therealnews--2020-06-12--Georgia’s Elections Were A  Voter Suppression Horror Show

Female 1 : This is a crisis in our world to make us not exercise our right to vote !
I ran for office !
I worked for President Obama in the White House !
This is wrong !
Female 1 : This is America !
Please , everybody , we can not tolerate this !
Marc Steiner : Welcome to the Real News .
I ’ m Marc Steiner .
Good to have you all with us .
Georgia elections on Tuesday were a disaster .
It was the confluence of a perfect horrendous storm .
The incompetency of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the purposeful efforts at voter suppression to create a disaster , where people waited in line in mostly black communities until as late as 12:17 a.m. the next morning .
What we saw was the power and resiliency of black voters who stayed in line .
They fought , and their parents , grandparents fought and died to ensure that right to vote .
That right to vote is now being taken away again , first by neo-conservative lawyers and the Supreme Court to render the Voting Rights Act ineffectual , and now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Georgia and want to ensure that black voters are blatantly disenfranchised in order to ensure that Georgia , which is very divided racially and politically , stays in the Republican fold .
From Stacey Abrams and her run for governor to Tuesday ’ s primary to the coming November elections , Georgia is a bellwether and a battleground for our future .
So let ’ s welcome our guests .
Anoa Changa joins us once again .
She ’ s the electoral justice staff reporter for Prism , a nonprofit media outlet elevating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people whose voices are critical to a reflective democracy .
And Aunna Dennis , who is a long-time voting rights activist .
She previously was the National Coordinator for the Legal Mobilization Project of the Lawyers ’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law , focusing on election protection programs , and has worked as an election trainer in Montgomery County here in Maryland , and is a native of Atlanta , Georgia .
And both welcome .
Good to have you with us .
Aunna Dennis : Thanks for having us .
Marc @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here .
So looking at what Stacey Abrams had to say… Stacy Abrams : The ability for voter suppression to work is almost complete .
Georgia has seen this before.5 Yesterday was I think one of the most egregious examples .
And I want to be clear .
It wasn ’ t simply targeted , or certainly it didn ’ t simply happen in Democratic strongholds .
It happened across the state because one of the problems with voter suppression , with the incompetence and malfeasance that we see in the Secretary of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is that while the target may be communities of color , maybe voters of color or Democratic voters , it hits everyone .
But the problem with voter suppression is that in their urge and zeal to break the machinery for certain communities , they ’ ve broken it for everyone .
Marc Steiner : When Stacy Adams speaks , and she talks about this disaster , she ’ s also trying to be kind of political in some senses , but she ’ s also was very clear about what ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take that in concert with a quote here I want to use from a statement from the ACLU , Andrea Young said , “ the ACLU warned that insufficient resources were allocated for holding places , machines , and personal election staff and staff to process absentee ballots , that this would result in the disenfranchisement of voters in 2020.
” And then went on to say , “ It gives us no pleasure to be proven right , whether it ’ s incompetence or intentional voter suppression , the result is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ citizens and democracy.
” Let ’ s start there .
So , Aunna , let me start with you because this is your first time on Real News .
It ’ s good to have you with us .
And I ’ m just curious , when I read all the articles , now it tells me that there ’ s this battle going on , where the Georgia state government is trying to say that it ’ s the fault of Atlanta and other , mostly black communities , but clearly something @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people are saying this is a purposeful infringement on rights to vote in Georgia to control the state .
So what ’ s your perspective ?
Aunna Dennis : So yesterday was a predicted train wreck that as advocates , as community members , as election legal community , as election administration in communities , we can foresee that there was a storm that was going to come besides the storms that we had all day yesterday throughout our elections .
But it does appear that it ’ s a political ping pong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election officials , to place blame on the mismanagement of the elections that happened yesterday .
In Georgia , we ’ ve just had new machine , new technology with our go-to units .
Inherently , there are going to be issues with new technology , with learning how to actually use the technology and actually the mechanics of how the technology actually works .
And on Election Day what we have warned at Georgia Common Cause that there will be some type of issues inherently .
Those issues actually did happen .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ and urged the Secretary of State ’ s office to have a allocation of 25 % of ballots for paper , for emergency ballots and provisional ballots .
The state only said they will have 10 % , but on yesterday we saw there were precincts that only had seven ballots or 20 ballots to a precinct .
And so you can not rightfully tell me that that was 10 % of the total active voting population of a jurisdiction .
The state could have made enhanced procedures for more balloting , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They decided not to actually extend absentee ballot application requests to all registered voters in Georgia .
They only extended to active voters .
And then with those absentee ballot request applications , some counties actually did not process the email requests until May .
May was just two weeks ago , so definitely this is enfranchisement for voters .
We always say that we live in a new Jim Crow South where we ’ re not picking jelly beans out of a jar anymore , but what we ’ re seeing is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that are consolidated to 6,000 , 8,000 , 16,000 people to a precinct .
And we ’ re seeing polling change locations happening at the wee hours of the morning .
We ’ re seeing machines not being delivered on time .
We ’ re seeing not allocating for more poll workers , not instituting having state employees actually work as poll workers and asking emergency requests on Saturday of getting 250 more coworkers if there ’ s a shortage .
So we definitely see a mismanagement of these elections , and we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and November .
So with coalition partners at Georgia Common Cause , we ’ re urging the state to come to the table in a task force to actually talk more about how do we become more prepared for our elections in August and November so we can not be the laughingstock of the country .
Marc Steiner : So before I turned to Anoa , just to be clear , one thing when you say August , November , August is a special election ?
Is that right ?
Marc Steiner : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to me , what I said in the opening here , it ’ s as if it ’ s incompetency meets conspiracy , and I ’ m not a conspiracy kind of person to start with , but what I mean by that is , it ’ s incompetency meets kind of a racist system that is kind of trying to take us backwards .
I mean , does that analysis make any sense ?
Anoa Changa : I mean , when you consider the fact that we definitely have an entrenched power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that is intent on not losing or rescinding power in any way .
I mean , Georgia is on its way to be a majority black and brown state , the first majority black and brown state in the South later on this decade .
The term people use is “ majority minority.
” We definitely need new terminology , but that ’ s where we ’ re trending .
And so you do see , I mean , we saw it in 2017 , 2018 , when Stacey Abrams was running her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ amongst white Democrats in the state for the way in which she saw fit to build and organize people .
But we definitely , when we ’ re talking about like state level administration and the issues with this particular election and like Aunna was pointing to that , there are coalition partners , there ’ s an entire voter empowerment task force .
They ’ re like the Justice League of voting rights that have come together in response to the Secretary of State , not prioritizing , not just the safety @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elections , but just making sure that voters can actually access the ballot .
Instead , the Secretary of State Raffensperger announced in early April that he was forming a voter fraud task force comprised of predominantly conservative white prosecutors versus prioritizing these really glaring issues .
As Aunna pointed out , our election , because of the pandemic , had actually been delayed over two months .
So we were originally supposed to have the presidential primary on March 24th and our state election on May 19th .
But instead , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9th to give way to actually prepare and not rush , and yet we still saw what happened .
And then on top of all of the issues we had with absentee ballots , we also had these brand-new machines that the Secretary of State and the governor fought to push down Georgia ’ s throats that were having issues across the state .
So it is not necessarily incompetence .
I mean , because it ’ s intentional , right ?
They are intentionally and willfully disregarding voting rights advocates who are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all Georgians .
This is not a partisan thing from their perspective , but the way the Secretary of State and the governor , they ’ re putting their own personal egos and pride over actual work that needs to be done to actually ensuring we have elections that are fair and free and that people can actively participate in .
I mean , so many people were not able to get absentee ballots .
And we knew that because of the pandemic , because of the COVID-19 pandemic , we were going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And we saw what happened in Wisconsin , right ?
We ’ ve already had an example of how poorly this can go by a state that has not acted quickly , adopt proper measures .
We ’ ve already seen what happened in Wisconsin , and unfortunately that was not heated to here .
Marc Steiner : So take a step backwards just a moment , and then come back to where you all just took this conversation .
Ari Berman as a reporter from Mother Jones who ’ s been covering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least , The Nation and now Mother Jones .
And he said in a tweet , which I think is important for us to reflect upon that 214 polling places were closed after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013 .
Then he went on to say there were fewer than 80 fewer polling places for the June primary in metro Atlanta , where the majority black voters live .
And then Mitch McConnell was blocking legislation to pass a House Democratic bill that would restore the Voting Rights Act @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s your Georgia Secretary of State is in the middle of all this .
So let ’ s talk about what politically what ’ s going on here .
As I looked at this , to me as someone who was in Georgia back in the early ’ 60s , at the SNCC headquarters in and out and seeing the kind of horrendous violence that took place when people attempted to vote and the fight for voting .
Then you have the Voting Rights Act .
Now you have them destroy the Voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acting on that , destroy the right to vote , period in places like Georgia .
