democracynow--2020-06-17--Headlines for June 17, 2020

Headlines for June 17, 2020

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on policing following more than three weeks of nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis .
The order calls for the creation of a national police misconduct database and to give federal grants to departments to improve training .
Trump resisted growing calls to back an outright ban on the use of police chokeholds .
Instead , the order calls on officers to only use them if they feel his or her life is endangered .
During an address at the White House surrounded by police officers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and sought to downplay the crisis .
President Donald Trump : “ Nobody is more opposed to the small number of bad police officers .
And you have them .
They are very tiny .
I use the word 'tiny . '
It ’ s a very small percentage .
But you have them.
” Civil rights leaders and legal advocates widely criticized Trump ’ s executive order .
The Rev .
Al Sharpton called it “ toothless and meaningless.
” Kristen Clarke of the Lawyers ’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Clarke : “ This order was incredibly anemic , in that it does not deal with racial profiling .
It does not impose a ban on chokeholds and neck holds .
It does not end qualified immunity for officers .
It does not strengthen the tools that we need to hold officers accountable and to make it possible to prosecute officers who use deadly or excessive force without basis.
” Protests against police brutality and racism are continuing across the country .

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order on policing following more than three weeks of nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The order calls for the creation of a national police misconduct database and to give federal grants to departments to improve training. Trump resisted growing calls to back an outright ban on the use of police chokeholds. Instead, the order calls on officers to only use them if they feel his or her life is endangered. During an address at the White House surrounded by police officers, Trump made no mention of systemic racism and sought to downplay the crisis.
President Donald Trump: “Nobody is more opposed to the small number of bad police officers. And you have them. They are very tiny. I use the word 'tiny.' It’s a very small percentage. But you have them.”
Civil rights leaders and legal advocates widely criticized Trump’s executive order. The Rev. Al Sharpton called it “toothless and meaningless.” Kristen Clarke of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law described it as “anemic.”
Kristen Clarke: “This order was incredibly anemic, in that it does not deal with racial profiling. It does not impose a ban on chokeholds and neck holds. It does not end qualified immunity for officers. It does not strengthen the tools that we need to hold officers accountable and to make it possible to prosecute officers who use deadly or excessive force without basis.”
Protests against police brutality and racism are continuing across the country.


democracynow--2020-06-18--"Movements Work": As Activists Occupy Seattle's Capitol Hill, City Bans Tear Gas, Expels Police Unio

"Movements Work": As Activists Occupy Seattle's Capitol Hill, City Bans Tear Gas, Expels Police Union

