democracynow--2020-06-23--A New Voting Crisis: Kentucky Closes 95% of Polling Places, Leaving Louisville with Just One

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 Juan González .
Three states are holding primaries today : New York , Kentucky and Virginia .
In Kentucky , voters could face very long lines as the state slashed the number of polling places from 3,700 to just 170 — a 95 % reduction .
In Louisville , Kentucky ’ s largest city , only one polling place is open .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ primary to pick a candidate to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November .
Progressive candidate , Kentucky state Representative Charles Booker has seen a major boost in polling and received high-profile endorsements from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders , as well as Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , who ’ s running , herself , in New York .
Booker hopes to beat out former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath , who has outspent Booker on ads , $ 14 million to $ 1 million .
She spent the $ 14 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mail-in voting yesterday , falsely claiming it leads to fraud .
He tweeted , “ Because of MAIL-IN BALLOTS , 2020 will be the most RIGGED Election in our nations history.
” Well , for more , we ’ re joined by Cliff Albright , co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter .
He ’ s normally based in Atlanta , Georgia , but is joining us from the road , just outside Nashville , Tennessee , en route to Louisville , Kentucky , where voters are going to the polls today @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The New York Times headlined “ Georgia Set Up a Polling Place in a Nursing Home : And other horror stories from a voting meltdown.
” Cliff Albright , thanks so much for pulling over to be safe .
Talk about what ’ s happening in Kentucky today .
Is this possible : 3,700 polling places before , today only 170 ?
CLIFF ALBRIGHT : Yes , unfortunately , it is possible , and it ’ s happening right now .
And , you know , that ’ s not an equal decline @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know , what we know is that in Jefferson County , the largest county and the county that has half of the state ’ s Black population , that the number of polling locations was actually brought down to one — one polling place serving the entire county , estimated 600,000 — over 600,000 registered voters .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And in terms of the projected vote totals , from previous elections to now , are people expecting a significant drop in the total votes as a result of reduction in polling places @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up doing mail-in ballots .
CLIFF ALBRIGHT : Exactly .
And that ’ s part of the problem .
So , the first part of your question , in terms of the expected drop , actually , there ’ s the potential — there ’ s potential for record turnout .
What they ’ re saying is that there ’ s over 200,000 ballots that were sent out to folks that requested the mail-in ballot .
That , combined with the number of folks that have actually already early voted , puts them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even 2008 , which is what we saw happen in Georgia , right ?
In spite of all of the mess that took place and the voter suppression that took place , that you still saw a record turnout in Georgia .
And so , there ’ s really potential to have something similar take place in Louisville , in particular , but throughout the state of Kentucky .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And you mention Georgia .
Clearly , if you could talk a little bit about the meltdown that occurred there , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people don ’ t understand that , yes , many states have gone to mail-in voting , essentially mail-in voting , but the mail-in voting process is a lot more complicated than it is going to the polling place and just choosing your candidates or sticking your ballot through a machine , isn ’ t it ?
CLIFF ALBRIGHT : Exactly .
You know , we ’ ve been big supporters of mail-in voting .
We know that it ’ s the safest way for our communities to be able to go vote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disproportionately hit by the coronavirus .
But it ’ s not a panacea .
It ’ s not something that solves all the problems .
It ’ s not something that ’ s exempt from voter suppression .
You can have a state that says , “ OK , we ’ ll do vote by mail , ” but there are many ways , there are many pitfalls in how it gets done , that can still create voter suppression , in fact , even larger-scale voter suppression than in a normal election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gets sent the ballots , over what excuse even qualifies for you to use a mail-in ballot , or you still have states that are fighting against — like states like Tennessee , where I ’ m at right now , with states that are fighting against coronavirus even being an allowable excuse to do vote by mail .
You ’ ve still got issues in terms of when does the ballot have to receive : Is it a received-by date , or is it a postage date ?
You ’ ve got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact , one of the problems we ’ re hearing in Kentucky right now is that there are some voters who didn ’ t know that you have to sign in two places , and because of that , those ballots aren ’ t getting counted .
And then you ’ ve got the signature match issues , which they also have in Kentucky , which says that your signature is going to be — your signature on the mail-in ballot is going to be compared with the signature that they have on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ old or 20 years old , right ?
So , you ’ ve got all these different areas where voter suppression can creep into the vote-by-mail system .
So , when done properly , it can be a great alternative to keep our communities safe , but it is not exempt from voter suppression .
That ’ s what we saw happen in Georgia , where the reality is , much of the lines that we saw in Georgia , it was a combination of many issues , but one of those issues @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wanted to vote by mail but were not able to , either because of a postage issue — the state didn ’ t provide postage — or some other aspects .
The state had incorrect directions in the mail envelope with the vote-by-mail ballot .
And so , some of those lines — and again , we ’ re talking about four-hour , five-hour , six-hour lines .
Some of that was caused by the fact that some people wanted to vote by mail , and simply weren ’ t able to .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ states that fully vote by mail : Colorado , Hawaii , Oregon , Washington and Utah .
You have President Trump , after his catastrophic rally in Tulsa , in the midst of COVID , immediately tweeting , you know , the elections in November are going to be a fraud because of mail-in voting .
He votes mail-in .
Jared Kushner , his senior adviser and his son-in-law , and his daughter Ivanka Trump vote mail-in .
The military has voted mail-in since the Civil War .
Cliff Albright , if you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put into place in order for more people to have that access by November ?
And then , also , these incredible dangers during the time of the coronavirus , like the headline on your New York Times piece , “ Georgia Set Up a Polling Place in a Nursing Home , ” what could be more of a superspreading event ?
CLIFF ALBRIGHT : Yeah .
I mean , first of all , whenever you hear Trump talk about vote by mail being fraudulent , we always have to remember what his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whatever criticism he lays , he ’ s just projecting on himself — from himself .
And so , what we know is that Trump said himself how he feels about this issue : If voting was expanded , if we do this widescale vote by mail , Republicans will never be able to win .
He said it , right ?
Mitch McConnell said the same thing when Democratic legislation was trying to put in provisions to expand vote by mail , or even before coronavirus , when they were just trying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Act , Mitch McConnell says , “ Oh , we ’ ll never be able to win another election.
” In Georgia , the Republican speaker of the House said the same thing .
So they ’ re not even trying to hide what their real motivations are .
Whenever they talk about voter fraud , what we know is all they see is their power and being able to hold onto their power .
This notion of democracy is just a cute , little idea that they have .
But when it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they need to weaken democracy or attack democracy , they ’ ve shown that they ’ ve been willing to do that , Georgia being a perfect example with the current secretary of state , who really had three months , three extra months , to prepare for that election in Georgia .
The election was delayed not just once , but twice , from March to June , and he still couldn ’ t get it right .
But it ’ s not just incompetence .
It ’ s incompetence combined with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Cliff Albright , I ’ m wondering if you could comment briefly on the actual race in Kentucky that is occurring , two Democrats seeking to get the nomination to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November .
Amy McGrath was the Democratic establishment candidate .
She was expected to cruise to victory , but suddenly Charles Booker has had a huge surge , representing , in essence , the left wing of the Democratic Party .
Your sense of what has happened there in Kentucky ?
CLIFF ALBRIGHT : Yeah @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you ’ ve seen is that , you know , Booker got into the race a little bit late , and so he had to build up some momentum .