I mean , this is , to me , the essence of a deep political struggle .
I mean , this is almost like a crisis moment , it seems to me , Anoa .
Am I making too much of this ?
Anoa Changa : No , I don ’ t think you ’ re making too much of it .
What I will say , though , because I know it ’ s very easy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ South , particularly Georgia , does wrong .
I would caution us because this is actually a widespread nationwide problem .
We ’ re just seeing Iowa .
Anoa Changa : No , I ’ ll just say the Iowa state legislature , Republican-held red legislature in Iowa is actually forbidding the Secretary of State from being able to send out absentee ballots in direct response to what they saw in terms of turnout .
We saw what happened in Wisconsin , but in terms of what ’ s happening in Georgia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a perfect storm of people really trying to hold onto their power no matter what .
And you pointed to the gutting of the VRA .
I mean , Brian Kemp , I believe it ’ s the 2015 memo that has been talked about publicly , explicitly ordered that , or suggested to counties , that they look at poll consolidations and closures because the VRA , because the Shelby case gutted the VRA , and pre-clearance was no longer required .
And so we do have these massive consolidations and polling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think Aklima , who is the executive director of All Voting Is Local , noted this on a press call yesterday that the safeguards that are supposed to be in place , they ’ re supposed to be in place when they close a poll or want to consolidate a poll , have not been in place for the closures that have happened with consolidations happen because of the COVID-19 pandemic .
So what we ’ ve seen in the metro area , and as a Fulton County voter whose polling location was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ library , we have seen not just the closure and consolidation of early voting locations .
We went down to only five in Fulton County , and Fulton County stretches about 70 miles .
And we only had five early voting locations for that population .
But then we saw the same thing happening with our actual polling locations , which we understand this is going to happen because we are in a pandemic , but instead of just closing locations and not making other alternatives , right , what we saw was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I mean , several folks have posted on social media .
I myself checked my mail yesterday and also saw a letter from the Fulton County Board of Elections indicating the change of my polling location .
I , knowing better and having done this work , know to check constantly the My Voter page to see if there are changes or updates and things of that nature , tracking my absentee ballot .
The average person does not know the constantly have to check , and it ’ s not necessarily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state .
It is upon the counties to make sure people know that when they ’ re pulling locations are changing , they have that proper interim information .
And in our case , it makes sense because my polling location was in a senior center .
So it makes sense that it was changing .
But the alternative was a site that ended up being consolidated with multiple other sites where people were waiting upwards of three , four or five hours in what was , as Aunna said , intermittent rain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that nature .
I mean , the Atlanta Public Schools school board chair even did not receive his absentee ballot and also had to wait in line three and a half hours .
So this was like widespread and really problematic and could have been entirely avoided .
Marc Steiner : So , you know what I was thinking , Aunna , you made a statement through your work at Common Cause , the statement saying that the obstacles in Georgia , the voters faced in the selection are simply unacceptable .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trusted administering the elections have spent the day dodging blame rather than accepting responsibility .
These problems were avoidable , and they disenfranchised voters .
That must not be allowed to happen again .
So let ’ s talk a bit politically about what happens next .
How do you , stop this from , from stealing the election in November or August ?
What has to be mobilized ?
So what do you take this from here ?
Aunna Dennis : So where do we go from here is really the state @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accountability and coming and sitting down with advocates and community members and creating preparedness planning for August and November .
That ’ s what we ’ re hoping that will happen .
However , we have been urging for task force formation , and what we got in April was a task force of , I want to create a task force on voter fraud , but we ’ re not going to create a task force on voter information .
So we ’ re hoping that they will want to create a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re hoping that we can have legislative measures come in place that can create more safeguards to enhance an equitable election process .
We ’ re hoping for these things .
Will these things actually happen ?
I actually do not know because as of yesterday , our Secretary of State thought that the elections went fine .
It was great .
Oh , it wasn ’ t , actually .
Marc Steiner : Wait , wait , wait , wait , did you just say he said they went great ?
Aunna @ @ @ @ @ @ @ area , I guess , was an isolated incident .
I can ’ t speak on what he ’ s actually thinking when he says it was great , but it wasn ’ t great for the voters that I spoke to because I actually had to go and early vote .
And when I went to go early by one of the largest early voting sites in Fulton County , lines were four to six hours .
It was not great for them , for their experience .
It was not great @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the precinct managers who were very much overwhelmed when I went to the precinct , and I actually asked , what do you all need right now ?
How can I be of help ?
And I said to them , “ You know what ?
I have extra preparedness kits in my car .
Would you like what I have in my car ?
” And they said , yes , because their voters who actually didn ’ t have any .
And then they said , “ We may need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent for 200 to 300 more to come to this precinct so people can have this and feel safer going through this election process .
During early voting on a Friday night , I was at C.T .
Martin Recreation Center because that ’ s where I go to early vote .
Me and my daughter , pushing my stroller .
I asked voters how has their experience ?
I spent three hours there talking to voters , keeping people in good spirits , speaking to the precinct manager .
They ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be of a help as of now , and what is actually needed ?
” I actually did ask some people in line who were actually wanting to be more involved .
I was like , they need more coworkers .
Would you be willing to sign up for co-workers at this point in time ?
Because people are dropping out and people did say they were interested .
I spoke to folks who were in line , who requested an absentee ballot and that are a healthcare worker and who ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ re helping out with COVID .
They never got their absentee ballot .
So they had to actually come back to Georgia to vote .
I spoke to a voter who requested an absentee ballot .
And she said she received an email the week before saying that her signature did not match .
And we know that we ’ ve heard from Fulton County , that they said that they actually did not check the email absentee ballot request portal .
They did not check the ones who requested from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ until actually May .
May was two weeks ago .
So all these things are very much unacceptable .
I think about the people who have disabilities , who actually had to wait in line for four hours on Election Day .
And because they ’ re not 75 years or older , they actually could not go to the front of the line .
And can you imagine them going to vote and waiting four hours and not being able to actually use this optical scan machine and this actual technology and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be told , “ Oh , well we only have seven ballots this precinct , or we only have 20 paper ballots to this precinct.
” So they have been disenfranchised .
So I think about those things , and I ’ m hoping that our Secretary of State ’ s office and election officials , they see that this is a lesson learned .
Yes , this was a perfect storm .
Yes , it ’ s with precedent .
And yes , it was unexpected , but a lot of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m hoping for August and November that they will want to sit down in a task force formation and not just talk about voter fraud , but talk about how we can make elections more equitable and more just for every Georgia voter .
Marc Steiner : So in the very little time we have left here , one of the things , just to end with this , so it seems to me that this is also part and parcel of a deep political struggle that ’ s now going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between now and November .
So , Anoa , let me just start with you very quickly , and then , Aunna , if you want to jump in and quickly , quickly conclude , we can .
So what is the strategy to fight back ?
How do you not let them turn the tables and control this ?
Isn ’ t it possible ?
Anoa ?
Anoa Changa : I mean , the order of the strategy is to have people continuing to be involved in deep organizing work year round @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re trying to get someone elected and actually do the organizing , the civic engagement , the year-round work that Aunna does , that New Georgia Project , Black Voters Matter and so many other organizations have already been doing and that you support news like yours and mine , to make sure that we ’ re actually uplifting the story of the work , of not just the issues that are happening , but the solutions and how people are trying to actually move forward .
So the more people we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s possible , the better we will become come November .
Aunna Dennis : And I think on to Anoa ’ s point that we do need to focus on not just the issues that are happening , but how we can create solutions .
So when we ’ re saying , as advocates and as community members sit down and talk to us , there is a poll worker shortage .
We have massive listservs who want to help each other out and make elections more equitable .
Let us send @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ Hey , can you sign up to be a poll worker ?
” Let us help with the training of those set poll workers .
Let us help do those virtual trainings .
If you don ’ t have the technology to be able to do it , let us come together to find out how we can create more solutions to make our elections fair and equitable so everyone can have access to the ballot , especially because we ’ re living in this post-Shelby Wild West world of Georgia @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want to thank Aunna Dennis and Anoa Changa for joining us , also for the work that you both do to fight for justice in Georgia and around this country .
And to say that all of us collectively here , as we all know , there ’ s more , we stand in solidarity .
We can not let them take it away from us .
We fought too hard and continue to fight .
So thank you both for your work and thank you for joining us here on Real News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ top of this and look forward to having you both back .
Aunna Dennis : Absolutely .
Thank you .
Thank you for having us .
Marc Steiner : Thank you all .
And I ’ m Mark Steiner here for the Real News Network .
Thank you all for joining us .
Let us know what you think , and we will stay on top of this because it ’ s necessary for our future .
Take care .

Georgia’s primary election could be a warning for what’s to come when Americans head to the polls in November.
Story Transcript
Female 1: This is a crisis in our world to make us not exercise our right to vote! I ran for office! I worked for President Obama in the White House! This is wrong!
