WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sen. Chris Coons (D) and three other senators have introduced legislation that would create new federal charges for people who intentionally target law enforcement officers in deadly attacks.
Coons introduced the Protect and Serve Act of 2026 with Republican Sens. Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Mike Crapo (Idaho) and Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.).
The legislation follows targeted attacks that killed law enforcement officers in Delaware and North Carolina. Coons said the Delaware shooting that prompted his involvement was the Dec. 23, 2025, killing of Cpl. Grade One Matthew “Ty” Snook at a Wilmington Division of Motor Vehicles office.
According to Delaware State Police, the gunman had entered the DMV, shortly before noon, left without conducting business, then returned just before 2 p.m. After obtaining a queue ticket, the suspect waited several minutes before ambushing Snook from behind at the welcome desk, firing multiple shots through a glass partition.
“No law enforcement officer should have to fear for their lives just because they put on their badge before they go to work each day. Yet too many officers have been killed in targeted attacks designed specifically to take the lives of law enforcement, leaving a gaping tear in the hearts of spouses, parents, children, and communities,” said Coons.
The Protect and Serve Act would establish a new federal crime for people who kill or seriously hurt law enforcement officers in targeted attacks intended to kill them solely because they are law enforcement officers.
According to the senators, the legislation has been revised from previous versions to focus federal prosecutors on the most serious targeted attacks intended to kill law enforcement officers.
The National Fraternal Order of Police has expressed support for the act.
“Our members are under fire by individuals motivated by nothing more than a desire to kill or injure a cop. Despite a decrease in the nation’s homicide rate, firearms attacks on law enforcement officers have remained alarmingly high, underscoring a dangerous and persistent trend of deliberate attacks – too many of which are not spontaneous confrontations, but calculated assaults intended to inflict maximum harm on officers,” said Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police.