And he was doing that , talking about these issues at the center of his campaign .
And then , of course , everything that ’ s happened over the past three , four weeks in terms of police violence and the protests , and it ’ s just created this energy , which hasn ’ t caused him to have to change @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s just that his message is now getting more attention .
And then you contrast to McGrath , who has literally been invisible throughout these three , four weeks of protest .
And so , there ’ s an incredible wave that ’ s taking place , and a lot of folks that are just finding out about Booker and his campaign .
And , you know , we really think , again , when you look at the numbers and you look at the number of folks that have either early voted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s really potential for Kentucky to really shock the country in terms of its Democratic primary today .
AMY GOODMAN : And , of course , we ’ ll follow the results tomorrow , see what happens .
Cliff Albright , thanks so much for pulling over to the side of the road to speak with us , co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter , speaking to us from Tennessee on his way to Kentucky .
Up next , we will speak with a Black Lives Matter protester who was in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so-called less lethal bullet .
He lost his eye .
Stay with us .

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 Juan González. Three states are holding primaries today: New York, Kentucky and Virginia. In Kentucky, voters could face very long lines as the state slashed the number of polling places from 3,700 to just 170 — a 95% reduction. In Louisville, Kentucky’s largest city, only one polling place is open.
The most closely watched race is the Democratic primary to pick a candidate to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November. Progressive candidate, Kentucky state Representative Charles Booker has seen a major boost in polling and received high-profile endorsements from Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, as well as Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who’s running, herself, in New York. Booker hopes to beat out former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath, who has outspent Booker on ads, $14 million to $1 million. She spent the $14 million. This comes as Trump again attacked mail-in voting yesterday, falsely claiming it leads to fraud. He tweeted, “Because of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, 2020 will be the most RIGGED Election in our nations history.”
Well, for more, we’re joined by Cliff Albright, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter. He’s normally based in Atlanta, Georgia, but is joining us from the road, just outside Nashville, Tennessee, en route to Louisville, Kentucky, where voters are going to the polls today. He recently co-authored a piece in The New York Times headlined “Georgia Set Up a Polling Place in a Nursing Home: And other horror stories from a voting meltdown.”
Cliff Albright, thanks so much for pulling over to be safe. Talk about what’s happening in Kentucky today. Is this possible: 3,700 polling places before, today only 170?
CLIFF ALBRIGHT: Yes, unfortunately, it is possible, and it’s happening right now. And, you know, that’s not an equal decline that we’ve seen. You know, what we know is that in Jefferson County, the largest county and the county that has half of the state’s Black population, that the number of polling locations was actually brought down to one — one polling place serving the entire county, estimated 600,000 — over 600,000 registered voters.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And in terms of the projected vote totals, from previous elections to now, are people expecting a significant drop in the total votes as a result of reduction in polling places? Because many people will not end up doing mail-in ballots.
CLIFF ALBRIGHT: Exactly. And that’s part of the problem. So, the first part of your question, in terms of the expected drop, actually, there’s the potential — there’s potential for record turnout. What they’re saying is that there’s over 200,000 ballots that were sent out to folks that requested the mail-in ballot. That, combined with the number of folks that have actually already early voted, puts them at a number that basically could exceed even 2008, which is what we saw happen in Georgia, right? In spite of all of the mess that took place and the voter suppression that took place, that you still saw a record turnout in Georgia. And so, there’s really potential to have something similar take place in Louisville, in particular, but throughout the state of Kentucky.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And you mention Georgia. Clearly, if you could talk a little bit about the meltdown that occurred there, and also the fact a lot of people don’t understand that, yes, many states have gone to mail-in voting, essentially mail-in voting, but the mail-in voting process is a lot more complicated than it is going to the polling place and just choosing your candidates or sticking your ballot through a machine, isn’t it?
CLIFF ALBRIGHT: Exactly. You know, we’ve been big supporters of mail-in voting. We know that it’s the safest way for our communities to be able to go vote — again, communities that are being disproportionately hit by the coronavirus. But it’s not a panacea. It’s not something that solves all the problems. It’s not something that’s exempt from voter suppression.
You can have a state that says, “OK, we’ll do vote by mail,” but there are many ways, there are many pitfalls in how it gets done, that can still create voter suppression, in fact, even larger-scale voter suppression than in a normal election. There are still issues over who gets sent the ballots, over what excuse even qualifies for you to use a mail-in ballot, or you still have states that are fighting against — like states like Tennessee, where I’m at right now, with states that are fighting against coronavirus even being an allowable excuse to do vote by mail. You’ve still got issues in terms of when does the ballot have to receive: Is it a received-by date, or is it a postage date? You’ve got questions over signatures, right? In fact, one of the problems we’re hearing in Kentucky right now is that there are some voters who didn’t know that you have to sign in two places, and because of that, those ballots aren’t getting counted. And then you’ve got the signature match issues, which they also have in Kentucky, which says that your signature is going to be — your signature on the mail-in ballot is going to be compared with the signature that they have on file, which could be 10 years old or 20 years old, right? So, you’ve got all these different areas where voter suppression can creep into the vote-by-mail system. So, when done properly, it can be a great alternative to keep our communities safe, but it is not exempt from voter suppression.
That’s what we saw happen in Georgia, where the reality is, much of the lines that we saw in Georgia, it was a combination of many issues, but one of those issues is that you had many people that wanted to vote by mail but were not able to, either because of a postage issue — the state didn’t provide postage — or some other aspects. The state had incorrect directions in the mail envelope with the vote-by-mail ballot. And so, some of those lines — and again, we’re talking about four-hour, five-hour, six-hour lines. Some of that was caused by the fact that some people wanted to vote by mail, and simply weren’t able to.
AMY GOODMAN: So you have five states that fully vote by mail: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah. You have President Trump, after his catastrophic rally in Tulsa, in the midst of COVID, immediately tweeting, you know, the elections in November are going to be a fraud because of mail-in voting. He votes mail-in. Jared Kushner, his senior adviser and his son-in-law, and his daughter Ivanka Trump vote mail-in. The military has voted mail-in since the Civil War. Cliff Albright, if you can talk about what needs to be put into place in order for more people to have that access by November? And then, also, these incredible dangers during the time of the coronavirus, like the headline on your New York Times piece, “Georgia Set Up a Polling Place in a Nursing Home,” what could be more of a superspreading event?
CLIFF ALBRIGHT: Yeah. I mean, first of all, whenever you hear Trump talk about vote by mail being fraudulent, we always have to remember what his biography co-writer said about him, that whatever criticism he lays, he’s just projecting on himself — from himself. And so, what we know is that Trump said himself how he feels about this issue: If voting was expanded, if we do this widescale vote by mail, Republicans will never be able to win. He said it, right? Mitch McConnell said the same thing when Democratic legislation was trying to put in provisions to expand vote by mail, or even before coronavirus, when they were just trying to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act, Mitch McConnell says, “Oh, we’ll never be able to win another election.” In Georgia, the Republican speaker of the House said the same thing.