Marc Steiner: You call this-
Female 1: This is America! Please, everybody, we cannot tolerate this!
Marc Steiner: Welcome to the Real News. I’m Marc Steiner. Good to have you all with us. Georgia elections on Tuesday were a disaster. It was the confluence of a perfect horrendous storm. The incompetency of an underfunded election system in Georgia met the purposeful efforts at voter suppression to create a disaster, where people waited in line in mostly black communities until as late as 12:17 a.m. the next morning. What we saw was the power and resiliency of black voters who stayed in line. They fought, and their parents, grandparents fought and died to ensure that right to vote.
That right to vote is now being taken away again, first by neo-conservative lawyers and the Supreme Court to render the Voting Rights Act ineffectual, and now white supremacists have control of states like Georgia and want to ensure that black voters are blatantly disenfranchised in order to ensure that Georgia, which is very divided racially and politically, stays in the Republican fold. From Stacey Abrams and her run for governor to Tuesday’s primary to the coming November elections, Georgia is a bellwether and a battleground for our future.
So let’s welcome our guests. Anoa Changa joins us once again. She’s the electoral justice staff reporter for Prism, a nonprofit media outlet elevating stories, ideas, and solutions from people whose voices are critical to a reflective democracy. And Aunna Dennis, who is a long-time voting rights activist. She previously was the National Coordinator for the Legal Mobilization Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, focusing on election protection programs, and has worked as an election trainer in Montgomery County here in Maryland, and is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. And both welcome. Good to have you with us.
Anoa Changa: Thank you.
Aunna Dennis: Thanks for having us.
Marc Steiner: Pleasure to have you all here. So looking at what Stacey Abrams had to say…
Stacy Abrams: The ability for voter suppression to work is almost complete. Georgia has seen this before.5 Yesterday was I think one of the most egregious examples. And I want to be clear. It wasn’t simply targeted, or certainly it didn’t simply happen in Democratic strongholds. It happened across the state because one of the problems with voter suppression, with the incompetence and malfeasance that we see in the Secretary of State’s office in Georgia, is that while the target may be communities of color, maybe voters of color or Democratic voters, it hits everyone. But the problem with voter suppression is that in their urge and zeal to break the machinery for certain communities, they’ve broken it for everyone.
Marc Steiner: When Stacy Adams speaks, and she talks about this disaster, she’s also trying to be kind of political in some senses, but she’s also was very clear about what’s going on here. And if you take that in concert with a quote here I want to use from a statement from the ACLU, Andrea Young said, “the ACLU warned that insufficient resources were allocated for holding places, machines, and personal election staff and staff to process absentee ballots, that this would result in the disenfranchisement of voters in 2020.” And then went on to say, “It gives us no pleasure to be proven right, whether it’s incompetence or intentional voter suppression, the result is the same, Georgians denied their rights as citizens and democracy.”
Let’s start there. So, Aunna, let me start with you because this is your first time on Real News. It’s good to have you with us. And I’m just curious, when I read all the articles, now it tells me that there’s this battle going on, where the Georgia state government is trying to say that it’s the fault of Atlanta and other, mostly black communities, but clearly something else is amiss here. And many people are saying this is a purposeful infringement on rights to vote in Georgia to control the state. So what’s your perspective?
Aunna Dennis: So yesterday was a predicted train wreck that as advocates, as community members, as election legal community, as election administration in communities, we can foresee that there was a storm that was going to come besides the storms that we had all day yesterday throughout our elections. But it does appear that it’s a political ping pong between the state election officials, county election officials, to place blame on the mismanagement of the elections that happened yesterday. In Georgia, we’ve just had new machine, new technology with our go-to units. Inherently, there are going to be issues with new technology, with learning how to actually use the technology and actually the mechanics of how the technology actually works.
And on Election Day what we have warned at Georgia Common Cause that there will be some type of issues inherently. Those issues actually did happen. At Georgia Common Cause we have worked and urged the Secretary of State’s office to have a allocation of 25% of ballots for paper, for emergency ballots and provisional ballots. The state only said they will have 10%, but on yesterday we saw there were precincts that only had seven ballots or 20 ballots to a precinct. And so you cannot rightfully tell me that that was 10% of the total active voting population of a jurisdiction. The state could have made enhanced procedures for more balloting, but they decided not to do that.
They decided not to actually extend absentee ballot application requests to all registered voters in Georgia. They only extended to active voters. And then with those absentee ballot request applications, some counties actually did not process the email requests until May. May was just two weeks ago, so definitely this is enfranchisement for voters. We always say that we live in a new Jim Crow South where we’re not picking jelly beans out of a jar anymore, but what we’re seeing is mass precinct consolidations where you see precincts that are consolidated to 6,000, 8,000, 16,000 people to a precinct.
And we’re seeing polling change locations happening at the wee hours of the morning. We’re seeing machines not being delivered on time. We’re seeing not allocating for more poll workers, not instituting having state employees actually work as poll workers and asking emergency requests on Saturday of getting 250 more coworkers if there’s a shortage. So we definitely see a mismanagement of these elections, and we need to do actually better for August and November. So with coalition partners at Georgia Common Cause, we’re urging the state to come to the table in a task force to actually talk more about how do we become more prepared for our elections in August and November so we can not be the laughingstock of the country.
Marc Steiner: So before I turned to Anoa, just to be clear, one thing when you say August, November, August is a special election? Is that right?
Aunna Dennis: Yes. Yes.
Marc Steiner: Right, right. So Anoa, to me, what I said in the opening here, it’s as if it’s incompetency meets conspiracy, and I’m not a conspiracy kind of person to start with, but what I mean by that is, it’s incompetency meets kind of a racist system that is kind of trying to take us backwards. I mean, does that analysis make any sense?
Anoa Changa: I mean, when you consider the fact that we definitely have an entrenched power structure, regardless of party affiliation, that is intent on not losing or rescinding power in any way. I mean, Georgia is on its way to be a majority black and brown state, the first majority black and brown state in the South later on this decade. The term people use is “majority minority.” We definitely need new terminology, but that’s where we’re trending. And so you do see, I mean, we saw it in 2017, 2018, when Stacey Abrams was running her race, and there was recalcitrance even amongst white Democrats in the state for the way in which she saw fit to build and organize people.
But we definitely, when we’re talking about like state level administration and the issues with this particular election and like Aunna was pointing to that, there are coalition partners, there’s an entire voter empowerment task force. They’re like the Justice League of voting rights that have come together in response to the Secretary of State, not prioritizing, not just the safety of health or the security of our elections, but just making sure that voters can actually access the ballot. Instead, the Secretary of State Raffensperger announced in early April that he was forming a voter fraud task force comprised of predominantly conservative white prosecutors versus prioritizing these really glaring issues.
As Aunna pointed out, our election, because of the pandemic, had actually been delayed over two months. So we were originally supposed to have the presidential primary on March 24th and our state election on May 19th. But instead, we rightfully had it delayed. So June 9th to give way to actually prepare and not rush, and yet we still saw what happened. And then on top of all of the issues we had with absentee ballots, we also had these brand-new machines that the Secretary of State and the governor fought to push down Georgia’s throats that were having issues across the state.
So it is not necessarily incompetence. I mean, because it’s intentional, right? They are intentionally and willfully disregarding voting rights advocates who are actually doing the work on behalf of all Georgians. This is not a partisan thing from their perspective, but the way the Secretary of State and the governor, they’re putting their own personal egos and pride over actual work that needs to be done to actually ensuring we have elections that are fair and free and that people can actively participate in. I mean, so many people were not able to get absentee ballots. And we knew that because of the pandemic, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we were going to see a surge in requests. And we saw what happened in Wisconsin, right? We’ve already had an example of how poorly this can go by a state that has not acted quickly, adopt proper measures. We’ve already seen what happened in Wisconsin, and unfortunately that was not heated to here.
Marc Steiner: So take a step backwards just a moment, and then come back to where you all just took this conversation. Ari Berman as a reporter from Mother Jones who’s been covering voting rights for 10 years, at least, The Nation and now Mother Jones. And he said in a tweet, which I think is important for us to reflect upon that 214 polling places were closed after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Then he went on to say there were fewer than 80 fewer polling places for the June primary in metro Atlanta, where the majority black voters live. And then Mitch McConnell was blocking legislation to pass a House Democratic bill that would restore the Voting Rights Act. And Brad Raffensperger, who’s your Georgia Secretary of State is in the middle of all this. So let’s talk about what politically what’s going on here.
As I looked at this, to me as someone who was in Georgia back in the early ’60s, at the SNCC headquarters in and out and seeing the kind of horrendous violence that took place when people attempted to vote and the fight for voting. Then you have the Voting Rights Act. Now you have them destroy the Voting Rights Act. Now you have them acting on that, destroy the right to vote, period in places like Georgia. I mean, this is, to me, the essence of a deep political struggle. I mean, this is almost like a crisis moment, it seems to me, Anoa. Am I making too much of this?