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh , as we turn to the fight to demilitarize and defund the police in Seattle , where the King County Labor Council has just voted to expel the Seattle police union .
And on Monday , Seattle ’ s City Council voted unanimously to ban police use of tear gas and chokeholds .
This comes after weeks of protests in which Seattle police sparked outrage for using pepper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on demonstrators and reporters .
Police have now abandoned Seattle ’ s Capitol Hill precinct , which has been taken over by activists who set up the CHAZ .
That ’ s the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone .
It ’ s now called the Capitol Hill Organized Protest , or the CHOP .
On Fox News Wednesday night , President Trump responded by calling for a crackdown on Seattle .
AMY GOODMAN : “ We will go in there , ” Trump says .
And previously he ’ s talked about sending in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go to Seattle to speak with the socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant , who ’ s calling for the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone to remain permanently in community control .
Welcome back to Democracy Now !
It ’ s great to have you with us .
First , can you respond to President Trump threatening to call in the troops ?
KSHAMA SAWANT : It ’ s absolutely horrific , the threats that Donald Trump is making to call in the troops , the military , on Seattle .
And it ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that he ’ s doing that , because the successes of the peaceful protest movement in Seattle , and hopefully followed by other cities , is threatening to the right-wing and reactionary regime of Donald Trump .
And it also shows that Donald Trump is a coward , and movements work .
And so , I think this is an example of how , when we build protest movements , when we build social movements , in unity within the working class , we can win , and we can actually become a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which absolutely is the job of our movements .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : And , Kshama , explain .
You proposed the legislation to have tear gas and chokeholds banned in Seattle .
What did it take to do that ?
And what kind of response have you received ?
KSHAMA SAWANT : Absolutely .
And , you know , this is what ’ s happened .
This Monday is absolutely historic .
Our movement was able to force a unanimous vote on the Seattle City Council , which is dominated by the Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first city in the nation to win a comprehensive ban on the use and purchase of chemical weapons and other barbaric weapons used against protest movements , so tear gas , as you mentioned , mace and pepper spray , rubber bullets , flashbang grenades , water cannons , ultrasonic weapons .
I mean , these are just horrific weapons that are being deployed against peaceful movements .
And as you said , Nermeen , we also won a ban against the police use of chokeholds .
And what it took to win @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the ground , because despite all the co-opting of the vocabulary of the movement by the Democratic Party establishment saying , “ Black Lives Matter , ” “ We want to dismantle and reimagine the police ” — despite all of that , there was a shameful attempt by the Democratic establishment to drive a truck-sized amendment into the bill , basically gutting the bill .
And we were able to force them to back down because of the ferocity of the movement , where we said , “ Absolutely not .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do .
In fact , you need to pass this strong ban , make Seattle the first city , have other cities follow , make this a national trend , and defund the police by at least 50 % .
” AMY GOODMAN : Police union , Kshama Sawant ?
What have you done about the police union in Seattle ?
KSHAMA SAWANT : That ’ s a very important thing , Amy .
I ’ m so glad you brought this up .
This shows the momentum that the movement is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among the working class to fight unitedly against racism and police violence .
So , we won these important , historic bans against chemical weapons and chokeholds on Monday .
And then , last night , on Wednesday night — and I speak as a rank-and-file member of the teachers ’ union myself — the Martin Luther King County Labor Council , the rank-and-file and progressive unions won a vote to expel Seattle ’ s police from the Labor Council by saying that there is no place for a racist , anti-poor , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , because the labor movement itself was built on the understanding that an injury to one is an injury to all .
You can not build a working-class resistance against capitalism ’ s exploitation unless the working class comes together against all forms of oppression , like racism and sexual violence .
And that is the only basis on which we can all unite against economic inequality , as well .
And I think that ’ s why these demands have to also be connected to — ultimately , really , in addition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least 50 % , we also need to fight for an independently elected community oversight board with full powers over the police , including hiring , firing and subpoena powers , because not a single police officer responsible for the murders of Black and Brown people at the hands of the police has been held accountable , because they are serving at the behest — the police are serving at the behest of the Democratic establishment , and the Democratic establishment itself is complicit in these crimes .
And that ’ s why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not a coincidence that alongside the removing of the Seattle police from the Labor Council , there ’ s also a demand within the rank and file in the labor movement , and within the Democratic Party , actually , to demand that Democratic establishment Mayor Durkan resign .
And this really calls for the labor movement to break from the Democratic establishment itself and build independent political parties for the working class .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Well , Kshama , you ’ re also calling for the imposition of a tax on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ re asking for and how you think that ’ s connected to these protests and support for Black Lives Matter ?
KSHAMA SAWANT : I think that ’ s very important .
I mean , as Black community members , as the movement itself , that has broken out in the wake of George Floyd ’ s brutal murder in Minneapolis , the movement is saying , you know , the police have the knee on the neck of the Black community , but the system itself has its knee on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And then , furthermore , vast majorities of marginalized communities and the working class , we face police violence , lack of affordable housing .
If you look at the epidemic of evictions , economic evictions because of skyrocketing rents in Seattle and in the historically Black neighborhood that we live — that I live in right now , the community has been denuded of its Black population because of skyrocketing rent .
And so , it is crucial that alongside defunding the police by at least 50 % , the movement is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a very strong Amazon tax — that is , tax on big businesses to the tune of at least $ 500 million every year , so that we can fund a massive expansion of publicly owned , permanently affordable social housing and public sector unionized jobs , because that will actually — that is putting real dollars on the table to address racist gentrification and racism in our city .
And just to give you a sense of how much solidarity there is , in the 15 days of the protests that have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have collected 15,000 signatures for the tax Amazon ballot initiative , because people are making the link between the need to fight police violence — AMY GOODMAN : Kshama Sawant , we only have 10 seconds , and we wanted to end with your call to keep the CHAZ permanently in community control .
Does that mean the police precinct won ’ t return ?
And what does this mean ?
Fifteen seconds .
KSHAMA SAWANT : Well , I think the police and the establishment will make every attempt to bring the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the East Precinct be taken permanently into community control and be converted to socially constructive purposes , not for the police to oppress people .
AMY GOODMAN : We want to thank you so much for being with us , Kshama Sawant , socialist city councilmember in Seattle .
And that does it for our broadcast .
Democracy Now !
's general manager is Julie Crosby .
Democracy Now !
is produced with Renée Feltz , Mike Burke , Deena Guzder , Libby Rainey , Carla Wills , Tami Woronoff , Charina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , John Hamilton , Robby Karran , Hany Massoud .
I 'm Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .
Stay safe .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh, as we turn to the fight to demilitarize and defund the police in Seattle, where the King County Labor Council has just voted to expel the Seattle police union. And on Monday, Seattle’s City Council voted unanimously to ban police use of tear gas and chokeholds. This comes after weeks of protests in which Seattle police sparked outrage for using pepper spray, tear gas, flashbang grenades on demonstrators and reporters.
Police have now abandoned Seattle’s Capitol Hill precinct, which has been taken over by activists who set up the CHAZ. That’s the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. It’s now called the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or the CHOP. On Fox News Wednesday night, President Trump responded by calling for a crackdown on Seattle.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: These people that are taking over this incredible piece of real estate are obviously very good at real estate, maybe better than I was, because they paid nothing. They just took it over. And the police are somehow told not to be there. I’m sure they’d do a good job, if they were told to do a good job. I assume they are properly trained. But we would go in there, if they want us in, and we will take it back very quickly. It should never be allowed to fester like it’s festering right now.
AMY GOODMAN: “We will go in there,” Trump says. And previously he’s talked about sending in the military.
For more, we go to Seattle to speak with the socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, who’s calling for the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone to remain permanently in community control.
Welcome back to Democracy Now! It’s great to have you with us. First, can you respond to President Trump threatening to call in the troops?
KSHAMA SAWANT: It’s absolutely horrific, the threats that Donald Trump is making to call in the troops, the military, on Seattle. And it’s no surprise to me, though, that he’s doing that, because the successes of the peaceful protest movement in Seattle, and hopefully followed by other cities, is threatening to the right-wing and reactionary regime of Donald Trump. And it also shows that Donald Trump is a coward, and movements work. And so, I think this is an example of how, when we build protest movements, when we build social movements, in unity within the working class, we can win, and we can actually become a real threat to the right wing, which absolutely is the job of our movements.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Kshama, explain. You proposed the legislation to have tear gas and chokeholds banned in Seattle. What did it take to do that? And what kind of response have you received?
KSHAMA SAWANT: Absolutely. And, you know, this is what’s happened. This Monday is absolutely historic. Our movement was able to force a unanimous vote on the Seattle City Council, which is dominated by the Democratic Party establishment, to make Seattle the first city in the nation to win a comprehensive ban on the use and purchase of chemical weapons and other barbaric weapons used against protest movements, so tear gas, as you mentioned, mace and pepper spray, rubber bullets, flashbang grenades, water cannons, ultrasonic weapons. I mean, these are just horrific weapons that are being deployed against peaceful movements. And as you said, Nermeen, we also won a ban against the police use of chokeholds.
And what it took to win was an absolutely determined and united movement on the ground, because despite all the co-opting of the vocabulary of the movement by the Democratic Party establishment saying, “Black Lives Matter,” “We want to dismantle and reimagine the police” — despite all of that, there was a shameful attempt by the Democratic establishment to drive a truck-sized amendment into the bill, basically gutting the bill. And we were able to force them to back down because of the ferocity of the movement, where we said, “Absolutely not. This is the bare minimum you need to do. In fact, you need to pass this strong ban, make Seattle the first city, have other cities follow, make this a national trend, and defund the police by at least 50%.”
AMY GOODMAN: Police union, Kshama Sawant? What have you done about the police union in Seattle?
KSHAMA SAWANT: That’s a very important thing, Amy. I’m so glad you brought this up. This shows the momentum that the movement is having and the tremendous solidarity there is among the working class to fight unitedly against racism and police violence.
So, we won these important, historic bans against chemical weapons and chokeholds on Monday. And then, last night, on Wednesday night — and I speak as a rank-and-file member of the teachers’ union myself — the Martin Luther King County Labor Council, the rank-and-file and progressive unions won a vote to expel Seattle’s police from the Labor Council by saying that there is no place for a racist, anti-poor, anti-homeless police department in the Labor Council, because the labor movement itself was built on the understanding that an injury to one is an injury to all. You cannot build a working-class resistance against capitalism’s exploitation unless the working class comes together against all forms of oppression, like racism and sexual violence. And that is the only basis on which we can all unite against economic inequality, as well.
And I think that’s why these demands have to also be connected to — ultimately, really, in addition to winning defunding the police by at least 50%, we also need to fight for an independently elected community oversight board with full powers over the police, including hiring, firing and subpoena powers, because not a single police officer responsible for the murders of Black and Brown people at the hands of the police has been held accountable, because they are serving at the behest — the police are serving at the behest of the Democratic establishment, and the Democratic establishment itself is complicit in these crimes. And that’s why, you know, it’s not a coincidence that alongside the removing of the Seattle police from the Labor Council, there’s also a demand within the rank and file in the labor movement, and within the Democratic Party, actually, to demand that Democratic establishment Mayor Durkan resign. And this really calls for the labor movement to break from the Democratic establishment itself and build independent political parties for the working class.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Kshama, you’re also calling for the imposition of a tax on Amazon. Could you talk about what you’re asking for and how you think that’s connected to these protests and support for Black Lives Matter?
KSHAMA SAWANT: I think that’s very important. I mean, as Black community members, as the movement itself, that has broken out in the wake of George Floyd’s brutal murder in Minneapolis, the movement is saying, you know, the police have the knee on the neck of the Black community, but the system itself has its knee on the neck of the Black community. And then, furthermore, vast majorities of marginalized communities and the working class, we face police violence, lack of affordable housing. If you look at the epidemic of evictions, economic evictions because of skyrocketing rents in Seattle and in the historically Black neighborhood that we live — that I live in right now, the community has been denuded of its Black population because of skyrocketing rent.
And so, it is crucial that alongside defunding the police by at least 50%, the movement is also demanding that the City Council pass a very strong Amazon tax — that is, tax on big businesses to the tune of at least $500 million every year, so that we can fund a massive expansion of publicly owned, permanently affordable social housing and public sector unionized jobs, because that will actually — that is putting real dollars on the table to address racist gentrification and racism in our city.
And just to give you a sense of how much solidarity there is, in the 15 days of the protests that have broken out in the city, we have collected 15,000 signatures for the tax Amazon ballot initiative, because people are making the link between the need to fight police violence —
AMY GOODMAN: Kshama Sawant, we only have 10 seconds, and we wanted to end with your call to keep the CHAZ permanently in community control. Does that mean the police precinct won’t return? And what does this mean? Fifteen seconds.
KSHAMA SAWANT: Well, I think the police and the establishment will make every attempt to bring the police back. But we are demanding that the East Precinct be taken permanently into community control and be converted to socially constructive purposes, not for the police to oppress people.
AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you so much for being with us, Kshama Sawant, socialist city councilmember in Seattle.
And that does it for our broadcast. Democracy Now!'s general manager is Julie Crosby. Democracy Now! is produced with Renée Feltz, Mike Burke, Deena Guzder, Libby Rainey, Carla Wills, Tami Woronoff, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff, Tey-Marie Astudillo, John Hamilton, Robby Karran, Hany Massoud. I'm Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. Stay safe.


democracynow--2020-06-18--"Tear Gas Is a Weapon": Amnesty Report Reveals Police Use of Tear Gas Fuels Rights Abuses Worldwide