So they’re not even trying to hide what their real motivations are. Whenever they talk about voter fraud, what we know is all they see is their power and being able to hold onto their power. This notion of democracy is just a cute, little idea that they have. But when it comes down to their power, if they need to weaken democracy or attack democracy, they’ve shown that they’ve been willing to do that, Georgia being a perfect example with the current secretary of state, who really had three months, three extra months, to prepare for that election in Georgia. The election was delayed not just once, but twice, from March to June, and he still couldn’t get it right. But it’s not just incompetence. It’s incompetence combined with intentional suppression.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Cliff Albright, I’m wondering if you could comment briefly on the actual race in Kentucky that is occurring, two Democrats seeking to get the nomination to challenge Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November. Amy McGrath was the Democratic establishment candidate. She was expected to cruise to victory, but suddenly Charles Booker has had a huge surge, representing, in essence, the left wing of the Democratic Party. Your sense of what has happened there in Kentucky?
CLIFF ALBRIGHT: Yeah. I mean, I think what you’ve seen is that, you know, Booker got into the race a little bit late, and so he had to build up some momentum. And he was doing that, talking about these issues at the center of his campaign. And then, of course, everything that’s happened over the past three, four weeks in terms of police violence and the protests, and it’s just created this energy, which hasn’t caused him to have to change his message, right? It’s just that his message is now getting more attention. And then you contrast to McGrath, who has literally been invisible throughout these three, four weeks of protest.
And so, there’s an incredible wave that’s taking place, and a lot of folks that are just finding out about Booker and his campaign. And, you know, we really think, again, when you look at the numbers and you look at the number of folks that have either early voted or requested the ballots, there’s really potential for Kentucky to really shock the country in terms of its Democratic primary today.
AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, we’ll follow the results tomorrow, see what happens. Cliff Albright, thanks so much for pulling over to the side of the road to speak with us, co-founder and executive director of Black Voters Matter, speaking to us from Tennessee on his way to Kentucky.
Up next, we will speak with a Black Lives Matter protester who was in Dallas when police shot him with a so-called less lethal bullet. He lost his eye. Stay with us.


democracynow--2020-06-23--Trump Attacks Anti-Fascists But Is Silent on Boogaloo & Far-Right Groups Engaged in Deadly Violence

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : We ’ re beginning today with federal prosecutors charging a 22-year-old Army private with plotting to attack his own military unit by sending sensitive details to a neo-Nazi group .
Ethan Melzer allegedly collaborated with the Order of the Nine Angles , or O9A , a satanic far-right group linked to white nationalist neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division , as well as the Islamic State .
The Justice Department says Melzer sent details about his unit ’ s location , planned movements and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ arrested him on June 10th .
Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York announced the charges Monday and described Melzer as “ the enemy within.
” This comes after another active member of the military was arrested last week for killing two law enforcement officials in California , this one with ties to the far-right “ boogaloo ” movement .
Staff Sergeant Steven Carrillo is accused of shooting dead a federal security officer in Oakland , California , during the protests over the police killing of George Floyd @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a deputy sergeant in the Santa Cruz County Sheriff ’ s Office .
Carrillo ’ s lawyer says he had served in Iraq , Afghanistan and Syria .
Federal prosecutors in Las Vegas have also charged three men , other men with military experience who are connected to the boogaloo movement , with inciting violence during recent anti-police-brutality protests there .
Members of the boogaloo have been spotted at many other protests , as well as during “ reopen ” rallies .
And as MSNBC noted , on Saturday , they were outside @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tulsa .
AMY GOODMAN : Meanwhile , President Trump has condemned antifa for what he called “ acts of domestic terror ” at Black Lives Matter protests and has threatened to designate the anti-fascist movement as a terrorist organization .
AMY GOODMAN : But the federal government has offered no evidence linking anti-fascists to violence in these protests .
NPR recently reviewed court documents of 51 individuals facing federal charges in connection with the protests .
None were alleged to have ties to antifa .
For more , we ’ re joined by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closely .
Cassie Miller is a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center , who ’ s also written about how white supremacists see the coronavirus as an opportunity , and is featured in a new BBC documentary about how the neo-Nazi group The Base is grooming and recruiting teenagers around the world .
She ’ s joining us from Atlanta , Georgia .
And in New York , Ali Winston is with us , an independent journalist covering criminal justice , surveillance and the extreme right .
He also worked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
We welcome you both to Democracy Now !
Let ’ s start with Ali Winston on this latest arrest , charges that have been brought .
Can you talk about who the person is and what this group is that he is a part of , the Order of the Nine Agents [ sic ] ?
Who is Melzer ?
AMY GOODMAN : Sorry , the Order of the Nine Angles .
ALI WINSTON : That ’ s right .
So , Ethan Melzer is a private in the 503rd Parachute Regiment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an adherent to the Order of Nine Angles , which is a obscure , but highly dangerous , left-hand path satanist group that emerged from Britain , actually , started in Britain a few decades back , and has — their entire goal is to sow chaos , under whatever auspices they ’ re able to .
They are interested in working with or in whatever organizations they ’ re able to use in order to kind of further their goals of sowing mayhem and chaos and bloodlust .
And they have this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ insight roles , ” where their members embed in certain organizations in order to further their mission .
So , for example , this guy Melzer is following the path of an insight role by embedding — by becoming a member of the U.S. Army and then seeking to have members of his own unit killed .
What happened , according to the court papers , is that he passed on — he received information that his unit was deploying to Turkey .
And then , through an encrypted application online , through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with somebody he thought was a member of al-Qaeda , passed on information about his unit ’ s movements .
And then , in other information that the feds received , he indicated that he wanted to basically bring about a terrorist attack against his unit and cause a massive loss of life .
All of this does fit the bill for this organization ’ s ideology .
And they have members — they have adherents who have prominently — played very prominent roles in the Atomwaffen Division , which is an American @ @ @ @ @ @ @ murders and a few bomb plots — they ’ re very heavily targeted by the FBI ; there are a number of federal cases ongoing right now — as well as the Sonnenkrieg Division in the United Kingdom , National Action and The Base , which is another , I guess , international group that ascribes to this millenarian neo-Nazi ideology .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Ali Winston , what is the connection , if any , that you ’ ve been able to tell , between this O9A and these other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Base , for example ?
What are the distinctions between them , if you ’ ve been able to tell ?
ALI WINSTON : So , the organizations we ’ re talking about , these kind of underground guerrilla organizations — AWD , Atomwaffen Division , The Base , Sonnenkrieg , National Action — National Action is a little bit more above ground — they are militant groups aimed at the overthrow of society .
They train for armed conflict .
They recruit online .
They spread their propaganda .
O9A is another @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surface there .
It ’ s not overt fascism .
All the groups I just mentioned are overtly neo-Nazi and fascist .
There ’ s no ifs , ands or buts about that .
They also tend to dabble in what ’ s called esoteric Hitlerism , which is the worship of Hitler as a deity .
It ’ s kind of this mystic strain that ran through — there was a very serious strain of mysticism that ran through the original National Socialist Movement .
Himmler was a particular proponent of this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of feeds off that ideology .
It ’ s developed later and merges some of the more occult elements of the original neo-Nazi practice with some satanic teachings .
And it really — it was responsible for a significant clash early in the history of Atomwaffen Division .
There were a number of members of that group who were more aligned with traditional National Socialism and didn ’ t want to get into the more occult stuff .
But in the end of the day , the people who ran that group , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who are both facing federal charges currently , they ended up seizing control of the group , and they were pretty strict adherents to this ideology .
AMY GOODMAN : Ali Winston , we want to go more into The Base , which also is the focus of a BBC documentary that you worked on .
But I first want to bring in Cassie Miller , senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center , to talk about this other arrest that recently took place .