Anoa Changa: No, I don’t think you’re making too much of it. What I will say, though, because I know it’s very easy for us to get into what the South, particularly Georgia, does wrong. I would caution us because this is actually a widespread nationwide problem. We’re just seeing Iowa.
Marc Steiner: Oh, right.
Anoa Changa: No, I’ll just say the Iowa state legislature, Republican-held red legislature in Iowa is actually forbidding the Secretary of State from being able to send out absentee ballots in direct response to what they saw in terms of turnout. We saw what happened in Wisconsin, but in terms of what’s happening in Georgia, I think Georgia is the culmination of a perfect storm of people really trying to hold onto their power no matter what. And you pointed to the gutting of the VRA. I mean, Brian Kemp, I believe it’s the 2015 memo that has been talked about publicly, explicitly ordered that, or suggested to counties, that they look at poll consolidations and closures because the VRA, because the Shelby case gutted the VRA, and pre-clearance was no longer required.
And so we do have these massive consolidations and polling closures that have happened, and I think Aklima, who is the executive director of All Voting Is Local, noted this on a press call yesterday that the safeguards that are supposed to be in place, they’re supposed to be in place when they close a poll or want to consolidate a poll, have not been in place for the closures that have happened with consolidations happen because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So what we’ve seen in the metro area, and as a Fulton County voter whose polling location was consolidated along with several others to a library, we have seen not just the closure and consolidation of early voting locations.
We went down to only five in Fulton County, and Fulton County stretches about 70 miles. And we only had five early voting locations for that population. But then we saw the same thing happening with our actual polling locations, which we understand this is going to happen because we are in a pandemic, but instead of just closing locations and not making other alternatives, right, what we saw was we didn’t have proper notice. I mean, several folks have posted on social media. I myself checked my mail yesterday and also saw a letter from the Fulton County Board of Elections indicating the change of my polling location.
I, knowing better and having done this work, know to check constantly the My Voter page to see if there are changes or updates and things of that nature, tracking my absentee ballot. The average person does not know the constantly have to check, and it’s not necessarily their obligation. It is upon the state. It is upon the counties to make sure people know that when they’re pulling locations are changing, they have that proper interim information. And in our case, it makes sense because my polling location was in a senior center. So it makes sense that it was changing.
But the alternative was a site that ended up being consolidated with multiple other sites where people were waiting upwards of three, four or five hours in what was, as Aunna said, intermittent rain and issues with machines and things of that nature. I mean, the Atlanta Public Schools school board chair even did not receive his absentee ballot and also had to wait in line three and a half hours. So this was like widespread and really problematic and could have been entirely avoided.
Marc Steiner: So, you know what I was thinking, Aunna, you made a statement through your work at Common Cause, the statement saying that the obstacles in Georgia, the voters faced in the selection are simply unacceptable. It’s also acceptable that officials and trusted administering the elections have spent the day dodging blame rather than accepting responsibility. These problems were avoidable, and they disenfranchised voters. That must not be allowed to happen again. So let’s talk a bit politically about what happens next. How do you, stop this from, from stealing the election in November or August? What has to be mobilized? So what do you take this from here?
Aunna Dennis: So where do we go from here is really the state taking accountability. The county is taking accountability and coming and sitting down with advocates and community members and creating preparedness planning for August and November. That’s what we’re hoping that will happen. However, we have been urging for task force formation, and what we got in April was a task force of, I want to create a task force on voter fraud, but we’re not going to create a task force on voter information.
So we’re hoping that they will want to create a fair, equitable election. We’re hoping that we can have legislative measures come in place that can create more safeguards to enhance an equitable election process. We’re hoping for these things. Will these things actually happen? I actually do not know because as of yesterday, our Secretary of State thought that the elections went fine. It was great. Oh, it wasn’t, actually.
Marc Steiner: Wait, wait, wait, wait, did you just say he said they went great?
Aunna Dennis: Yeah.
Anoa Changa: Yeah.
Marc Steiner: I didn’t see that.
Aunna Dennis: I guess the metro Atlanta area, I guess, was an isolated incident. I can’t speak on what he’s actually thinking when he says it was great, but it wasn’t great for the voters that I spoke to because I actually had to go and early vote. And when I went to go early by one of the largest early voting sites in Fulton County, lines were four to six hours. It was not great for them, for their experience. It was not great, actually, for the poll workers and the precinct managers who were very much overwhelmed when I went to the precinct, and I actually asked, what do you all need right now? How can I be of help? And I said to them, “You know what? I have extra preparedness kits in my car. Would you like what I have in my car?” And they said, yes, because their voters who actually didn’t have any. And then they said, “We may need some for Election Day.”
So I sent for 200 to 300 more to come to this precinct so people can have this and feel safer going through this election process. During early voting on a Friday night, I was at C.T. Martin Recreation Center because that’s where I go to early vote. Me and my daughter, pushing my stroller. I asked voters how has their experience? I spent three hours there talking to voters, keeping people in good spirits, speaking to the precinct manager. They’re asking, “How can we best be of a help as of now, and what is actually needed?” I actually did ask some people in line who were actually wanting to be more involved. I was like, they need more coworkers. Would you be willing to sign up for co-workers at this point in time? Because people are dropping out and people did say they were interested.
I spoke to folks who were in line, who requested an absentee ballot and that are a healthcare worker and who’s based in North Carolina right now because they’re helping out with COVID. They never got their absentee ballot. So they had to actually come back to Georgia to vote. I spoke to a voter who requested an absentee ballot. And she said she received an email the week before saying that her signature did not match. And we know that we’ve heard from Fulton County, that they said that they actually did not check the email absentee ballot request portal. They did not check the ones who requested from email. They did not check that until actually May. May was two weeks ago.
So all these things are very much unacceptable. I think about the people who have disabilities, who actually had to wait in line for four hours on Election Day. And because they’re not 75 years or older, they actually could not go to the front of the line. And can you imagine them going to vote and waiting four hours and not being able to actually use this optical scan machine and this actual technology and then asking for a paper ballot and to be told, “Oh, well we only have seven ballots this precinct, or we only have 20 paper ballots to this precinct.” So they have been disenfranchised.
So I think about those things, and I’m hoping that our Secretary of State’s office and election officials, they see that this is a lesson learned. Yes, this was a perfect storm. Yes, it’s with precedent. And yes, it was unexpected, but a lot of things could have been prevented. And I’m hoping for August and November that they will want to sit down in a task force formation and not just talk about voter fraud, but talk about how we can make elections more equitable and more just for every Georgia voter.
Marc Steiner: So in the very little time we have left here, one of the things, just to end with this, so it seems to me that this is also part and parcel of a deep political struggle that’s now going to take place over these next months between now and November. So, Anoa, let me just start with you very quickly, and then, Aunna, if you want to jump in and quickly, quickly conclude, we can. So what is the strategy to fight back? How do you not let them turn the tables and control this? Isn’t it possible? Anoa?
Anoa Changa: I mean, the order of the strategy is to have people continuing to be involved in deep organizing work year round, not just six weeks before you’re trying to get someone elected and actually do the organizing, the civic engagement, the year-round work that Aunna does, that New Georgia Project, Black Voters Matter and so many other organizations have already been doing and that you support news like yours and mine, to make sure that we’re actually uplifting the story of the work, of not just the issues that are happening, but the solutions and how people are trying to actually move forward. So the more people we have educated and aware and understanding what’s possible, the better we will become come November.
Aunna Dennis: And I think on to Anoa’s point that we do need to focus on not just the issues that are happening, but how we can create solutions. So when we’re saying, as advocates and as community members sit down and talk to us, there is a poll worker shortage. We have massive listservs who want to help each other out and make elections more equitable. Let us send out mass messages to our listserv saying, “Hey, can you sign up to be a poll worker?” Let us help with the training of those set poll workers. Let us help do those virtual trainings. If you don’t have the technology to be able to do it, let us come together to find out how we can create more solutions to make our elections fair and equitable so everyone can have access to the ballot, especially because we’re living in this post-Shelby Wild West world of Georgia down here.
Marc Steiner: I want to thank Aunna Dennis and Anoa Changa for joining us, also for the work that you both do to fight for justice in Georgia and around this country. And to say that all of us collectively here, as we all know, there’s more, we stand in solidarity. We cannot let them take it away from us. We fought too hard and continue to fight. So thank you both for your work and thank you for joining us here on Real News, but we’ll stay on top of this and look forward to having you both back.
Anoa Changa: Absolutely. Thank you.
Aunna Dennis: Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you for having us.
Marc Steiner: Thank you all. And I’m Mark Steiner here for the Real News Network. Thank you all for joining us. Let us know what you think, and we will stay on top of this because it’s necessary for our future. Take care.