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org , The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .
At protests against police brutality and racism in recent weeks , nearly a hundred law enforcement agencies used tear gas .
That ’ s according to a new analysis by The New York Times .
This comes as Amnesty International has published a new report called “ Tear Gas : An Investigation , ” that exposes how the global trade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights violations against peaceful protesters on a global scale .
They looked at 80 events in 22 countries and territories and found the misuse of tear gas by security forces worldwide has resulted in severe injury and death .
For more , we ’ re joined by Brian Castner , Amnesty International ’ s senior crisis adviser on arms and military operations .
Welcome to Democracy Now !
, Brian .
If you could lay out for us the global use of tear gas ?
And then we ’ ll talk about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I mean , I think we ’ ve seen with the protests around the world , especially we saw beginning in the middle of and end of last year , that there were protests all over the world — in Iraq , in Hong Kong and in Latin America — and in many of those cases , tear gas were used by police .
And what we saw is just this broad trend , not just that it ’ s being used , but that it ’ s being misused , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And unfortunately , many of the types of incidents , some of the worst misuse that we ’ ve seen overseas , we ’ re now seeing in the United States , as well .
And that ’ s specifically two things .
One is using tear gas in confined spaces , where people are trapped , where they can ’ t get away from the tear gas .
We saw this in Hong Kong , of course , but we ’ ve also seen it in Seattle , and we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terrible incident where people were trapped up against a highway embankment and couldn ’ t get over a fence .
And then , we ’ ve also seen where tear gas grenades are fired directly at people , are fired directly at their heads .
Now , in Iraq , in Baghdad last year , this killed dozens of people .
In the U.S. , unfortunately , we ’ ve seen that , as well .
Now , it hasn ’ t killed anyone , but that ’ s not because of how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s because the products are different .
In Iraq , they were using a much heavier grenade .
But around the country , I ’ ve spent the last couple weeks looking at hundreds of videos of incidents all over , and it ’ s all over the country .
It ’ s not just New York , Seattle , Philadelphia .
It ’ s Murfreesboro , Tennessee , and Iowa City , Iowa , and Albuquerque .
And everywhere we look , police are just very quick to use tear gas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and can cause real injuries .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Well , Brian , you mentioned the use of tear gas against protesters in Iraq and in Hong Kong .
And as you ’ ve pointed out , tear gas there has been imported from Serbia or Iran , in those particular instances , whereas here in the U.S. , most of the tear gas that ’ s been used against protesters is U.S.-made .
Could you talk about the significance of that , and what obstacles that presents for banning its use in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that ’ s a really good point .
So , in Iraq , in Baghdad , it was Serbian and Iranian grenades that were used .
In Hong Kong , it was mostly American weapons , until eventually mainland Chinese weapons were used .
In the United States , there ’ s a couple major manufacturers of tear gas .
They sell domestically .
These are largely privately held companies .
They don ’ t have shareholders to report to .
They don ’ t make public the exact ingredients in their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And so there ’ s a real challenge of transparency .
There is no standard for what goes into every one of these products , either a dosage rate of that CS gas itself , the amount of the other chemicals that go into it that help it burn , or silicon , which makes it sticky in the atmosphere .
And I think it ’ s telling that many of these companies are privately held .
I think they realize , on a certain level , you know , that their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so there have to be layers of nonreporting , basically , to make it palpable .
And one of the largest manufacturers in the United States , Safariland , just announced that they were actually divesting themselves of the tear gas business .
And this is perhaps a trend that we might see , is that their — I mean , as we see across the country of just how it ’ s being misused , companies don ’ t want to be involved in their own product .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as you ’ ve pointed out , why we don ’ t know what exactly tear gas contains is that there are no set international tear gas trade rules .
Now , why is that ?
And is that common with weapons that are deployed by police forces or security forces ?
And has the use of tear gas been banned outright in any country ?
BRIAN CASTNER : Yeah , those are good questions .
I mean , tear gas is a weapon .
It ’ s not — let ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a weapon that falls through a lot of the international regulatory cracks .
It ’ s covered by the Chemical Weapons Convention , but only for use in wartime , and there ’ s very vague language which allows its use in domestic policing , which , for many people , it strikes them as odd : If it ’ s not OK for use on the battlefield , why would it be OK for police to use against its own citizens ?
And so , there ’ s just a real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each of these products contains , where it ’ s made in various countries , who ’ s trading it to whom , who ’ s buying it , in what quantities , etc .
I should say that there is no rule that police have to use tear gas .
It ’ s not an absolutely essential weapon .
And some countries , like the United Kingdom and Germany , have effectively banned its use in policing , because they realize that there are now other tools and there ’ s other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and engage crowds and make sure that everybody ’ s safe .
AMY GOODMAN : And especially horrifying now as it ’ s being used during this time of the pandemic in this country and around the world , which so deeply affects the lungs .
But before we go , Brian , we wanted to ask you about a piece you wrote in The New York Times , the use of paintball guns — no , not by kids — this isn ’ t a game — but by the police , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Yeah .
So , I assisted on a piece for another journalist at The New York Times on that .
And police have started to use — effectively , they are — their weapons are very similar to paintball guns , except they ’ re called pepper balls , is what ’ s actually fired .
And instead of having a little bit of paint inside , it ’ s either got pepper spray or tear gas .
And on one level , this actually could be an advancement for safety , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and there ’ s actually less pepper spray or tear gas .
Unfortunately , the way we ’ ve actually seen it being used across the country the last couple weeks is that instead of speaking to citizens , to protesters , police tend to use or seem to use , in many cases , the pepper balls as a form of communication .
Instead of directing people where to go , they shoot at them , or they shoot at the ground near them , to try to get them to move @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are a use of force like any other use of force .
If you wouldn ’ t just hit someone instead of speaking to them , you shouldn ’ t be firing pepper balls at them , either .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , we ’ re going to continue to follow this story , which is absolutely critical .
Brian Castner , Amnesty International ’ s senior crisis adviser on arms and military operations , former Air Force officer who served three tours of duty in the Middle East , two of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an explosive ordnance disposal unit .
When we come back , we go to Seattle , which has just banned tear gas .
And we ’ re going to talk about Trump ’ s threats to bring in the U.S. military .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : “ I Won ’ t Be Silent ” by Stephan Said & The Clarion .
As they premiere on Democracy Now !
, their new video also debuts today and supports Black Futures Lab and features video and images from protests around the country @