Again , Trump has not tweeted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is about another active member of the military , arrested last week for killing two law enforcement officials in California , with ties to the far-right boogaloo movement .
Can you talk about who you understand Staff Sergeant Steven Carrillo is , what happened in Santa Cruz and Oakland , and what is boogaloo ?
CASSIE MILLER : Sure .
We know that he is a staff sergeant in the military and that this was one of — sort of just one violent plot that we ’ ve seen from the boogaloo movement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and opened fire on two security officers , killing one of them .
And then , when law enforcement tracked a van used in that attack to his residence , he ambushed those law enforcement officers and killed another .
What we know is that he is connected to the boogaloo movement from his online footprint and from things that were found on the crime scene , like a boogaloo patch that was found in his van .
The “ boogaloo ” as a term is used to describe an upcoming civil war @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s used to refer explicitly to a race war .
So , the boogaloo movement doesn ’ t have , really , a singular ideology .
It kind of runs the gamut of the far right .
So the people who associate with it are everything from libertarians to people who are overtly racist .
What we know is that all of them are united in this belief that the United States is tyrannical and that it needs to be overthrown in a second civil war .
And that ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and that many believe are inevitable .
And we have seen people like Carrillo , who are going out and trying to commit acts of violence alongside these protests to try and increase civil unrest , with the goal of pushing towards the second civil war .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Cassie , could you talk about the fact that President Trump spends — has repeatedly denounced protesters at the anti-police-abuse rallies as terrorists and troublemakers , while at the same time ignoring these boogaloo folks who appear armed in his own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re seeking trouble at some of the Black Lives Matter ’ s protests ?
CASSIE MILLER : Right .
I mean , we ’ ve seen President Trump completely ignore the violence on the far right , and that ’ s something that we ’ ve seen for a long time , starting with the Charlottesville rally in 2017 .
You know , what we ’ re seeing is not terribly surprising .
The far right has been attempting to demonize antifa and paint them as inherently violent for years now .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ not true .
Antifa is a community-based movement that is fighting for a more just and equitable society , and fighting against fascism .
And we know that in this country the far right holds a monopoly on political violence and that since September 11th , far-right extremists have killed far more people than members of any other ideology .
So it ’ s not surprising to see it ignored by the president or to see that these violent attacks have taken place .
We have been raising the alarm about the far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as have several of our partner organizations .
But we haven ’ t seen a lot of movement from places like Facebook , where they ’ re congregating .
AMY GOODMAN : I want to ask you about how they organize on Facebook .
But first , this is not the first boogaloo arrest in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests .
Earlier this month , federal prosecutors in Las Vegas charged three men connected to the boogaloo movement , and have military experience , with inciting violence during the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Floyd , and also with conspiracy to commit terrorism .
Andrew Lynam is an Army reservist ; Stephen Parshall , formerly enlisted in the Navy ; and William Loomis , formerly enlisted in the Air Force .
Each currently faces two federal charges : conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosives , and possession of unregistered firearms .
In state court , they ’ ve been accused of felony conspiracy terrorism and explosives possession .
So , that was in Nevada .
Again , Trump has not tweeted about any of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been charged with not only conspiracy , but , in the case of Carrillo , murdering two law enforcement folks .
CASSIE MILLER : Yeah .
We haven ’ t seen any movement from that .
Trump has repeatedly ignored the monopoly on violence on the far right and has instead used antifa as a distraction .
AMY GOODMAN : And Facebook organizing , how do they do it ?
CASSIE MILLER : Yeah .
On Facebook , we have seen the boogaloo movement congregating on Facebook for several months now .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ been organized really since the outbreak of the coronavirus , because this is a moment of kind of uncertainty and unrest , and for the members of this movement , they think this could be kind of the moment to spark civil unrest and this civil war .
And we know that there are more than a hundred different Facebook groups that are actually dedicated to the boogaloo , some with thousands of members .
And a lot of the rhetoric on there violates Facebook ’ s own terms of service , so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , talking about building weapons , talking about building bombs .
But Facebook hasn ’ t done really anything about it .
We have repeatedly warned them .
Other researchers and journalists have repeatedly warned them .
But there has been no movement , which is , frankly , sort of shocking at this point , now that we know this has been linked to real-world violence and murders .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Ali Winston , I wanted to ask you — some of these groups not only espouse beliefs of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a certain degree , emulate or praise groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda .
Could you talk about this aspect of these groups ?
ALI WINSTON : So , I want to make a distinction .
What you ’ re referring to is the siege-related groups : Atomwaffen , The Base , Sonnenkrieg Division .
Those are distinct from the boogaloo , very distinct .
They are smaller .
They tend to — they vet very restrictively .
They tend to not organize on platforms like Facebook .
They take better care to move @ @ @ @ @ @ @ boogaloo is a bigger-tent movement that is more right libertarian .
There are neo-Nazi elements in there .
But what you ’ re referring to is the extreme right , the millenarian neo-Nazi groups .
They look at groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda with admiration , in some respects .
They don ’ t necessarily work with them all the time , if at all .
Honestly , Melzer ’ s case is quite extraordinary for the fact pattern laid out , where he establishes contact with a purported member of al-Qaeda .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ sow chaos .
They admire these groups because they have racked up a high body count .
That is the biggest thing that draws their attention to these groups .
They ’ ve also expressed admiration for Ted Kaczynski , the Unabomber , because Ted set off bombs .
He killed people .
He was able to push an anti-civilizational message .
That ’ s what they admire .
They are nihilists , in a certain respect .
AMY GOODMAN : Ali , I wanted to go to this new BBC documentary you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these neo-Nazi hate groups , including the one called The Base , are targeting teenagers around the world and in this country .
The BBC and Southern Poverty Law Center obtained recordings of senior members of The Base interviewing prospective recruits , sometimes quizzing them about their knowledge of weapons or books , like Hitler ’ s Mein Kampf .
This is a clip that features the voice of Rinaldo Nazzaro , founder of The Base , a 47-year-old American directing the organization from his apartment in Saint Petersburg , Russia .
AMY @ @ @ @ @ @ @ less than a minute .
Talk about Rinaldo Nazzaro , the founder of The Base , and what you found about how they ’ re targeting teenagers in the United States and around the world .
ALI WINSTON : Rinaldo Nazzaro is a bit of an interesting man .
He ’ s a former FBI analyst and a contractor for the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon .
He emerged in about 2018 , late 2017 , early 2018 , online , linked with another neo-Nazi group , and then , kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ established an online presence and started to — basically kicked off The Base , which is a umbrella organization that sought to bring in groups like Atomwaffen Division under its auspices .
They posted a lot of — they were very prolific in terms of how much propaganda they posted online .
The vetting calls , that you heard right there , those are calls that the group would basically host with young men , some of them very young , from around the world , who they would talk to and determine @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quiz them on what books they had read , how they had radicalized , their ethnicity , their worldview , whether they believe society would collapse or so forth .
And then they would determine if that individual was worthwhile of acceptance to the group .
Through the totality of the material we reviewed , it became very apparent they were grooming these children — some of them were children ; some of them were young adults — for membership in this group and into a very violent , extremist ideology .
AMY @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re going to continue to cover this .
We want to thank you for being with us , independent journalist covering criminal justice , surveillance and the extreme right .
His recent co-authored piece for the BBC is headlined “ Neo-Nazi militant group grooms teenagers.