Production: Genevieve Montinar, Bababtunde Ogunfolaju, Andrew Corkery
Studio: Bababtunde Ogunfolaju
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therealnews--2020-06-12--The ‘I Can’t Breathe’ Video Police Don’t Want You To See

Taya Graham : Hello .
My name is Taya Graham and welcome to the Police Accountability Report .
As I never get tired of saying , the point of the show is to hold police accountable .
To do so , we go beyond the headlines and explore in detail how the system works to bolster , and in some cases , abet ineffective law enforcement .
On this show , we ’ re going to examine two facets of this problem .
First , we ’ re going to take an inside look at how police unions are gearing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enforcement .
And then we ’ re going to take another look at a case that has circumstances similar to George Floyd ’ s , but has largely been forgotten .
But before I get started , I want you watching to know that if you have evidence of police misconduct , please email it to us privately at [ email protected ] or you can share it with me directly at Tayas Baltimore on Facebook and Twitter , and please like , share and comment on our videos .
I read your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whenever I can .
Now , as anyone who ’ s watched the show knows one idea we have revisited constantly is how the political economy that is the cash that policing generates keeps policing insulated from reform .
And that phenomenon has never been more relevant because in the wake of the death of George Floyd , a movement has spread across the country to defund police .
This week , the Minneapolis City Council voted to dismantle the police department .
They said it was completely dysfunctional .
Here in Baltimore @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our own city council .
As you can see from the images we shot of their protests , but the demands raised two interesting questions .
What does it actually mean to defund police ?
And can it actually happen ?
To answer these questions , I ’ m joined by my reporting partner , Stephen Janis .
Stephen , thank you so much for joining us .
Stephen Janis : Thanks for having me .
I appreciate it .
Taya Graham : Now , before I ask a question , I want @ @ @ @ @ @ @ screen that was obtained by our colleague photo journalist , Cameron Granadino .
It ’ s a meeting with members of the Los Angeles Police Department and a member of the city council .
The meeting was held after the mayor proposed cutting $ 150 million from the police budget and investing it in housing and education .
Let ’ s watch .
Speaker 3 : [ inaudible 00:02:04 ] you bow down to black lives matter .
These police officers that are out here protected the city , they ’ re protecting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ If it wasn ’ t for them , this city would be burned down right now .
Taya Graham : Stephen , what do we know about this video ?
Who is talking and what does it mean for efforts to cut funding ?
Stephen Janis : It ’ s a video of Los Angeles Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez talking to the police department , some officers in one of the divisions about the proposed cuts of 100 to $ 150 million in the police budget .
Now , here they are actually attacking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s attacking her is a vice president in the Police Union , basically giving a field threat that the city wouldn ’ t be safe if indeed they cut funding .
So it ’ s been a pretty controversial video .
Taya Graham : What does this video tell you about the fight over funding for policing ?
It sounds like a very familiar argument .
Stephen Janis : Well , basically it shows you how the dynamic works .
Why policing always gets so much money even in cities like Baltimore , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Because they use the idea and the specter of fear .
“ You ’ re not going to be safe .
We ’ re the invisible line between that fear of others , the fear of crime , the fear of race and the fear of people who are impoverished.
” And that ’ s how it works .
And here you can see , they are trying to threaten her and saying , “ Your city would be destroyed right now.
” Which is not true .
It really seems like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , not stopped it .
Taya Graham : So what does defunding the police actually mean ?
How would this process work ?
Stephen Janis : Well , what it means is to get policing out of things where policing doesn ’ t belong .
We have extended policing into so many facets of our life and of our civic life , for example , dealing with the mentally ill , and putting in into things that would be more productive like housing .
People can ’ t be safe if they don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can ’ t be safe if they don ’ t have good jobs , put into education .
But instead , we ’ ve expanded police to encompass almost every facet or [ inaudible 00:03:53 ] .
The idea is to get police out of that business , make it a more basic functional agency and take that money and invest it in things that are productive .
Taya Graham : We asked the Los Angeles police union for comment , and they said , “ Defunding the police would be reckless and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ implications of this idea could be profound .
As we pointed out before , the cold hard numbers on police spending are revealing .
Cities like Baltimore or Minneapolis spend roughly 40 % of their discretionary spending on policing , but it doesn ’ t end there .
That ’ s because when you add in money for overtime and pensions , that number rises significantly .
In the case of Baltimore city , we spend more on post retirement benefits for cops than educating our children by roughly $ 50 million .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ is to actually take some of that money and invest it into affordable housing , parks and recreation , and again , education , programs that advocates say we ’ ll do more to reduce crime than policing alone .
Think about it .
As we pointed out last week , the scenes from across the country show that police are well equipped with what looks like fairly new riot gear , pepper ball guns , and masks .
In fact , it was several years ago when Stephen and I were doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ caught this on camera .
A lot full of brand new Jeeps the police department had bought to give for free to police officers to drive home , so called take-home cars .
When we asked for comment on why a city that could not afford heat for its schools would spend so much money on new take-home cars , the lot was clear .
The point is , in one of the poor cities in the country , a city that can not afford to make simple fixes to schools had enough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of new vehicles for cops .
This is why the idea of defunding the police is more essential to reform than for example , the legislation proposed by Democrats this week in Washington .
A proposed set of laws that would bar choke holds , get rid of legal protections and seek to create an independent system to investigate police involved deaths .
But while legal reform is a component of curbing the abuse of the American law enforcement , it is the underlying growth of its presence that makes it so stubborn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unidentified law enforcement officers operating without badges or nameplates during recent protests in the nation ’ s Capitol .
As this article and political outline , these veritable secret police were the product of an explosive growth in law enforcement throughout federal agencies since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 .
A growth of police infrastructure that has created over 2,500 new jobs for cops annually since 2001 who work for federal agencies as obscure as the Bureau of Fish and Wildlife , which incidentally has a SWAT team .
So what we saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was in some sense , a rendering of the reality that until now has received far too little attention .
Policing is a growth industry and nothing embodies that idea more than our next story .
It ’ s a death at the hands of police that has been largely forgotten , but is more relevant than ever .
And it occurred in a small Eastern shore town that had bolstered its police department just before the incident occurred by adding more officers and moving to a more aggressive form of policing .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ you this .
This footage shows the death of a young man at the hands of police .
The video you ’ re watching on the screen is from the body cam of Greensboro Police Officer , Daniel Webster .
Webster had stopped 19 year old , Anton black , while he ’ s walking with his cousin after a white woman called police to report a kidnapping .
The allegations turned out to be false , but Webster and two other off duty officers pursued Black to his mother ’ s house @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I want to warn those watching and also the members of the Black family to let you know that we are showing the footage of the police actions that led to Anton ’ s death .
The video is brutal and disturbing .
Taya Graham : Black was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital .
Despite evidence that Anton had died due to the officer ’ s actions , for months authorities did nothing .
In fact , the Maryland State medical examiner did not release the cause for death until the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case .
And when they did , they ruled the death an accident .
Despite the evidence you can see here on camera of Anton fighting for his life , struggling to breathe , similar to what happened to George Floyd , the state said he died in part two to an underlying heart condition .
Remember .
Anton was 19 years old , a former track star and award winning athlete and aspiring actor .
And the medical examiner implied his death was his fault .
The ruling prompted us to consult @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He had an entirely different take on what happened , concluding the death was due to positional asphyxiation and should have been ruled a homicide .
Let ’ s listen .
Dr. Cyril Wecht… : I strongly disagree with the final diagnosis that the cause of death was a coronary artery and anatomical aberration .
How convenient that he should have died from that defect at the time that he is being restrained in a position that has been barred , banned and prohibited from various national police agencies throughout the country .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ asphyxiation , in which somebody is placed face down , and then someone leans on his back , presses down on his back and he ’ s tasered after several minutes , and then he goes limp .
That ’ s a classical case of positional asphyxiation .
Taya Graham : But that wasn ’ t the only aspect of this story that relates to the movement for real reform of policing we are witnessing now , because as we investigated the case , the community shared with us their concern about a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the months right before Anton ’ s death , a change in tactics they opposed .
Let ’ s listen .
Speaker 6 : And members of this council said , “ Things of the nature , we need police that ’ ll be tougher on the community , tougher on the citizens.
” And despite the fact that Robin , myself went to them about the hiring of this officer and asked , “ When you say tougher on the community , what do you mean ?
” Taya Graham : That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 2,000 people had pivoted to aggressive policing .
And part of that change in strategy , including the hiring of Thomas Webster , the officer who initiated Anton ’ s arrest , the town ’ s black community opposed it because as you can see on this video , officer Webster was caught on dash cam video , kicking an African American man in the jaw while serving as an officer in Delaware .
He was tried but found not guilty of assault , but soon after he left the department , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happened and why Anton ’ s case should be reopened , I ’ m joined by his sister , LaToya Holley .
LaToya , thank you so much for joining us .
LaToya Holley : Thank you for having me .
Taya Graham : Now first , again , I am so sorry for your loss .