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. At protests against police brutality and racism in recent weeks, nearly a hundred law enforcement agencies used tear gas. That’s according to a new analysis by The New York Times.
This comes as Amnesty International has published a new report called “Tear Gas: An Investigation,” that exposes how the global trade of tear gas is fueling police human rights violations against peaceful protesters on a global scale. They looked at 80 events in 22 countries and territories and found the misuse of tear gas by security forces worldwide has resulted in severe injury and death.
For more, we’re joined by Brian Castner, Amnesty International’s senior crisis adviser on arms and military operations.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Brian. If you could lay out for us the global use of tear gas? And then we’ll talk about the United States.
BRIAN CASTNER: Sure. I mean, I think we’ve seen with the protests around the world, especially we saw beginning in the middle of and end of last year, that there were protests all over the world — in Iraq, in Hong Kong and in Latin America — and in many of those cases, tear gas were used by police. And what we saw is just this broad trend, not just that it’s being used, but that it’s being misused, and how quickly it’s being used. And unfortunately, many of the types of incidents, some of the worst misuse that we’ve seen overseas, we’re now seeing in the United States, as well.
And that’s specifically two things. One is using tear gas in confined spaces, where people are trapped, where they can’t get away from the tear gas. We saw this in Hong Kong, of course, but we’ve also seen it in Seattle, and we’ve seen it in Philadelphia in a terrible incident where people were trapped up against a highway embankment and couldn’t get over a fence.
And then, we’ve also seen where tear gas grenades are fired directly at people, are fired directly at their heads. Now, in Iraq, in Baghdad last year, this killed dozens of people. In the U.S., unfortunately, we’ve seen that, as well. Now, it hasn’t killed anyone, but that’s not because of how it’s being misused. It’s because the products are different. In Iraq, they were using a much heavier grenade.
But around the country, I’ve spent the last couple weeks looking at hundreds of videos of incidents all over, and it’s all over the country. It’s not just New York, Seattle, Philadelphia. It’s Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Iowa City, Iowa, and Albuquerque. And everywhere we look, police are just very quick to use tear gas, which is not a safe product and can cause real injuries.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Brian, you mentioned the use of tear gas against protesters in Iraq and in Hong Kong. And as you’ve pointed out, tear gas there has been imported from Serbia or Iran, in those particular instances, whereas here in the U.S., most of the tear gas that’s been used against protesters is U.S.-made. Could you talk about the significance of that, and what obstacles that presents for banning its use in the U.S.?
BRIAN CASTNER: Yeah, that’s a really good point. So, in Iraq, in Baghdad, it was Serbian and Iranian grenades that were used. In Hong Kong, it was mostly American weapons, until eventually mainland Chinese weapons were used.
In the United States, there’s a couple major manufacturers of tear gas. They sell domestically. These are largely privately held companies. They don’t have shareholders to report to. They don’t make public the exact ingredients in their tear gas grenades, in many cases. And so there’s a real challenge of transparency. There is no standard for what goes into every one of these products, either a dosage rate of that CS gas itself, the amount of the other chemicals that go into it that help it burn, or silicon, which makes it sticky in the atmosphere.
And I think it’s telling that many of these companies are privately held. I think they realize, on a certain level, you know, that their products really do harm people. And so there have to be layers of nonreporting, basically, to make it palpable. And one of the largest manufacturers in the United States, Safariland, just announced that they were actually divesting themselves of the tear gas business. And this is perhaps a trend that we might see, is that their — I mean, as we see across the country of just how it’s being misused, companies don’t want to be involved in their own product.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Brian, one of the problems, as you’ve pointed out, why we don’t know what exactly tear gas contains is that there are no set international tear gas trade rules. Now, why is that? And is that common with weapons that are deployed by police forces or security forces? And has the use of tear gas been banned outright in any country?
BRIAN CASTNER: Yeah, those are good questions. I mean, tear gas is a weapon. It’s not — let’s not sugarcoat that. But it is a weapon that falls through a lot of the international regulatory cracks. It’s covered by the Chemical Weapons Convention, but only for use in wartime, and there’s very vague language which allows its use in domestic policing, which, for many people, it strikes them as odd: If it’s not OK for use on the battlefield, why would it be OK for police to use against its own citizens? And so, there’s just a real lack of transparency, both in what each of these products contains, where it’s made in various countries, who’s trading it to whom, who’s buying it, in what quantities, etc.
I should say that there is no rule that police have to use tear gas. It’s not an absolutely essential weapon. And some countries, like the United Kingdom and Germany, have effectively banned its use in policing, because they realize that there are now other tools and there’s other better ways for police to engage protesters and engage crowds and make sure that everybody’s safe.
AMY GOODMAN: And especially horrifying now as it’s being used during this time of the pandemic in this country and around the world, which so deeply affects the lungs. But before we go, Brian, we wanted to ask you about a piece you wrote in The New York Times, the use of paintball guns — no, not by kids — this isn’t a game — but by the police, and what it means.
BRIAN CASTNER: Yeah. So, I assisted on a piece for another journalist at The New York Times on that. And police have started to use — effectively, they are — their weapons are very similar to paintball guns, except they’re called pepper balls, is what’s actually fired. And instead of having a little bit of paint inside, it’s either got pepper spray or tear gas. And on one level, this actually could be an advancement for safety, because it hits with less force, and there’s actually less pepper spray or tear gas.
Unfortunately, the way we’ve actually seen it being used across the country the last couple weeks is that instead of speaking to citizens, to protesters, police tend to use or seem to use, in many cases, the pepper balls as a form of communication. Instead of directing people where to go, they shoot at them, or they shoot at the ground near them, to try to get them to move in a certain way. Pepper balls are a use of force like any other use of force. If you wouldn’t just hit someone instead of speaking to them, you shouldn’t be firing pepper balls at them, either.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’re going to continue to follow this story, which is absolutely critical. Brian Castner, Amnesty International’s senior crisis adviser on arms and military operations, former Air Force officer who served three tours of duty in the Middle East, two of them in Iraq as the head of an explosive ordnance disposal unit.
When we come back, we go to Seattle, which has just banned tear gas. And we’re going to talk about Trump’s threats to bring in the U.S. military. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “I Won’t Be Silent” by Stephan Said & The Clarion. As they premiere on Democracy Now!, their new video also debuts today and supports Black Futures Lab and features video and images from protests around the country.


democracynow--2020-06-18--Rashad Robinson on Recent Spike in Hanging Deaths, the Cancellation of "Cops" & Boycotting Facebook