” And thanks so much to Cassie Miller , senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center , who has also written about how white supremacists see the coronavirus as an opportunity , and is featured in that new BBC documentary .
This is Democracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re going to look at the primaries today , specifically in Kentucky .
There were 3,700 polling places in Kentucky before .
Now there are only 170 .
We ’ re going to speak with one of the founders of Black Voters Matter .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : “ I Won ’ t Back Down ” by Tom Petty .
The family of the late singer Tom Petty just issued a cease-and-desist letter after his hit song “ I Won ’ t Back Down ” played at Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They wrote , quote , “ Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate .
He liked to bring people together .
”

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re beginning today with federal prosecutors charging a 22-year-old Army private with plotting to attack his own military unit by sending sensitive details to a neo-Nazi group. Ethan Melzer allegedly collaborated with the Order of the Nine Angles, or O9A, a satanic far-right group linked to white nationalist neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, as well as the Islamic State. The Justice Department says Melzer sent details about his unit’s location, planned movements and security to the group. The FBI arrested him on June 10th. Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York announced the charges Monday and described Melzer as “the enemy within.”
This comes after another active member of the military was arrested last week for killing two law enforcement officials in California, this one with ties to the far-right “boogaloo” movement. Staff Sergeant Steven Carrillo is accused of shooting dead a federal security officer in Oakland, California, during the protests over the police killing of George Floyd in May. Later, Carrillo killed a deputy sergeant in the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. Carrillo’s lawyer says he had served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
Federal prosecutors in Las Vegas have also charged three men, other men with military experience who are connected to the boogaloo movement, with inciting violence during recent anti-police-brutality protests there. Members of the boogaloo have been spotted at many other protests, as well as during “reopen” rallies. And as MSNBC noted, on Saturday, they were outside President Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa.
CAL PERRY: I also want to show you over here, we have some heavily armed white individuals. They’re wearing those Hawaiian shirts, which is usually the boogaloo boys’ kind of trademark. So you have all the elements for trouble out here.
AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, President Trump has condemned antifa for what he called “acts of domestic terror” at Black Lives Matter protests and has threatened to designate the anti-fascist movement as a terrorist organization.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The violence and vandalism is being led by antifa and other radical left-wing groups, who are terrorizing the innocent, destroying jobs, hurting businesses and burning down buildings.
AMY GOODMAN: But the federal government has offered no evidence linking anti-fascists to violence in these protests. NPR recently reviewed court documents of 51 individuals facing federal charges in connection with the protests. None were alleged to have ties to antifa.
For more, we’re joined by two guests who follow this all very closely. Cassie Miller is a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, who’s also written about how white supremacists see the coronavirus as an opportunity, and is featured in a new BBC documentary about how the neo-Nazi group The Base is grooming and recruiting teenagers around the world. She’s joining us from Atlanta, Georgia. And in New York, Ali Winston is with us, an independent journalist covering criminal justice, surveillance and the extreme right. He also worked on this new story for the BBC.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Let’s start with Ali Winston on this latest arrest, charges that have been brought. Can you talk about who the person is and what this group is that he is a part of, the Order of the Nine Agents [sic]? Who is Melzer?
ALI WINSTON: Sure. So —
AMY GOODMAN: Sorry, the Order of the Nine Angles.
ALI WINSTON: That’s right. So, Ethan Melzer is a private in the 503rd Parachute Regiment, United States Army. He is an adherent to the Order of Nine Angles, which is a obscure, but highly dangerous, left-hand path satanist group that emerged from Britain, actually, started in Britain a few decades back, and has — their entire goal is to sow chaos, under whatever auspices they’re able to. They are interested in working with or in whatever organizations they’re able to use in order to kind of further their goals of sowing mayhem and chaos and bloodlust. And they have this methodology of adopting what they call “insight roles,” where their members embed in certain organizations in order to further their mission. So, for example, this guy Melzer is following the path of an insight role by embedding — by becoming a member of the U.S. Army and then seeking to have members of his own unit killed.
What happened, according to the court papers, is that he passed on — he received information that his unit was deploying to Turkey. And then, through an encrypted application online, through an encrypted messaging app, he communicated with somebody he thought was a member of al-Qaeda, passed on information about his unit’s movements. And then, in other information that the feds received, he indicated that he wanted to basically bring about a terrorist attack against his unit and cause a massive loss of life.
All of this does fit the bill for this organization’s ideology. And they have members — they have adherents who have prominently — played very prominent roles in the Atomwaffen Division, which is an American nihilist, neo-Nazi group responsible for five murders and a few bomb plots — they’re very heavily targeted by the FBI; there are a number of federal cases ongoing right now — as well as the Sonnenkrieg Division in the United Kingdom, National Action and The Base, which is another, I guess, international group that ascribes to this millenarian neo-Nazi ideology.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Ali Winston, what is the connection, if any, that you’ve been able to tell, between this O9A and these other white supremacist groups, Atomwaffen and The Base, for example? What are the distinctions between them, if you’ve been able to tell?
ALI WINSTON: So, the organizations we’re talking about, these kind of underground guerrilla organizations — AWD, Atomwaffen Division, The Base, Sonnenkrieg, National Action — National Action is a little bit more above ground — they are militant groups aimed at the overthrow of society. They train for armed conflict. They recruit online. They spread their propaganda.
O9A is another ideology that kind of works underneath the surface there. It’s not overt fascism. All the groups I just mentioned are overtly neo-Nazi and fascist. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about that. They also tend to dabble in what’s called esoteric Hitlerism, which is the worship of Hitler as a deity. It’s kind of this mystic strain that ran through — there was a very serious strain of mysticism that ran through the original National Socialist Movement. Himmler was a particular proponent of this. The Order of Nine Angles kind of feeds off that ideology. It’s developed later and merges some of the more occult elements of the original neo-Nazi practice with some satanic teachings. And it really — it was responsible for a significant clash early in the history of Atomwaffen Division. There were a number of members of that group who were more aligned with traditional National Socialism and didn’t want to get into the more occult stuff. But in the end of the day, the people who ran that group, Kaleb Cole and John Cameron Denton, who are both facing federal charges currently, they ended up seizing control of the group, and they were pretty strict adherents to this ideology.
AMY GOODMAN: Ali Winston, we want to go more into The Base, which also is the focus of a BBC documentary that you worked on. But I first want to bring in Cassie Miller, senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, to talk about this other arrest that recently took place. Again, Trump has not tweeted about any of these. And this is about another active member of the military, arrested last week for killing two law enforcement officials in California, with ties to the far-right boogaloo movement. Can you talk about who you understand Staff Sergeant Steven Carrillo is, what happened in Santa Cruz and Oakland, and what is boogaloo?
CASSIE MILLER: Sure. We know that he is a staff sergeant in the military and that this was one of — sort of just one violent plot that we’ve seen from the boogaloo movement. Carrillo went to a federal courthouse and opened fire on two security officers, killing one of them. And then, when law enforcement tracked a van used in that attack to his residence, he ambushed those law enforcement officers and killed another. What we know is that he is connected to the boogaloo movement from his online footprint and from things that were found on the crime scene, like a boogaloo patch that was found in his van.