When you look at what happened to George Floyd , how does that affect you and how do you think it ’ s related to Anton ’ s case ?
LaToya Holley : There are several @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Anton ’ s .
One that we ’ ve heard too many times , too often is the fact that he said he couldn ’ t breathe .
That was something that Anton also said .
And Eric Garner said the same thing .
He couldn ’ t breathe .
So that is one definite similarity that I could actually bring together for all three of those tragic murders , I call them .
A lot of people don ’ t agree with me , but I call them murders , those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Garner , Mr. Floyd , and then also my brother , Anton .
Also , it ’ s my belief … and I can ’ t say for certain because I ’ m not going to watch the body worn camera , the fact that I know that Anton said that he could not breathe is because I happened to hear it while I was reading a news article .
A video started playing , I couldn ’ t see it , but then the reporter stopped speaking and it cut over .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So I heard my brother ’ s voice specifically say that he could not breathe .
And to speak on other similarities that I believe between Mr. Floyd ’ s case and Anton ’ s , is I also believe that there was some type of obstruction of Anton ’ s capability of breathing , whether that was an arm around his neck or something , the officer did something to Anton that prevented him from breathing .
But unfortunately , I can not say for certain because I just refuse to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Graham : So LaToya , We had Anton ’ s autopsy report reviewed by Dr. Cyril Wecht who said Anton died from positional asphyxiation , which comes from applying pressure to someone in a prone position , which is what an independent autopsy also found in the Floyd case .
Now , originally , just like in the Floyd case , the officer ’ s role in the death wasn ’ t mentioned .
The medical examiner just spoke about the underlying health conditions .
Didn ’ t this happen with Anton ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ LaToya Holley : Basically , the ME report went to speak about Anton ’ s heart .
They also mentioned that the struggle with police may have contributed , but ultimately they were trying to say that there was other underlying reasons that attributed to his loss of life , which the family , we don ’ t believe that to be the case .
I did see my brother ’ s body the night that he was killed .
And I saw his eyes were bloodshot and they were protruding from his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it told me at that moment that his breathing was restricted .
It looked like there was some type of asphyxiation just by looking at his face .
It was clear as day .
Taya Graham : Now , one thing that really struck me about Anton ’ s case is how authorities waited for months before doing anything .
What happened during that period of time and why wasn ’ t anything done ?
LaToya Holley : It seemed my family is though they were trying to sweep the situation under the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be odd … and perhaps I ’ m wrong , but I thought it was odd that the State ’ s Attorney , Joe Riley was on the scene the night my brother was killed .
So I don ’ t know if that is common practice for the attorney to appear on a crime scene , especially that ’ s involving police officers .
I just thought that was very strange .
It seems to me that a lot of individuals had their minds made up from that very night of what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do .
Taya Graham : Now , you pressed for reform after Anton ’ s death , including a new law called Anton ’ s Law that would have given families access to an officer ’ s record after he or she is involved in in custody death .
What happened with that law ?
LaToya Holley : We ’ re actually … the police unions are fighting against us .
They ’ re battling with us as far as changing the MIPA .
They are using the excuse that their police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their addresses and so forth would be available to the public .
There would be some expectation that I would see if that information was redacted , of course , that is not anything that I think that is ultimately terribly important .
What we ’ re concerned with is other families being able to … and other citizens being able to obtain the information that they need to be able to access any reports against police officers as far as their abuse of power .
I know there ’ s a term @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So we definitely want those records to be available to the public .
We feel very strongly that if Webster ’ s excessive force of abuse record had been made available , that that could have led possibly to him not being hired in the first place , which was validated when he lost his certification , when Maryland de-certified him , because that information was missing .
Taya Graham : Should they reopen an investigation into Anton ’ s death ?
What do you want to see happen ?
And what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We certainly would like to see a re-investigation into what happened to Anton , but we believe that a lot of information has been mishandled .
It has not been properly provided to individuals that would need to see this information to make the decision to hopefully bring the officers involved to at least a grand jury hearing , so that all the facts could be laid out on the line and that the public can make a decision as to whether or not they should be charged .
Of course , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they should be charged , and we ’ re not going to give up hope that we could hopefully get something done and get these officers off the street .
Taya Graham : It ’ s worth noting that we reached out to the Maryland Attorney General , Brian Frosh to ask if Anton death warranted a new investigation , but their reply says much about where we are with police reform in this country .
Because a spokesperson for the attorney General ’ s office told us they don ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case .
That is the final decision on if and when to charge officers involved in Anton ’ s death remains with the prosecutor of the County where his death occurred .
So we can see in Anton ’ s case much of the genesis for the movement calling , for the dismantlement of the country ’ s law enforcement industrial complex , a young man dies in circumstances that raises serious questions about the actions of the officers involved , but instead of investigating swiftly and providing answers to the family , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to release body cam footage and withhold the findings of an autopsy .
And only when the media descends on Greensboro and the family mounts a concerted campaign seeking answers , does the government respond .
And then their findings clear the officers of any wrongdoing and lead Anton and his supporters still seeking justice to this day .
The point is , cases like Anton ’ s which have been forgotten are in part the reason we are witnessing protests across the country .
What happened to him is why activists seek @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in some sense , dismantle it .
The rallying cry we hear on the streets of American cities is not just about George Floyd , but about the countless others who died while in police custody who have not received justice .
And most revealing , how the system itself protected the officers from criminal liability for the actions which led to his death .
It ’ s worth noting there was in fact , a prosecution as a result of Anton ’ s case .
Shortly after he died , the State @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Greensboro police had withheld information regarding at least two dozen use of force complaints against officer Webster from his prior job in Delaware .
The complaints were supposed to be submitted as part of his application to become a police officer in Maryland , but were illegally omitted .
Police Chief Petyo pled guilty to one count of misconduct , which led to a suspended sentence and no jail time .
He has since resigned from his job in Greensboro and became a cop in Delaware .
So we have the senseless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ false arrest .
We have the anguish of a family over the loss of a child , full of untapped potential loss forever .
We have a community that ’ s still suffers from the consequences of a move to aggressive policing , and a town that will most likely have to pay a yet to be determined settlement as a result of the civil suit for which the community will all be required to pay .
What we have here is a true imbalance of justice that American policing has wrought .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ torn apart .
A young man taken from this earth and no one fully held accountable .
Activists say it ’ s the type of open wound that will not heal unless our leaders in Washington act .
The type of psychological terror that has been wrought in the name of the badge that has permeated the landscape of our nation and refuses to release its grip on both our governance and our wallets .
It ’ s the reason the calls to disband policing can not be ignored .
But to truly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with American policing , I will let one of Anton ’ s family members have the last word , his father , Anton Black Sr. on what they did to his son and how the pain still resonates to this day .
It is his words that say the most about what ails us and how those problems might linger long after the protests are over .
What we can not allow is for any of us to forget his pain or his son .
Let ’ s listen .
Anton Black Sr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ child , but we need to help because it could be an injustice to your child .
This is happening too much .
This boy was , like I said , they called him Pretty Ricky , but he was a good child .
He ’ s going to college .
He ’ s modeling .
He ’ s doing things , they ’ re putting Greensboro on the map .
He ’ s a favorite son .
And they run him down and treated him like a runaway slave .
They corner @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They killed him .
And yes , they lynched my son .
I said it three or four times , they lynched him , except they don ’ t use the rope now , they use their arm .
Taya Graham : I want to thank my guest , LaToya Holley , for speaking with us about her brother ’ s tragic death today and her continued fight for justice .
Thank you , Latoya .
LaToya Holley : Thank you so much .
And thank you and Steve for continuing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I mean ?
You guys keep writing and always circle back to Anton .
Taya Graham : I also want to thank my cohost and reporting partner , Stephen Janis for his invaluable work on this piece .
Stephen Janis : Taya , thanks for having me .
I appreciate it .
Taya Graham : And of course , I have to thank friend of the show , Noli Dee for her support .
Thank you , Noli Dee .
And I want you watching to note that if you have evidence of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it with us and we might be able to investigate .
Please reach out to us .
You can email us tips privately at [ email protected ] or reach out to us at Police Accountability Report on Facebook or Instagram or Eyes on Police on Twitter .
And of course , you can reach me directly at Tayas Baltimore on Twitter and Facebook .
And please like , share and comment .
You know I read your comments and appreciate them .
My name is Taya Graham .
I ’ m the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Please be safe out there .

The death of Anton Black in 2018 was caught on camera but did not lead to charges against the police involved. We spoke with his family about how they say authorities stonewalled their demands for an investigation.
