is considered a leading choice to become Joe Biden's vice presidential pick.

• She called for concrete reforms to policing and said she is working alongside Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) "to address police brutality at the federal level."
• Harris called for a ban on tactics like chokeholds, and legislation to ensure district attorneys aren't forced to investigate police colleagues amid potential conflicts of interests.
• She also called for the Justice Department to investigate police patterns and practices, like it had under the Obama administration

What she's saying: "America’s wounds, our wounds, are raw. They are on full display for everyone to see. And they are deepened by [President] Trump’s inability to show empathy and understanding. They are deepened by law enforcement using tear gas in the middle of a pandemic from a respiratory illness," she wrote

• "Our country can no longer accept the status quo where black people are treated as less than human. Where we have two systems of justice — one for the privileged and one for everyone else. And where leaders fail to make changes that honor our humanity."