The “boogaloo” as a term is used to describe an upcoming civil war. Or in more extreme circles, it’s used to refer explicitly to a race war. So, the boogaloo movement doesn’t have, really, a singular ideology. It kind of runs the gamut of the far right. So the people who associate with it are everything from libertarians to people who are overtly racist. What we know is that all of them are united in this belief that the United States is tyrannical and that it needs to be overthrown in a second civil war. And that’s something that they are actively preparing for and that many believe are inevitable. And we have seen people like Carrillo, who are going out and trying to commit acts of violence alongside these protests to try and increase civil unrest, with the goal of pushing towards the second civil war.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Cassie, could you talk about the fact that President Trump spends — has repeatedly denounced protesters at the anti-police-abuse rallies as terrorists and troublemakers, while at the same time ignoring these boogaloo folks who appear armed in his own rallies and have repeatedly looked like they’re seeking trouble at some of the Black Lives Matter’s protests?
CASSIE MILLER: Right. I mean, we’ve seen President Trump completely ignore the violence on the far right, and that’s something that we’ve seen for a long time, starting with the Charlottesville rally in 2017. You know, what we’re seeing is not terribly surprising. The far right has been attempting to demonize antifa and paint them as inherently violent for years now. And we know that that is simply not true. Antifa is a community-based movement that is fighting for a more just and equitable society, and fighting against fascism. And we know that in this country the far right holds a monopoly on political violence and that since September 11th, far-right extremists have killed far more people than members of any other ideology. So it’s not surprising to see it ignored by the president or to see that these violent attacks have taken place. We have been raising the alarm about the far right and the boogaloo movement for months, as have several of our partner organizations. But we haven’t seen a lot of movement from places like Facebook, where they’re congregating.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to ask you about how they organize on Facebook. But first, this is not the first boogaloo arrest in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests. Earlier this month, federal prosecutors in Las Vegas charged three men connected to the boogaloo movement, and have military experience, with inciting violence during the protests there over the killing of George Floyd, and also with conspiracy to commit terrorism. Andrew Lynam is an Army reservist; Stephen Parshall, formerly enlisted in the Navy; and William Loomis, formerly enlisted in the Air Force. Each currently faces two federal charges: conspiracy to damage and destroy by fire and explosives, and possession of unregistered firearms. In state court, they’ve been accused of felony conspiracy terrorism and explosives possession. So, that was in Nevada. Again, Trump has not tweeted about any of this or talked about the people who have been charged with not only conspiracy, but, in the case of Carrillo, murdering two law enforcement folks.
CASSIE MILLER: Yeah. We haven’t seen any movement from that. Trump has repeatedly ignored the monopoly on violence on the far right and has instead used antifa as a distraction.
AMY GOODMAN: And Facebook organizing, how do they do it?
CASSIE MILLER: Yeah. On Facebook, we have seen the boogaloo movement congregating on Facebook for several months now. And we know that they’ve been organized really since the outbreak of the coronavirus, because this is a moment of kind of uncertainty and unrest, and for the members of this movement, they think this could be kind of the moment to spark civil unrest and this civil war. And we know that there are more than a hundred different Facebook groups that are actually dedicated to the boogaloo, some with thousands of members.
And a lot of the rhetoric on there violates Facebook’s own terms of service, so people actively advocating for killing law enforcement, talking about building weapons, talking about building bombs. But Facebook hasn’t done really anything about it. We have repeatedly warned them. Other researchers and journalists have repeatedly warned them. But there has been no movement, which is, frankly, sort of shocking at this point, now that we know this has been linked to real-world violence and murders.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Ali Winston, I wanted to ask you — some of these groups not only espouse beliefs of far-right groups, but also, to a certain degree, emulate or praise groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda. Could you talk about this aspect of these groups?
ALI WINSTON: So, I want to make a distinction. What you’re referring to is the siege-related groups: Atomwaffen, The Base, Sonnenkrieg Division. Those are distinct from the boogaloo, very distinct. They are smaller. They tend to — they vet very restrictively. They tend to not organize on platforms like Facebook. They take better care to move themselves onto encrypted messaging apps. The boogaloo is a bigger-tent movement that is more right libertarian. There are neo-Nazi elements in there.
But what you’re referring to is the extreme right, the millenarian neo-Nazi groups. They look at groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda with admiration, in some respects. They don’t necessarily work with them all the time, if at all. Honestly, Melzer’s case is quite extraordinary for the fact pattern laid out, where he establishes contact with a purported member of al-Qaeda. But they admire these groups because they sow chaos. They admire these groups because they have racked up a high body count. That is the biggest thing that draws their attention to these groups. They’ve also expressed admiration for Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, because Ted set off bombs. He killed people. He was able to push an anti-civilizational message. That’s what they admire. They are nihilists, in a certain respect.
AMY GOODMAN: Ali, I wanted to go to this new BBC documentary you looked at, that looks at how these neo-Nazi hate groups, including the one called The Base, are targeting teenagers around the world and in this country. The BBC and Southern Poverty Law Center obtained recordings of senior members of The Base interviewing prospective recruits, sometimes quizzing them about their knowledge of weapons or books, like Hitler’s Mein Kampf. This is a clip that features the voice of Rinaldo Nazzaro, founder of The Base, a 47-year-old American directing the organization from his apartment in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
RINALDO NAZZARO: We all believe that there’s no saving the system now. So the best option for us is to see it fall, to see it collapse, I mean, even if it’s just like on a localized level — whatever degree will offer some sort of power vacuum that we can take advantage of.
AMY GOODMAN: So, we just have less than a minute. Talk about Rinaldo Nazzaro, the founder of The Base, and what you found about how they’re targeting teenagers in the United States and around the world.
ALI WINSTON: Rinaldo Nazzaro is a bit of an interesting man. He’s a former FBI analyst and a contractor for the Department of Homeland Security and the Pentagon. He emerged in about 2018, late 2017, early 2018, online, linked with another neo-Nazi group, and then, kind of over the next few months, established an online presence and started to — basically kicked off The Base, which is a umbrella organization that sought to bring in groups like Atomwaffen Division under its auspices. They posted a lot of — they were very prolific in terms of how much propaganda they posted online.
The vetting calls, that you heard right there, those are calls that the group would basically host with young men, some of them very young, from around the world, who they would talk to and determine their fitness ideologically. They’d quiz them on what books they had read, how they had radicalized, their ethnicity, their worldview, whether they believe society would collapse or so forth. And then they would determine if that individual was worthwhile of acceptance to the group. Through the totality of the material we reviewed, it became very apparent they were grooming these children — some of them were children; some of them were young adults — for membership in this group and into a very violent, extremist ideology.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, Ali Winston, we’re going to continue to cover this. We want to thank you for being with us, independent journalist covering criminal justice, surveillance and the extreme right. His recent co-authored piece for the BBC is headlined “Neo-Nazi militant group grooms teenagers.” And thanks so much to Cassie Miller, senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, who has also written about how white supremacists see the coronavirus as an opportunity, and is featured in that new BBC documentary.
This is Democracy Now! When we come back, we’re going to look at the primaries today, specifically in Kentucky. There were 3,700 polling places in Kentucky before. Now there are only 170. We’re going to speak with one of the founders of Black Voters Matter. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty. The family of the late singer Tom Petty just issued a cease-and-desist letter after his hit song “I Won’t Back Down” played at Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa. They wrote, quote, “Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together.”


democracynow--2020-06-23--Headlines for June 23, 2020

Headlines for June 23, 2020

Twenty-nine states are reporting surges in coronavirus cases as the country continues to reopen .