Story Transcript
Taya Graham: Hello. My name is Taya Graham and welcome to the Police Accountability Report. As I never get tired of saying, the point of the show is to hold police accountable. To do so, we go beyond the headlines and explore in detail how the system works to bolster, and in some cases, abet ineffective law enforcement. On this show, we’re going to examine two facets of this problem. First, we’re going to take an inside look at how police unions are gearing up to fight efforts to defund law enforcement. And then we’re going to take another look at a case that has circumstances similar to George Floyd’s, but has largely been forgotten. But before I get started, I want you watching to know that if you have evidence of police misconduct, please email it to us privately at par@therealnews.com or you can share it with me directly at Tayas Baltimore on Facebook and Twitter, and please like, share and comment on our videos.
I read your comments, appreciate them and answer questions whenever I can. Now, as anyone who’s watched the show knows one idea we have revisited constantly is how the political economy that is the cash that policing generates keeps policing insulated from reform. And that phenomenon has never been more relevant because in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a movement has spread across the country to defund police. This week, the Minneapolis City Council voted to dismantle the police department. They said it was completely dysfunctional. Here in Baltimore, activists called for similar reform from our own city council. As you can see from the images we shot of their protests, but the demands raised two interesting questions. What does it actually mean to defund police? And can it actually happen?
To answer these questions, I’m joined by my reporting partner, Stephen Janis. Stephen, thank you so much for joining us.
Stephen Janis: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Taya Graham: Now, before I ask a question, I want to put a video up on the screen that was obtained by our colleague photo journalist, Cameron Granadino. It’s a meeting with members of the Los Angeles Police Department and a member of the city council. The meeting was held after the mayor proposed cutting $150 million from the police budget and investing it in housing and education. Let’s watch.
Speaker 3: [inaudible 00:02:04] you bow down to black lives matter. These police officers that are out here protected the city, they’re protecting it from [inaudible 00:02:15]. If it wasn’t for them, this city would be burned down right now.
Taya Graham: Stephen, what do we know about this video? Who is talking and what does it mean for efforts to cut funding?
Stephen Janis: It’s a video of Los Angeles Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez talking to the police department, some officers in one of the divisions about the proposed cuts of 100 to $150 million in the police budget. Now, here they are actually attacking her. One of the officer’s attacking her is a vice president in the Police Union, basically giving a field threat that the city wouldn’t be safe if indeed they cut funding. So it’s been a pretty controversial video.
Taya Graham: What does this video tell you about the fight over funding for policing? It sounds like a very familiar argument.
Stephen Janis: Well, basically it shows you how the dynamic works. Why policing always gets so much money even in cities like Baltimore, where they can’t afford it. Because they use the idea and the specter of fear. “You’re not going to be safe. We’re the invisible line between that fear of others, the fear of crime, the fear of race and the fear of people who are impoverished.” And that’s how it works. And here you can see, they are trying to threaten her and saying, “Your city would be destroyed right now.” Which is not true. It really seems like police during these protests have precipitated violence, not stopped it.
Taya Graham: So what does defunding the police actually mean? How would this process work?
Stephen Janis: Well, what it means is to get policing out of things where policing doesn’t belong. We have extended policing into so many facets of our life and of our civic life, for example, dealing with the mentally ill, and putting in into things that would be more productive like housing. People can’t be safe if they don’t have secure housing. People can’t be safe if they don’t have good jobs, put into education. But instead, we’ve expanded police to encompass almost every facet or [inaudible 00:03:53]. The idea is to get police out of that business, make it a more basic functional agency and take that money and invest it in things that are productive.
Taya Graham: We asked the Los Angeles police union for comment, and they said, “Defunding the police would be reckless and dangerous in the city.” The fiscal implications of this idea could be profound. As we pointed out before, the cold hard numbers on police spending are revealing. Cities like Baltimore or Minneapolis spend roughly 40% of their discretionary spending on policing, but it doesn’t end there. That’s because when you add in money for overtime and pensions, that number rises significantly. In the case of Baltimore city, we spend more on post retirement benefits for cops than educating our children by roughly $50 million. Thus, the idea behind this movement is to actually take some of that money and invest it into affordable housing, parks and recreation, and again, education, programs that advocates say we’ll do more to reduce crime than policing alone. Think about it. As we pointed out last week, the scenes from across the country show that police are well equipped with what looks like fairly new riot gear, pepper ball guns, and masks.
In fact, it was several years ago when Stephen and I were doing an investigation into police spending that we caught this on camera. A lot full of brand new Jeeps the police department had bought to give for free to police officers to drive home, so called take-home cars. When we asked for comment on why a city that could not afford heat for its schools would spend so much money on new take-home cars, the lot was clear. The point is, in one of the poor cities in the country, a city that cannot afford to make simple fixes to schools had enough cash to create a veritable parking lot of new vehicles for cops. This is why the idea of defunding the police is more essential to reform than for example, the legislation proposed by Democrats this week in Washington. A proposed set of laws that would bar choke holds, get rid of legal protections and seek to create an independent system to investigate police involved deaths.
But while legal reform is a component of curbing the abuse of the American law enforcement, it is the underlying growth of its presence that makes it so stubborn to oversight. Consider the hundreds of unidentified law enforcement officers operating without badges or nameplates during recent protests in the nation’s Capitol. As this article and political outline, these veritable secret police were the product of an explosive growth in law enforcement throughout federal agencies since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. A growth of police infrastructure that has created over 2,500 new jobs for cops annually since 2001 who work for federal agencies as obscure as the Bureau of Fish and Wildlife, which incidentally has a SWAT team. So what we saw on the streets of Washington, D.C was in some sense, a rendering of the reality that until now has received far too little attention. Policing is a growth industry and nothing embodies that idea more than our next story.
It’s a death at the hands of police that has been largely forgotten, but is more relevant than ever. And it occurred in a small Eastern shore town that had bolstered its police department just before the incident occurred by adding more officers and moving to a more aggressive form of policing. I have to warn you before showing you this. This footage shows the death of a young man at the hands of police. The video you’re watching on the screen is from the body cam of Greensboro Police Officer, Daniel Webster. Webster had stopped 19 year old, Anton black, while he’s walking with his cousin after a white woman called police to report a kidnapping. The allegations turned out to be false, but Webster and two other off duty officers pursued Black to his mother’s house. And then this happened. Again, I want to warn those watching and also the members of the Black family to let you know that we are showing the footage of the police actions that led to Anton’s death. The video is brutal and disturbing.
Speaker 4: [inaudible 00:07:53].
Taya Graham: Black was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Despite evidence that Anton had died due to the officer’s actions, for months authorities did nothing. In fact, the Maryland State medical examiner did not release the cause for death until the media, including us focused on the case. And when they did, they ruled the death an accident. Despite the evidence you can see here on camera of Anton fighting for his life, struggling to breathe, similar to what happened to George Floyd, the state said he died in part two to an underlying heart condition. Remember. Anton was 19 years old, a former track star and award winning athlete and aspiring actor. And the medical examiner implied his death was his fault. The ruling prompted us to consult noted pathologist, Dr. Cyril Wecht. He had an entirely different take on what happened, concluding the death was due to positional asphyxiation and should have been ruled a homicide. Let’s listen.
Dr. Cyril Wecht…: I strongly disagree with the final diagnosis that the cause of death was a coronary artery and anatomical aberration. How convenient that he should have died from that defect at the time that he is being restrained in a position that has been barred, banned and prohibited from various national police agencies throughout the country. This is a classical case of positional asphyxiation, in which somebody is placed face down, and then someone leans on his back, presses down on his back and he’s tasered after several minutes, and then he goes limp. That’s a classical case of positional asphyxiation.
Taya Graham: But that wasn’t the only aspect of this story that relates to the movement for real reform of policing we are witnessing now, because as we investigated the case, the community shared with us their concern about a shift in policing tactics that occurred in the months right before Anton’s death, a change in tactics they opposed. Let’s listen.
Speaker 6: And members of this council said, “Things of the nature, we need police that’ll be tougher on the community, tougher on the citizens.” And despite the fact that Robin, myself went to them about the hiring of this officer and asked, “When you say tougher on the community, what do you mean?”
Taya Graham: That’s right. A small town of 2,000 people had pivoted to aggressive policing. And part of that change in strategy, including the hiring of Thomas Webster, the officer who initiated Anton’s arrest, the town’s black community opposed it because as you can see on this video, officer Webster was caught on dash cam video, kicking an African American man in the jaw while serving as an officer in Delaware. He was tried but found not guilty of assault, but soon after he left the department, Greensboro hired him.
To discuss what happened and why Anton’s case should be reopened, I’m joined by his sister, LaToya Holley. LaToya, thank you so much for joining us.
LaToya Holley: Thank you for having me.
Taya Graham: Now first, again, I am so sorry for your loss. When you look at what happened to George Floyd, how does that affect you and how do you think it’s related to Anton’s case?