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : We ’ re talking to Rashad Robinson .
He is head of Color of Change , which has led a campaign to cancel the TV program Cops .
And it has happened .
After 33 years , the reality TV show has been canceled .
AMY GOODMAN : So , Rashad Robinson , in 2013 , Color of Change launched a campaign to cancel Cops .
The show also led to the A & E channel ’ s show Live PD , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after widespread protests against police abuse and racism .
Live PD was filming a year ago , when Javier Ambler died after police in Austin , Texas , repeatedly tased him during a traffic stop , while Ambler told the officers , “ I have congestive heart failure , ” “ I am not resisting , ” “ I can ’ t breathe.
” Ambler was pulled over after he allegedly failed to dim his headlights to oncoming traffic .
So , Live PD was right there filming , an entertainment show .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ And now they say it was erased .
So that ’ s two stories here : Cops canceled and Live PD canceled .
RASHAD ROBINSON : Yeah .
I mean , so both of these were just shows that we pressed and pushed on .
In 2013 , we got the show canceled from Fox , only to a couple of months later it just sort of end up in syndication .
And if anyone knows about sort of media campaigns , it ’ s a little tougher to deal with syndication deals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ them sort of removed .
But getting it off of primetime on Fox was important .
You know , the thing about these shows is that they call themselves reality programming , but they are only from the vision of the police officers .
And Live PD is a perfect example of how the reality would have been — right ?
A real reality show would have shown all the ways in which those police officers violated their responsibility .
There would have still been footage .
But these shows have served as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I remember the conversation we had with Fox back in 2013 .
And they sort of talked to us and said , “ Well , you know , we could diversify some of the images that we are showing.
” And I sort of instantly thought — I was like , “ If you ’ re telling us that you ’ re going to show more poor white people , and that ’ s supposed to make us happy as a racial justice organization , then you picked the wrong racial justice organization @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear , unless you ’ re going to show cops — unless , by diversifying , you ’ re going to show cops on Capitol Hill or Wall Street or some places where crime happens that really impacts us on a deep , structural level , then I ’ m not really interested in you going into poor communities that have been targeted by the 'war on drugs , ' by austerity , by an unfair tax structure , and bring cameras and show people at their very worst for our own entertainment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anything to actually build the type of structures and invest in those communities afterwards.
” And so , these shows that present one side only as the hero and the other side only as the villain , for our entertainment and for corporate profits , have to go .
And we ’ re happy that they have — that these networks have finally woken up .
A & E was a network that we have been pushing around this show for a while .
Cops is finally off the air .
Netflix has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has to go , as well .
And this is part of a larger set of work that we ’ re doing at Color of Change .
It ’ s not all about canceling , right ?
We recognize that people want to be entertained , and there ’ s all sorts of ways in which the public actually needs to have more stories about how police actually do operate .
Let ’ s actually tell the full story of how our communities are treated and the narratives that hurt us .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full report on the 22 crime procedural shows , the sort of narrative dramas , the Law & Orders and SVUs and Chicago PDs — these shows that have so much diversity on air but all-white writers ’ rooms ; these shows that — where race exists in their world , but racism seems not to exist ; where they have more Black judges on those shows than ever existed in the real world , but those judges sort of act as symbolic stand-ins for white writers to send messages of justice through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ symbols but actually don ’ t have back stories .
And so , all of this is part of a recognition that as much as we are working to change the written rules of policy of how we are treated and how criminal justice is delivered in our community and how policing happens , we have to change those unwritten rules of culture in all of those narratives , because , as I said before , while violent crime has gone down the last 20 years , according to Pew Research — RASHAD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s going up .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Rashad , I ’ m so sorry to interrupt you .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Rashad , I ’ m so sorry to interrupt you .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : We just have a minute left , and we do want to — NERMEEN SHAIKH : — talk about the issue of corporate co-optation .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : In particular , now there ’ s a campaign asking that advertisers boycott Facebook .
You have raised concerns especially about BlackRock .
Could you talk about your concerns about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Black Lives Matter protests ?
Go ahead .
RASHAD ROBINSON : Well , yeah .
I mean , these companies are saying Black lives matter , but all their policies and practices make it clear that they don ’ t actually think Black lives do matter .
We ’ ve worked and pushed Facebook for the last several years to enact policies around content moderation , around lying , around all the ways of harassment impacts our communities .
Facebook has 2.3 billion users .
That ’ s more followers than Christianity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ person who operates a public square .
BlackRock has so many sort of connections to law enforcement in terms of sort of their investments and uses its resources in ways that actually keep the hands on the scale of corporate power , that really prevent Black people from being able to grow our communities in the ways that we should .
These corporations and so many others have to do more than simply say Black lives matter .
They have to actually change their policies and practices , if they want to be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And we ’ re not going to accept presence in this moment , visibility , shout-outs from the stage .
The only thing that we ’ re going to truly accept is a changing of the rules that have far too often held us back and benefited so few people .
AMY GOODMAN : We want to thank you so much , Rashad Robinson , for joining us .
AMY GOODMAN : President of Color of Change .
This is Democracy Now !
, democracynow.org .
When we come back , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and what ’ s happening in Seattle .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Rashad Robinson. He is head of Color of Change, which has led a campaign to cancel the TV program Cops. And it has happened. After 33 years, the reality TV show has been canceled.
INNER CIRCLE: [singing] Bad boys, Whatcha want, whatcha want, Whatcha gonna do, When Sheriff John Brown come for you?
POLICE OFFICER: Keep your hands on the car. I’m doing my job.
AMY GOODMAN: So, Rashad Robinson, in 2013, Color of Change launched a campaign to cancel Cops. The show also led to the A&E channel’s show Live PD, which has also been canceled now, after widespread protests against police abuse and racism.
Live PD was filming a year ago, when Javier Ambler died after police in Austin, Texas, repeatedly tased him during a traffic stop, while Ambler told the officers, “I have congestive heart failure,” “I am not resisting,” “I can’t breathe.” Ambler was pulled over after he allegedly failed to dim his headlights to oncoming traffic. So, Live PD was right there filming, an entertainment show. The footage was never publicly released. And now they say it was erased. So that’s two stories here: Cops canceled and Live PD canceled.
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yeah. I mean, so both of these were just shows that we pressed and pushed on. In 2013, we got the show canceled from Fox, only to a couple of months later it just sort of end up in syndication. And if anyone knows about sort of media campaigns, it’s a little tougher to deal with syndication deals and track them and try to get them sort of removed. But getting it off of primetime on Fox was important.
You know, the thing about these shows is that they call themselves reality programming, but they are only from the vision of the police officers. And Live PD is a perfect example of how the reality would have been — right? A real reality show would have shown all the ways in which those police officers violated their responsibility. There would have still been footage. But these shows have served as a PR arm for law enforcement.
I remember the conversation we had with Fox back in 2013. And they sort of talked to us and said, “Well, you know, we could diversify some of the images that we are showing.” And I sort of instantly thought — I was like, “If you’re telling us that you’re going to show more poor white people, and that’s supposed to make us happy as a racial justice organization, then you picked the wrong racial justice organization, because, let me be very clear, unless you’re going to show cops — unless, by diversifying, you’re going to show cops on Capitol Hill or Wall Street or some places where crime happens that really impacts us on a deep, structural level, then I’m not really interested in you going into poor communities that have been targeted by the 'war on drugs,' by austerity, by an unfair tax structure, and bring cameras and show people at their very worst for our own entertainment, while we don’t do anything to actually build the type of structures and invest in those communities afterwards.”
And so, these shows that present one side only as the hero and the other side only as the villain, for our entertainment and for corporate profits, have to go. And we’re happy that they have — that these networks have finally woken up. A&E was a network that we have been pushing around this show for a while. Cops is finally off the air. Netflix has this show about border patrols that actually has to go, as well.
And this is part of a larger set of work that we’re doing at Color of Change. It’s not all about canceling, right? We recognize that people want to be entertained, and there’s all sorts of ways in which the public actually needs to have more stories about how police actually do operate. Let’s actually tell the full story of how our communities are treated and the narratives that hurt us.
But at ChangeHollywood.org, we actually did a full report on the 22 crime procedural shows, the sort of narrative dramas, the Law & Orders and SVUs and Chicago PDs — these shows that have so much diversity on air but all-white writers’ rooms; these shows that — where race exists in their world, but racism seems not to exist; where they have more Black judges on those shows than ever existed in the real world, but those judges sort of act as symbolic stand-ins for white writers to send messages of justice through elderly, stately Black people who are symbols but actually don’t have back stories.
And so, all of this is part of a recognition that as much as we are working to change the written rules of policy of how we are treated and how criminal justice is delivered in our community and how policing happens, we have to change those unwritten rules of culture in all of those narratives, because, as I said before, while violent crime has gone down the last 20 years, according to Pew Research —
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Rashad Robinson
RASHAD ROBINSON: — Americans believe it’s going up.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Rashad, I’m so sorry to interrupt you.
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yeah.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Rashad, I’m so sorry to interrupt you.
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yeah.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: We just have a minute left, and we do want to —
RASHAD ROBINSON: Sure.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: — talk about the issue of corporate co-optation.
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yeah.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: In particular, now there’s a campaign asking that advertisers boycott Facebook. You have raised concerns especially about BlackRock. Could you talk about your concerns about these corporations coming out ostensibly in support of Black Lives Matter protests? Go ahead.
RASHAD ROBINSON: Well, yeah. I mean, these companies are saying Black lives matter, but all their policies and practices make it clear that they don’t actually think Black lives do matter. We’ve worked and pushed Facebook for the last several years to enact policies around content moderation, around lying, around all the ways of harassment impacts our communities.
Facebook has 2.3 billion users. That’s more followers than Christianity. And Mark Zuckerberg is a private person who operates a public square. BlackRock has so many sort of connections to law enforcement in terms of sort of their investments and uses its resources in ways that actually keep the hands on the scale of corporate power, that really prevent Black people from being able to grow our communities in the ways that we should.
These corporations and so many others have to do more than simply say Black lives matter. They have to actually change their policies and practices, if they want to be on the right side of history here. And we’re not going to accept presence in this moment, visibility, shout-outs from the stage. The only thing that we’re going to truly accept is a changing of the rules that have far too often held us back and benefited so few people.
AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you so much, Rashad Robinson, for joining us.
RASHAD ROBINSON: Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: President of Color of Change. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. When we come back, the use of tear gas around the world and what’s happening in Seattle. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-06-18--Murder Charge for Atlanta Cop Who Shot & Killed Rayshard Brooks Shows the "Power of a Movement"