On Monday , President Trump once again blamed increased testing for elevated case numbers , even as the White House dismissed a remark by Trump at his Tulsa rally Saturday about “ slowing down testing ” as a “ joke.
” The U.S. now has over 2.3 million confirmed cases and over 120,000 reported deaths — more than twice the number of cases and fatalities than the second-hardest-hit country , Brazil .
The World Health Organization warned Monday against “ politicizing ” the pandemic .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus continues to disproportionately hit Black and Latinx communities , highlighting the risk to younger people .
Latinx people aged 35 to 44 have a mortality rate nearly eight times higher than white people , while Black people in the same age group have a mortality rate nine times higher than white people .
This comes as another study on the economic impacts of the coronavirus reveals around half of New York City ’ s immigrants are now unemployed due to the pandemic .
In the South , new outbreaks have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Texas .
Florida hit the 100,000-infection milestone Monday .
Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Monday COVID-19 is spreading at an “ unacceptable rate , ” yet he has no plans to shut down the state .
Meanwhile , two more Trump campaign staffers tested positive for the coronavirus following Trump ’ s Tulsa rally Saturday .
One hundred economists are calling on lawmakers to invest at least $ 50 billion into the child care industry , which has been left reeling amid the pandemic .
The economists write , “ Child @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic infrastructure .
… A major federal investment … will ensure greater parental employment , save roughly one hundred thousand small businesses , and contribute to a more efficient economic recovery .
”

Twenty-nine states are reporting surges in coronavirus cases as the country continues to reopen. On Monday, President Trump once again blamed increased testing for elevated case numbers, even as the White House dismissed a remark by Trump at his Tulsa rally Saturday about “slowing down testing” as a “joke.” The U.S. now has over 2.3 million confirmed cases and over 120,000 reported deaths — more than twice the number of cases and fatalities than the second-hardest-hit country, Brazil. The World Health Organization warned Monday against “politicizing” the pandemic.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: “The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself; it’s the lack of global solidarity and global leadership. We cannot defeat this pandemic with a divided world.”
A new study out of Harvard confirms the virus continues to disproportionately hit Black and Latinx communities, highlighting the risk to younger people. Latinx people aged 35 to 44 have a mortality rate nearly eight times higher than white people, while Black people in the same age group have a mortality rate nine times higher than white people. This comes as another study on the economic impacts of the coronavirus reveals around half of New York City’s immigrants are now unemployed due to the pandemic.
In the South, new outbreaks have been observed in states including Georgia, Florida and Texas. Florida hit the 100,000-infection milestone Monday. Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott said Monday COVID-19 is spreading at an “unacceptable rate,” yet he has no plans to shut down the state. Meanwhile, two more Trump campaign staffers tested positive for the coronavirus following Trump’s Tulsa rally Saturday.
One hundred economists are calling on lawmakers to invest at least $50 billion into the child care industry, which has been left reeling amid the pandemic. The economists write, “Child care is a critical piece of our economic infrastructure. … A major federal investment … will ensure greater parental employment, save roughly one hundred thousand small businesses, and contribute to a more efficient economic recovery.”


democracynow--2020-06-24--Outbreak at San Quentin: COVID Is Skyrocketing in CA Prisons. Why Haven't More People Been Released?

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : We go now to California .
California is the place where COVID-19 is rapidly spreading through the state ’ s overcrowded prisons .
More than 400 people have tested positive at San Quentin State Prison , where the virus has reportedly spread to a number of cell blocks and even death row .
The spread began when the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation transferred nearly 200 incarcerated people from a prison in Chino with a massive COVID outbreak to San Quentin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at each prison where people had been transferred .
At least 19 incarcerated people in California have now died from COVID-19 .
This follows months of calls for mass release , as advocates and incarcerated people warn conditions make it nearly impossible to stop the virus once it enters a prison .
On Friday , a U.S. district judge in Oakland wiped tears from his face , calling the San Quentin outbreak a “ significant failure of policy and planning.
” For more , we go to Los Angeles to speak with Adnan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Store Justice , which advocates for policy and alternative responses to violence and life sentences .
Adnan Khan , formerly incarcerated , served 16 years and spent four years at San Quentin State Prison .
We welcome you to Democracy Now !
, Adnan .
I got to see you at San Quentin a few years ago when the Democracy Now !
team went there .
If you can talk about what ’ s happened ?
We had a show just a few months ago , at the beginning of the pandemic , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at San Quentin .
Explain how this happened .
ADNAN KHAN : It ’ s very simple .
They moved — corrections staff moved a bunch of people from one of the deadliest outbreaks .
Sixteen of the 19 deaths in California prisons are recorded in the Chino prison .
And 120 people were transferred from that prison into San Quentin , which two weeks ago had zero cases .
And that , today , in about a week and a half later , we are over 400 cases .
So , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not say that COVID-19 could not have been prevented in San Quentin , but I do want to say that immediately after that transfer from the most deadliest prison outbreak that we ’ ve had in California , a huge outbreak occurred in our prison system here in — I ’ m sorry , specifically in San Quentin .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Adnan , many of the prisoners in San Quentin are elders .
They ’ re lifers , with life sentences there .
And they ’ re particularly at risk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Quentin population compared to other prisons in the California system , and what Governor Newsom , who ’ s in the news a lot about what he ’ s doing for the rest of California , doing about the prison situation ?
ADNAN KHAN : So , first of all , Governor Newsom has been radio silent .
He comes on and talks a lot about , you know , COVID in California , and everyone in California will be tested .
And he talks a lot about California but refuses to talk @ @ @ @ @ @ @ there aren ’ t Californians , 120 — actually , 200,000-plus Californians incarcerated here in the state .
So , it seems like Governor Newsom has been radio silent on this particular issue .
When it comes to the population , the demographic in San Quentin , yes , there are a lot of people who are considered lifers , people who are sentenced to life in prison , and people who have been there for a very , very long time or have been in prison for a very , very long @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot , and a lot of this deserving-versus-nondeserving conversation that we should only release nonviolent , low-level or drug offenders .
I don ’ t like using that term , but for context here .
And I think that we continue to push away people who actually and factually are the safest population to release , people who have been deemed , quote-unquote , “ violent ” for the rest of their life , and people who have been in prison since they were teenagers .
I was sentenced to 25 years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I was considered , by law , a violent person , but my actions proved otherwise .
So , there ’ s many people in our prison system , particularly San Quentin , that have an elderly population , who have been in prison for decades .
And as we keep talking about — when we do talk about reducing the prison population , we only focus on the front door of prisons , but we never focus on the back door of prisons , where there are people who are just jam-packed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incarceration , I think it ’ s a very important topic to discuss static incarceration , where people are stuck in prison , not just the volume of people with mass , but there ’ s people stuck in prison who don ’ t have a release valve , don ’ t have a release date .
We need to reorganize that and look at that again in our system .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And I wanted to ask you also about those people who do test positive in San Quentin .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moved to a place called the Adjustment Center , where typically that was used for solitary confinement .
Explain to us more about this Adjustment Center .
ADNAN KHAN : So , the Adjustment Center has always been a place where it is solitary for those in solitary .
So , for example , if someone on condemned row — and San Quentin , out of the 34 , 35 prisons in California , is the only place that houses people that are sentenced to lethal injection .
So , if somebody has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Adjustment Center is the solitary confinement for them .