LaToya Holley: There are several similarities between Mr. Floyd’s case and Anton’s. One that we’ve heard too many times, too often is the fact that he said he couldn’t breathe. That was something that Anton also said. And Eric Garner said the same thing. He couldn’t breathe. So that is one definite similarity that I could actually bring together for all three of those tragic murders, I call them. A lot of people don’t agree with me, but I call them murders, those tragic murders that have happened to Mr. Garner, Mr. Floyd, and then also my brother, Anton. Also, it’s my belief … and I can’t say for certain because I’m not going to watch the body worn camera, the fact that I know that Anton said that he could not breathe is because I happened to hear it while I was reading a news article.
A video started playing, I couldn’t see it, but then the reporter stopped speaking and it cut over. And that’s what he said. So I heard my brother’s voice specifically say that he could not breathe. And to speak on other similarities that I believe between Mr. Floyd’s case and Anton’s, is I also believe that there was some type of obstruction of Anton’s capability of breathing, whether that was an arm around his neck or something, the officer did something to Anton that prevented him from breathing. But unfortunately, I cannot say for certain because I just refuse to watch the body worn camera.
Taya Graham: So LaToya, We had Anton’s autopsy report reviewed by Dr. Cyril Wecht who said Anton died from positional asphyxiation, which comes from applying pressure to someone in a prone position, which is what an independent autopsy also found in the Floyd case. Now, originally, just like in the Floyd case, the officer’s role in the death wasn’t mentioned. The medical examiner just spoke about the underlying health conditions. Didn’t this happen with Anton’s medical examiner report as well?
LaToya Holley: Basically, the ME report went to speak about Anton’s heart. They also mentioned that the struggle with police may have contributed, but ultimately they were trying to say that there was other underlying reasons that attributed to his loss of life, which the family, we don’t believe that to be the case. I did see my brother’s body the night that he was killed. And I saw his eyes were bloodshot and they were protruding from his face. Just my life experience, it told me at that moment that his breathing was restricted. It looked like there was some type of asphyxiation just by looking at his face. It was clear as day.
Taya Graham: Now, one thing that really struck me about Anton’s case is how authorities waited for months before doing anything. What happened during that period of time and why wasn’t anything done?
LaToya Holley: It seemed my family is though they were trying to sweep the situation under the rug. What I personally found to be odd … and perhaps I’m wrong, but I thought it was odd that the State’s Attorney, Joe Riley was on the scene the night my brother was killed. So I don’t know if that is common practice for the attorney to appear on a crime scene, especially that’s involving police officers. I just thought that was very strange. It seems to me that a lot of individuals had their minds made up from that very night of what they were and weren’t going to do.
Taya Graham: Now, you pressed for reform after Anton’s death, including a new law called Anton’s Law that would have given families access to an officer’s record after he or she is involved in in custody death. What happened with that law?
LaToya Holley: We’re actually … the police unions are fighting against us. They’re battling with us as far as changing the MIPA. They are using the excuse that their police officers’ personal information, such as their addresses and so forth would be available to the public. There would be some expectation that I would see if that information was redacted, of course, that is not anything that I think that is ultimately terribly important. What we’re concerned with is other families being able to … and other citizens being able to obtain the information that they need to be able to access any reports against police officers as far as their abuse of power. I know there’s a term for it, excessive force of abuse.
So we definitely want those records to be available to the public. We feel very strongly that if Webster’s excessive force of abuse record had been made available, that that could have led possibly to him not being hired in the first place, which was validated when he lost his certification, when Maryland de-certified him, because that information was missing.
Taya Graham: Should they reopen an investigation into Anton’s death? What do you want to see happen? And what can actually happen?
LaToya Holley: We certainly would like to see a re-investigation into what happened to Anton, but we believe that a lot of information has been mishandled. It has not been properly provided to individuals that would need to see this information to make the decision to hopefully bring the officers involved to at least a grand jury hearing, so that all the facts could be laid out on the line and that the public can make a decision as to whether or not they should be charged. Of course, we stand by, we do believe that they should be charged, and we’re not going to give up hope that we could hopefully get something done and get these officers off the street.
Taya Graham: It’s worth noting that we reached out to the Maryland Attorney General, Brian Frosh to ask if Anton death warranted a new investigation, but their reply says much about where we are with police reform in this country. Because a spokesperson for the attorney General’s office told us they don’t have the legal authority to intervene in the case. That is the final decision on if and when to charge officers involved in Anton’s death remains with the prosecutor of the County where his death occurred. So we can see in Anton’s case much of the genesis for the movement calling, for the dismantlement of the country’s law enforcement industrial complex, a young man dies in circumstances that raises serious questions about the actions of the officers involved, but instead of investigating swiftly and providing answers to the family, the authorities drag their feet, refused to release body cam footage and withhold the findings of an autopsy.
And only when the media descends on Greensboro and the family mounts a concerted campaign seeking answers, does the government respond. And then their findings clear the officers of any wrongdoing and lead Anton and his supporters still seeking justice to this day. The point is, cases like Anton’s which have been forgotten are in part the reason we are witnessing protests across the country. What happened to him is why activists seek not just to reform policing, but in some sense, dismantle it. The rallying cry we hear on the streets of American cities is not just about George Floyd, but about the countless others who died while in police custody who have not received justice. And most revealing, how the system itself protected the officers from criminal liability for the actions which led to his death.
It’s worth noting there was in fact, a prosecution as a result of Anton’s case. Shortly after he died, the State Police Training Commission revealed that the chief of Greensboro police had withheld information regarding at least two dozen use of force complaints against officer Webster from his prior job in Delaware. The complaints were supposed to be submitted as part of his application to become a police officer in Maryland, but were illegally omitted. Police Chief Petyo pled guilty to one count of misconduct, which led to a suspended sentence and no jail time.
He has since resigned from his job in Greensboro and became a cop in Delaware. So we have the senseless death of a young man during a false arrest. We have the anguish of a family over the loss of a child, full of untapped potential loss forever. We have a community that’s still suffers from the consequences of a move to aggressive policing, and a town that will most likely have to pay a yet to be determined settlement as a result of the civil suit for which the community will all be required to pay.
What we have here is a true imbalance of justice that American policing has wrought. A life lost. A community is torn apart. A young man taken from this earth and no one fully held accountable. Activists say it’s the type of open wound that will not heal unless our leaders in Washington act. The type of psychological terror that has been wrought in the name of the badge that has permeated the landscape of our nation and refuses to release its grip on both our governance and our wallets. It’s the reason the calls to disband policing cannot be ignored.
But to truly give a sense of what is wrong with American policing, I will let one of Anton’s family members have the last word, his father, Anton Black Sr. on what they did to his son and how the pain still resonates to this day. It is his words that say the most about what ails us and how those problems might linger long after the protests are over. What we cannot allow is for any of us to forget his pain or his son. Let’s listen.
Anton Black Sr.: This is an injustice to my child, but we need to help because it could be an injustice to your child. This is happening too much. This boy was, like I said, they called him Pretty Ricky, but he was a good child. He’s going to college. He’s modeling. He’s doing things, they’re putting Greensboro on the map. He’s a favorite son. And they run him down and treated him like a runaway slave. They corner him and put him in a choke. They killed him. And yes, they lynched my son. I said it three or four times, they lynched him, except they don’t use the rope now, they use their arm.
Taya Graham: I want to thank my guest, LaToya Holley, for speaking with us about her brother’s tragic death today and her continued fight for justice. Thank you, Latoya.
LaToya Holley: Thank you so much. And thank you and Steve for continuing to keep this alive. You know what I mean? You guys keep writing and always circle back to Anton.
Taya Graham: I also want to thank my cohost and reporting partner, Stephen Janis for his invaluable work on this piece.
Stephen Janis: Taya, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Taya Graham: And of course, I have to thank friend of the show, Noli Dee for her support. Thank you, Noli Dee. And I want you watching to note that if you have evidence of police misconduct or brutality, please share it with us and we might be able to investigate. Please reach out to us. You can email us tips privately at par@therealnews.com or reach out to us at Police Accountability Report on Facebook or Instagram or Eyes on Police on Twitter. And of course, you can reach me directly at Tayas Baltimore on Twitter and Facebook.
And please like, share and comment. You know I read your comments and appreciate them. My name is Taya Graham. I’m the host of the Police Accountability Report. Please be safe out there.
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Steve Horn is a San Diego-based climate reporter and producer. He was also a reporter on a part-time basis for The Coast News—covering Escondido, San Marcos, and the San Diego North County region—from mid-2018 until early 2020.
Also a freelance investigative reporter, his work has appeared in The Guardian, Al Jazeera America, The Intercept, Vice News, Wisconsin Watch, and other publications. He worked from 2011-2018 for the climate news website DeSmog.com, a publication which investigates climate change disinformation and the fossil fuel industry influence campaigns.
His stories and research have received citation in a U.S. Senate report and mention in outlets such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek, Mexico’s La Jornada, and The Colbert Report.
In his free time, Steve is a competitive distance runner, with a personal best time in the marathon of 2:43:04 and a 4:43 mile. He also has served on the film screening committee for the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis and serves on the screening committee for the San Diego International Film Festival.