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , we ’ re going to go right away to Atlanta , where prosecutors have charged former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe with 11 counts , including felony murder , for the shooting death of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks , who he shot twice in the back outside a Wendy ’ s restaurant June 12th .
This is Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announcing the charges Wednesday .
AMY GOODMAN : Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard went on to say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Devin Brosnan , will be charged with aggravated assault .
AMY GOODMAN : On Wednesday , Howard also revealed a photo of Garrett Rolfe kicking Brooks as he lay dying on the ground , saying both officers failed to give Brooks any medical attention for more than two minutes .
AMY GOODMAN : This comes as a number of Atlanta police officers staged a “ sick-out ” Wednesday night to protest the filing of criminal charges .
The Guardian reports officer Garrett Rolfe was previously accused of covering up a 2015 police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rolfe and the other officers reportedly opened fire on a Black man named Jackie Jermaine Harris while chasing him for driving a stolen truck .
The officers hit Harris once , puncturing his lung , but never reported the shooting .
The judge involved called the case a “ disaster ” and “ the wildest case I ’ ve seen in my 34 years here , ” she said .
Meanwhile , new video has emerged of Rayshard Brooks speaking in his own words about his struggles with the criminal justice system .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ prison , he says , left him deep in debt and struggling to pay court fees and restitution — even as employers turned him away due to his criminal record .
Brooks spoke in February with the group Reconnect .
AMY GOODMAN : For more on the charges against the two police officers for the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks , and much more , we ’ re joined by Rashad Robinson , president of Color of Change .
Welcome back to Democracy Now !
, Rashad .
So , let ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officer , who shot Brooks in the back twice , killing him , faces the death penalty .
And the second officer , it ’ s a little confusing because the DA said he ’ s now turned a state ’ s witness , but his lawyer insists he hasn ’ t .
It now looks like there are images of him standing on the back of Rayshard Brooks as he lay dying .
Your response ?
RASHAD ROBINSON : Yeah , I mean , I think it ’ s really sort of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voice talk about not being treated like an animal , and then to see sort of these images and to , you know , see the video from the very beginning .
I mean , in so many ways , what we ’ re seeing with these charges is a deep sort of recognition of the power of a movement , the power of a movement to push and exact consequences .
But we have to recognize , at the end of the day , we have to raise the floor on what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have to keep a deep vision for what human rights looks like .
And I do think that , you know , in these states that have failed to prosecute police time and time again , have failed to put laws in place to hold police accountable , that instead of calling a tow truck , we call police — are now sort of putting things in place like the death penalty , which is one of the most inhumane sort of exercises of how we sort of move towards consequences and punishment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think that all of this — right ?
— is important in terms of getting justice for the family , and at the same time , we have to continue to keep our eye on all the ways that the system realigns itself , protects itself , and really hear those sort of words of Rayshard Brooks about being treated like an animal , and recognize that there are so many others that are continuing to be treated like animals , enemy combatants in their own neighborhoods , by police .
NERMEEN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talk about what you would like to see happen ?
You have called for defunding the police .
Can you talk about that ?
And in particular , also , you ’ ve spoken about the role of police unions .
How do police unions represent some kind of possible obstacle to defunding the police ?
RASHAD ROBINSON : Yeah .
So , for the last 20 years in this country , violent crime has basically steadily went down .
And at the same time , police budgets have continued to rise , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ militarized police .
If you look at communities where there are a lot of police , what you oftentimes also notice is that there ’ s not healthy food , there ’ s not good schools , there ’ s not healthcare , there ’ s not parks .
So we ’ ve basically sort of put police in place of all the things that we know that communities that are whole and safe and healthy actually have .
And so , to the extent that budgets are moral documents , they say @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care , what our values are .
And when we sort of put 50-plus percent of our budgets , 40-plus percent of our budgets into policing in cities and don ’ t put it into all the things that actually make communities safe , we are actually saying something about how we value those people .
And so , we ’ ve really talked about what does it look like to invest in communities and divest from policing .
What does it look like for — at that Wendy ’ s , where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what would it look like to call a tow truck ?
What would it look like if we don ’ t send someone with a gun when someone passes a bad check or we ’ re dealing with homeless or we ’ re dealing with so many other issues where we don ’ t need to send someone with a gun ?
And so , the point about police unions is really that we do not have an ideas gap .
Whether you ’ re for defunding the police and really thinking about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their fundamental responsibility to keep us safe , and as a result we have to take away so much of their power because they haven ’ t kept our communities safe — whether you believe in that or whether you believe in some sort of reforms , that I feel like we ’ ve tried and haven ’ t actually measured — I mean , and haven ’ t actually worked , we don ’ t have an ideas gap .
We have a power gap , because on the other side of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Order of Police and police unions , which at every single turn stand in the way of any type of change .
You know , chokeholds are illegal in New York .
They were illegal when Eric Garner was choked on camera .
And the police union can step in and defend at every turn .
I remember going into the White House in the Obama administration , and we would have conversations about reform and about making changes .
And I remember at a meeting after Philando Castile , Alton Sterling and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and having this meeting where Obama pulled together about 30 folks from around the country — civil rights leaders , law enforcement , mayors , religious leaders .
And we got around the table , and we had assigned seats .
We had to put our phones out .
And so it was not the specter of even being in the public spotlight .
And I remember talking about racial profiling .
And the head of the Fraternal Order of Police interrupted me and said , “ All of this talk of racial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , what I ’ m trying to say here is it ’ s not that he said , “ I don ’ t agree with your policies .
I think you ’ re asking for too much.
” What he said was — he gaslit us and said , “ Racial profiling basically , essentially , doesn ’ t exist , ” that we are making claims that doesn ’ t exist .
And so , when we have politicians who say that they stand with us , when they say Black Lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our side or they want some reforms , and then they take money from the police union , that means we can ’ t actually trust you .
It means that you can ’ t say that you are for reducing guns , for ending gun violence , and take money from the NRA .
And so , we are creating a new litmus test around what does it mean to actually stand with us on these issues .
And you can ’ t stand with a group of people who have treated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have called Tamir Rice a menace and then helped that police officer get a new job someplace else .
We have to hold a standard for what does it mean to stand with us .
And if you don ’ t stand with us as a politician , a political leader , we ’ re going to hold you accountable .
AMY GOODMAN : “ The People Who Undermine Progressive Prosecutors , ” that ’ s the headline of an op-ed you just wrote in The New York Times , that — what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ago ?
RASHAD ROBINSON : Well , I started writing it a year ago , and it took forever to get published , because , you know , the process of getting something published and the process of actually meeting a news hook .
But yeah , I mean , The New York Times , I first started talking to them about a year ago .
AMY GOODMAN : So , I would say that what happened is it got published when the movements rose up and , for many in the corporate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ROBINSON : Yes , absolutely .
I mean , you all talk about these issues all the time .
But yes , having corporate media say , “ Oh , now it ’ s time , ” was important .
I mean , one of the things I wrote about in there was exactly this issue around Fraternal Order of Police , and was able to tell the story , after talking with a set of DAs , about some of the real barriers , the barriers of whether it ’ s prisons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ don ’ t want to reduce the size , or the towns that need and rely on prisons , whether it ’ s the judges that don ’ t want their sort of legacies undermined by prosecutors who are actually looking at a new vision for safety and justice , and a country that has 4 % of the world ’ s population and 25 % of the world ’ s incarcerated population .
Or the story that I told in the op-ed piece about the Fraternal Order of Police in Cook County @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman DA , Kim Foxx .
They marched on her with four white nationalist groups , as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times .
They marched on her in front of her office .
They took pictures of Kim Foxx ’ s face , and they rubbed those pictures on their crotch in front of her office .
And then these police officers , with their badges and their guns , go back into our communities , and we are expected to trust them , while they make threats and attacks on a Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ official in the county , that the people sent there to actually deliver safety and justice .
This is what our communities consistently have to deal with in terms of people who are given authority to kill us , that have no rules and no respect for us .
And that has to change .
And the public of all races have to stand up and join us , because police have too much control of our lives , and , in particular , Black people ’ s lives , but all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in their fundamental responsibility .
And no industry whatsoever is given the ability to violate so many rules and laws and get away with it .
And it ’ s not just the rules that they violate when they have their badge and their gun on .
It ’ s the domestic violence that the union stand with the police officers with when they commit outside of uniform .
And it ’ s all the ways in which these folks are given a different level of pass .
We can no longer accept @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and people are dying , and our communities are not safe as a result .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Well , Rashad Robinson , you ’ ve spoken , of course — and we ’ re talking about the extraordinary police violence against people of color , and you ’ ve mentioned the incarceration rates in the U.S. , which also disproportionately target people of color .
And then , of course , we ’ re in the midst of this pandemic , which , again , has disproportionately impacted African Americans and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ d like to ask also about what we reported in headlines , which is that authorities are now investigating six people of color who have been found hanging in four states .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : I mean , this is absolutely unbelievable .
Could you respond to this and also give us some sense — I mean , is this something that has happened continuously in U.S. history , or is this a recurrence that has something to do with the protests and what ’ s happening today in the U.S. ?
RASHAD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know is , like , from the great work of Bryan Stevenson and so many others of the sort of history and legacy of lynching , of violence and vigilante terror on Black communities , some of it actually , once again , connected to law enforcement .
You know , what we know is that we continue at Color of Change — you know , I ’ ve been at the organization for nine years now .
And every year we get a couple of these stories that don ’ t sit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , because you don ’ t get the full sort of reporting from law enforcement .
There ’ s always gaps .
And you get these stories where the community is clear that there ’ s something that ’ s wrong .
We had a couple of these stories that kind of bubbled up out of the South , where a young Black man was dating a white woman and then was kind of magically found hanging from a tree .
And they said he committed suicide , but his family was like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happy person , and he wasn ’ t ” — they pushed back against the idea of suicide and knew that there were folks that were sort of threatened and unhappy with sort of how he was engaging in a community , how he was breaking , sort of , and violating the rules and norms of how a Black person is supposed to sort of go about their day-to-day .
You know , we have a huge problem because we can ’ t actually trust law enforcement , because , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ published reports about the rise of white nationalism and white supremacy inside of law enforcement .
And the fact of the matter is , is that because law enforcement wants to tell us , on one hand , that it ’ s bad apples , but , on the other hand , we know for a fact that it ’ s a system and a structure which has both welcomed white nationalists and white supremacists into their fold and protected them at every turn through the ways in which the Fraternal Order of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ able to create immunity and all sorts of other sort of structures to prevent any accountability , what we know is that even when these situations come up and officials tell us what they think happens , we have no reason to believe them , because at every single turn they have violated our trust .
And even when we ’ ve had video of police officers shooting and killing us , they tell stories and lies about it , while we can see what actually happened with our own eyes .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of really challenging kind of position , in that we see these incidents happening , we know these incidents are happening , we know the legacy of violence and terror on our community , and then there are sort of not the sort of avenues that one would expect in 2020 to actually deal with these incidents and investigate them and ensure that those who may have been responsible or may have been involved are held accountable .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’re going to go right away to Atlanta, where prosecutors have charged former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe with 11 counts, including felony murder, for the shooting death of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, who he shot twice in the back outside a Wendy’s restaurant June 12th. This is Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announcing the charges Wednesday.
PAUL HOWARD JR.: These are the 11 charges against Officer Rolfe. The first charge is felony murder. This is the death that is as a result of a underlying felony. And in this case, the underlying felony is aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. And the possible sentences for a felony murder conviction would be life, life without parole, or the death penalty.
AMY GOODMAN: Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard went on to say a second officer involved in the killing, Devin Brosnan, will be charged with aggravated assault.
PAUL HOWARD JR.: Because Officer Brosnan has now become a state’s witness, he has decided to testify on behalf of the state in this case. What he has said to us, that is within a matter of days, he plans to make a statement regarding the culpability of Officer Rolfe. But he indicated that he is not psychologically willing to give that statement today. Officer Brosnan, however, has admitted that he was in fact standing on Mr. Brooks’s body immediately after the shooting.
AMY GOODMAN: On Wednesday, Howard also revealed a photo of Garrett Rolfe kicking Brooks as he lay dying on the ground, saying both officers failed to give Brooks any medical attention for more than two minutes.
PAUL HOWARD JR.: During the two minutes and 12 seconds, that Officer Rolfe actually kicked Mr. Brooks while he laid on the ground, while he was there fighting for his life. … From the videotape, we were able to see that the other officer, Officer Brosnan, actually stood on Mr. Brooks’s shoulders while he was there struggling for his life.
AMY GOODMAN: This comes as a number of Atlanta police officers staged a “sick-out” Wednesday night to protest the filing of criminal charges. The Guardian reports officer Garrett Rolfe was previously accused of covering up a 2015 police shooting along with two other officers. Rolfe and the other officers reportedly opened fire on a Black man named Jackie Jermaine Harris while chasing him for driving a stolen truck. The officers hit Harris once, puncturing his lung, but never reported the shooting. The judge involved called the case a “disaster” and “the wildest case I’ve seen in my 34 years here,” she said.
Meanwhile, new video has emerged of Rayshard Brooks speaking in his own words about his struggles with the criminal justice system. The experience of being locked up in prison, he says, left him deep in debt and struggling to pay court fees and restitution — even as employers turned him away due to his criminal record. Brooks spoke in February with the group Reconnect.
RAYSHARD BROOKS: I just feel like some of the system could look at us as individuals — we do have lives, you know, where it’s just a mistake we made — and, you know, not just do us as if we are animals.
AMY GOODMAN: For more on the charges against the two police officers for the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks, and much more, we’re joined by Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change.
Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Rashad. So, let’s start with these charges. The first officer, who shot Brooks in the back twice, killing him, faces the death penalty. And the second officer, it’s a little confusing because the DA said he’s now turned a state’s witness, but his lawyer insists he hasn’t. It now looks like there are images of him standing on the back of Rayshard Brooks as he lay dying. Your response?
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s really sort of eerie to hear Rayshard in his own voice talk about not being treated like an animal, and then to see sort of these images and to, you know, see the video from the very beginning.
I mean, in so many ways, what we’re seeing with these charges is a deep sort of recognition of the power of a movement, the power of a movement to push and exact consequences. But we have to recognize, at the end of the day, we have to raise the floor on what’s acceptable, and we also have to keep a deep vision for what human rights looks like. And I do think that, you know, in these states that have failed to prosecute police time and time again, have failed to put laws in place to hold police accountable, that instead of calling a tow truck, we call police — are now sort of putting things in place like the death penalty, which is one of the most inhumane sort of exercises of how we sort of move towards consequences and punishment in this country.
And so, I think that all of this — right? — is important in terms of getting justice for the family, and at the same time, we have to continue to keep our eye on all the ways that the system realigns itself, protects itself, and really hear those sort of words of Rayshard Brooks about being treated like an animal, and recognize that there are so many others that are continuing to be treated like animals, enemy combatants in their own neighborhoods, by police.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Rashad Robinson, could you talk about what you would like to see happen? You have called for defunding the police. Can you talk about that? And in particular, also, you’ve spoken about the role of police unions. How do police unions represent some kind of possible obstacle to defunding the police?
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yeah. So, for the last 20 years in this country, violent crime has basically steadily went down. And at the same time, police budgets have continued to rise, continued to expand. We’ve militarized police. If you look at communities where there are a lot of police, what you oftentimes also notice is that there’s not healthy food, there’s not good schools, there’s not healthcare, there’s not parks. So we’ve basically sort of put police in place of all the things that we know that communities that are whole and safe and healthy actually have. And so, to the extent that budgets are moral documents, they say what we actually believe, what we care, what our values are. And when we sort of put 50-plus percent of our budgets, 40-plus percent of our budgets into policing in cities and don’t put it into all the things that actually make communities safe, we are actually saying something about how we value those people.
And so, we’ve really talked about what does it look like to invest in communities and divest from policing. What does it look like for — at that Wendy’s, where Rayshard Brooks dealt with those police, what would it look like to call a tow truck? What would it look like if we don’t send someone with a gun when someone passes a bad check or we’re dealing with homeless or we’re dealing with so many other issues where we don’t need to send someone with a gun?
And so, the point about police unions is really that we do not have an ideas gap. Whether you’re for defunding the police and really thinking about the fact that police have failed in their fundamental responsibility to keep us safe, and as a result we have to take away so much of their power because they haven’t kept our communities safe — whether you believe in that or whether you believe in some sort of reforms, that I feel like we’ve tried and haven’t actually measured — I mean, and haven’t actually worked, we don’t have an ideas gap. We have a power gap, because on the other side of all of these issues stands the Fraternal Order of Police and police unions, which at every single turn stand in the way of any type of change. You know, chokeholds are illegal in New York. They were illegal when Eric Garner was choked on camera. And the police union can step in and defend at every turn.
I remember going into the White House in the Obama administration, and we would have conversations about reform and about making changes. And I remember at a meeting after Philando Castile, Alton Sterling and the Dallas police officers were killed, and having this meeting where Obama pulled together about 30 folks from around the country — civil rights leaders, law enforcement, mayors, religious leaders. And we got around the table, and we had assigned seats. We had to put our phones out. And so it was not the specter of even being in the public spotlight. And I remember talking about racial profiling. And the head of the Fraternal Order of Police interrupted me and said, “All of this talk of racial profiling is new to me.” So, what I’m trying to say here is it’s not that he said, “I don’t agree with your policies. I think you’re asking for too much.” What he said was — he gaslit us and said, “Racial profiling basically, essentially, doesn’t exist,” that we are making claims that doesn’t exist.
And so, when we have politicians who say that they stand with us, when they say Black Lives Matter, that they’re on our side or they want some reforms, and then they take money from the police union, that means we can’t actually trust you. It means that you can’t say that you are for reducing guns, for ending gun violence, and take money from the NRA. And so, we are creating a new litmus test around what does it mean to actually stand with us on these issues. And you can’t stand with a group of people who have treated our communities like enemy combatants, that have called Tamir Rice a menace and then helped that police officer get a new job someplace else. We have to hold a standard for what does it mean to stand with us. And if you don’t stand with us as a politician, a political leader, we’re going to hold you accountable.
AMY GOODMAN: “The People Who Undermine Progressive Prosecutors,” that’s the headline of an op-ed you just wrote in The New York Times, that — what? You wrote this actually a year ago?
RASHAD ROBINSON: Well, I started writing it a year ago, and it took forever to get published, because, you know, the process of getting something published and the process of actually meeting a news hook. But yeah, I mean, The New York Times, I first started talking to them about a year ago.
AMY GOODMAN: So, I would say that what happened is it got published when the movements rose up and, for many in the corporate media, making it relevant.
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yes, absolutely. I mean, you all talk about these issues all the time. But yes, having corporate media say, “Oh, now it’s time,” was important.
I mean, one of the things I wrote about in there was exactly this issue around Fraternal Order of Police, and was able to tell the story, after talking with a set of DAs, about some of the real barriers, the barriers of whether it’s prisons that lobby against the reforms because they don’t want to reduce the size, or the towns that need and rely on prisons, whether it’s the judges that don’t want their sort of legacies undermined by prosecutors who are actually looking at a new vision for safety and justice, and a country that has 4% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s incarcerated population.
Or the story that I told in the op-ed piece about the Fraternal Order of Police in Cook County, who marched on the first Black woman DA, Kim Foxx. They marched on her with four white nationalist groups, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. They marched on her in front of her office. They took pictures of Kim Foxx’s face, and they rubbed those pictures on their crotch in front of her office. And then these police officers, with their badges and their guns, go back into our communities, and we are expected to trust them, while they make threats and attacks on a Black woman law enforcement official, the elected official in the county, that the people sent there to actually deliver safety and justice.
This is what our communities consistently have to deal with in terms of people who are given authority to kill us, that have no rules and no respect for us. And that has to change. And the public of all races have to stand up and join us, because police have too much control of our lives, and, in particular, Black people’s lives, but all of our lives. And they have failed in their fundamental responsibility.
And no industry whatsoever is given the ability to violate so many rules and laws and get away with it. And it’s not just the rules that they violate when they have their badge and their gun on. It’s the domestic violence that the union stand with the police officers with when they commit outside of uniform. And it’s all the ways in which these folks are given a different level of pass. We can no longer accept it. People have been killed, and people are dying, and our communities are not safe as a result.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, Rashad Robinson, you’ve spoken, of course — and we’re talking about the extraordinary police violence against people of color, and you’ve mentioned the incarceration rates in the U.S., which also disproportionately target people of color. And then, of course, we’re in the midst of this pandemic, which, again, has disproportionately impacted African Americans and other communities of color. But I’d like to ask also about what we reported in headlines, which is that authorities are now investigating six people of color who have been found hanging in four states.
RASHAD ROBINSON: Yeah.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: I mean, this is absolutely unbelievable. Could you respond to this and also give us some sense — I mean, is this something that has happened continuously in U.S. history, or is this a recurrence that has something to do with the protests and what’s happening today in the U.S.?
RASHAD ROBINSON: You know, what we know is, like, from the great work of Bryan Stevenson and so many others of the sort of history and legacy of lynching, of violence and vigilante terror on Black communities, some of it actually, once again, connected to law enforcement. You know, what we know is that we continue at Color of Change — you know, I’ve been at the organization for nine years now. And every year we get a couple of these stories that don’t sit right. It’s always hard, because you don’t get the full sort of reporting from law enforcement. There’s always gaps. And you get these stories where the community is clear that there’s something that’s wrong.
We had a couple of these stories that kind of bubbled up out of the South, where a young Black man was dating a white woman and then was kind of magically found hanging from a tree. And they said he committed suicide, but his family was like, “No, he was a happy person, and he wasn’t” — they pushed back against the idea of suicide and knew that there were folks that were sort of threatened and unhappy with sort of how he was engaging in a community, how he was breaking, sort of, and violating the rules and norms of how a Black person is supposed to sort of go about their day-to-day.
You know, we have a huge problem because we can’t actually trust law enforcement, because, according to the FBI — the FBI has even published reports about the rise of white nationalism and white supremacy inside of law enforcement. And the fact of the matter is, is that because law enforcement wants to tell us, on one hand, that it’s bad apples, but, on the other hand, we know for a fact that it’s a system and a structure which has both welcomed white nationalists and white supremacists into their fold and protected them at every turn through the ways in which the Fraternal Order of Police and other police unions have been able to create immunity and all sorts of other sort of structures to prevent any accountability, what we know is that even when these situations come up and officials tell us what they think happens, we have no reason to believe them, because at every single turn they have violated our trust. And even when we’ve had video of police officers shooting and killing us, they tell stories and lies about it, while we can see what actually happened with our own eyes.
And so, we are at a sort of really challenging kind of position, in that we see these incidents happening, we know these incidents are happening, we know the legacy of violence and terror on our community, and then there are sort of not the sort of avenues that one would expect in 2020 to actually deal with these incidents and investigate them and ensure that those who may have been responsible or may have been involved are held accountable.


democracynow--2020-06-18--Headlines for June 18, 2020

Headlines for June 18, 2020

In Georgia , prosecutors have charged former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe with 11 counts — including felony murder — for the shooting death of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks , who was shot twice in the back outside a Wendy ’ s restaurant on June 12 .
The charges carry a sentence of life in prison , or even the death penalty .
A second officer involved in the killing , Devin Brosnan , will be charged with aggravated assault .
Prosecutors said he has agreed to turn state ’ s witness and testify against Rolfe , but Brosnan ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ District Attorney Paul Howard on Wednesday revealed a photo of Rolfe kicking Brooks as he lay bleeding on the pavement , saying both officers failed to give Brooks any medical attention for more than two minutes .
Paul Howard Jr. : “ During the two minutes and 12 seconds , that Officer Rolfe actually kicked Mr. Brooks while he laid on the ground , while he was there fighting for his life .
… From the videotape , we were able to see that the other officer , Officer Brosnan , actually stood @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he was there struggling for his life.
” The Guardian reports that officer Garrett Rolfe was previously accused of covering up a 2015 shooting along with two other officers .
Rolfe and the other officers reportedly opened fire on a Black man named Jackie Jermaine Harris while chasing him for driving a stolen truck .
The officers hit Harris once , puncturing his lung , but never reported the shooting .
On Wednesday night , a number of Atlanta police officers staged a “ sick out ” and refused to show up for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charges against the two officers .

In Georgia, prosecutors have charged former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe with 11 counts — including felony murder — for the shooting death of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, who was shot twice in the back outside a Wendy’s restaurant on June 12. The charges carry a sentence of life in prison, or even the death penalty. A second officer involved in the killing, Devin Brosnan, will be charged with aggravated assault. Prosecutors said he has agreed to turn state’s witness and testify against Rolfe, but Brosnan’s lawyer disputes this claim.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard on Wednesday revealed a photo of Rolfe kicking Brooks as he lay bleeding on the pavement, saying both officers failed to give Brooks any medical attention for more than two minutes.
Paul Howard Jr.: “During the two minutes and 12 seconds, that Officer Rolfe actually kicked Mr. Brooks while he laid on the ground, while he was there fighting for his life. … From the videotape, we were able to see that the other officer, Officer Brosnan, actually stood on Mr. Brooks’s shoulders while he was there struggling for his life.”
The Guardian reports that officer Garrett Rolfe was previously accused of covering up a 2015 shooting along with two other officers. Rolfe and the other officers reportedly opened fire on a Black man named Jackie Jermaine Harris while chasing him for driving a stolen truck. The officers hit Harris once, puncturing his lung, but never reported the shooting.
On Wednesday night, a number of Atlanta police officers staged a “sick out” and refused to show up for their usual shifts to protest the criminal charges against the two officers.