And so , what has happened is , as COVID had this flare-up in San Quentin over the past two weeks , they have filled the Adjustment Center with COVID patients .
However , they only have about a hundred bed spaces there , and they have — they ’ re already 300 bodies over or 300 people over the amount that they can hold in the Adjustment Center .
So , now I ’ m being told that chapel spaces , gyms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID patient wards , as overflow .
But as we ’ ve seen , within a matter of a week , week and a half , in San Quentin , that lies in the middle of the Bay Area , in Marin , the flare-up is at 400 within a week , and we can expect a flare-up to be even higher , you know , next coming days .
One thing I want to share is , a lot of people in society feel like that what happens inside our prison system @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the real world .
And I think that is the biggest mistake that we continue to make .
So , if we have , in California , close to 200-plus thousand people that are incarcerated in California and over 67,000 staff that come in and out of these facilities , essentially , every eight hours , it is very difficult for us to believe that COVID-19 and coronavirus will safely contain itself within prison walls .
And that ’ s not the case .
AMY GOODMAN : Adnan , you tweeted earlier this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) in San Quentin is where revolutionary George Jackson ’ s historic incident took place .
He was murdered by corr off right outside of the AC .
Now , that is where 200+ # COVID19 outbreak cases are being sent .
… [ T ] he AC [ of course ] … solitary within solitary confinement.
” Can you comment on this , the significance of this ?
ADNAN KHAN : You know , the Adjustment Center has always been — well , prisons , in general , have always been seen @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on society , on Black and Brown people , on people who have already been criminalized just based on the color of their skin .
When you go — when you bring that into prison , which we ’ re talking about systemic oppression , I want to make sure that everyone knows that there ’ s a tie to what ’ s happening out here in the world with the uprising and the connection to the prison system .
Really quickly , I want to say that there are literally millions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quote-unquote , like , “ credible testimony ” and written reports of the very police that we ’ re seeing brutalize protesters , brutalize and shoot at media and nurses during these peaceful protests .
And worse , they ’ re the same officers who are responsible for murders of like George Floyd , Breonna Taylor , Rayshard Brooks and many , many more .
And so , there are lots of people in prison based on that .
So , as we ’ re having these uprisings out here and we follow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : — in history , with the uprising in the '60s or civil rights movement , George Jackson was a revolutionary that — you know , we can — it 's hard to describe in a few seconds , but the incident took place in the very Adjustment Center now we ’ re using — ADNAN KHAN : — to house people .
I ’ m sorry , yes .
AMY GOODMAN : We ’ re going to have to leave it there .
Adnan Khan , I want to thank you for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Re : Store Justice , recently released from San Quentin .
And that does it for our broadcast .
A very Happy Birthday to Karen Ranucci !
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Juan González .
Thanks so much for joining us .
And stay safe .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We go now to California. California is the place where COVID-19 is rapidly spreading through the state’s overcrowded prisons. More than 400 people have tested positive at San Quentin State Prison, where the virus has reportedly spread to a number of cell blocks and even death row. The spread began when the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation transferred nearly 200 incarcerated people from a prison in Chino with a massive COVID outbreak to San Quentin and another prison. Outbreaks soon began at each prison where people had been transferred. At least 19 incarcerated people in California have now died from COVID-19. This follows months of calls for mass release, as advocates and incarcerated people warn conditions make it nearly impossible to stop the virus once it enters a prison. On Friday, a U.S. district judge in Oakland wiped tears from his face, calling the San Quentin outbreak a “significant failure of policy and planning.”
For more, we go to Los Angeles to speak with Adnan Khan, executive director of Re:Store Justice, which advocates for policy and alternative responses to violence and life sentences. Adnan Khan, formerly incarcerated, served 16 years and spent four years at San Quentin State Prison.
We welcome you to Democracy Now!, Adnan. I got to see you at San Quentin a few years ago when the Democracy Now! team went there. If you can talk about what’s happened? We had a show just a few months ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, where this was predicted, an outbreak at San Quentin. Explain how this happened.
ADNAN KHAN: It’s very simple. They moved — corrections staff moved a bunch of people from one of the deadliest outbreaks. Sixteen of the 19 deaths in California prisons are recorded in the Chino prison. And 120 people were transferred from that prison into San Quentin, which two weeks ago had zero cases. And that, today, in about a week and a half later, we are over 400 cases. So, when we say about preventable, I cannot say that COVID-19 could not have been prevented in San Quentin, but I do want to say that immediately after that transfer from the most deadliest prison outbreak that we’ve had in California, a huge outbreak occurred in our prison system here in — I’m sorry, specifically in San Quentin.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Adnan, many of the prisoners in San Quentin are elders. They’re lifers, with life sentences there. And they’re particularly at risk. Could you talk about the San Quentin population compared to other prisons in the California system, and what Governor Newsom, who’s in the news a lot about what he’s doing for the rest of California, doing about the prison situation?
ADNAN KHAN: So, first of all, Governor Newsom has been radio silent. He comes on and talks a lot about, you know, COVID in California, and everyone in California will be tested. And he talks a lot about California but refuses to talk about the prison system, as if there aren’t Californians, 120 — actually, 200,000-plus Californians incarcerated here in the state. So, it seems like Governor Newsom has been radio silent on this particular issue.
When it comes to the population, the demographic in San Quentin, yes, there are a lot of people who are considered lifers, people who are sentenced to life in prison, and people who have been there for a very, very long time or have been in prison for a very, very long time. So we get this dichotomy a lot, and a lot of this deserving-versus-nondeserving conversation that we should only release nonviolent, low-level or drug offenders. I don’t like using that term, but for context here. And I think that we continue to push away people who actually and factually are the safest population to release, people who have been deemed, quote-unquote, “violent” for the rest of their life, and people who have been in prison since they were teenagers. I was sentenced to 25 years to life as an 18-year-old, and I was considered, by law, a violent person, but my actions proved otherwise.
So, there’s many people in our prison system, particularly San Quentin, that have an elderly population, who have been in prison for decades. And as we keep talking about — when we do talk about reducing the prison population, we only focus on the front door of prisons, but we never focus on the back door of prisons, where there are people who are just jam-packed. And as we talk about mass incarceration, I think it’s a very important topic to discuss static incarceration, where people are stuck in prison, not just the volume of people with mass, but there’s people stuck in prison who don’t have a release valve, don’t have a release date. We need to reorganize that and look at that again in our system.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask you also about those people who do test positive in San Quentin. As I understand it, they’re moved to a place called the Adjustment Center, where typically that was used for solitary confinement. Explain to us more about this Adjustment Center.
ADNAN KHAN: So, the Adjustment Center has always been a place where it is solitary for those in solitary. So, for example, if someone on condemned row — and San Quentin, out of the 34, 35 prisons in California, is the only place that houses people that are sentenced to lethal injection. So, if somebody has a disciplinary infraction on condemned row, the Adjustment Center is the solitary confinement for them.
And so, what has happened is, as COVID had this flare-up in San Quentin over the past two weeks, they have filled the Adjustment Center with COVID patients. However, they only have about a hundred bed spaces there, and they have — they’re already 300 bodies over or 300 people over the amount that they can hold in the Adjustment Center. So, now I’m being told that chapel spaces, gyms and other locations are being used as COVID patient wards, as overflow. But as we’ve seen, within a matter of a week, week and a half, in San Quentin, that lies in the middle of the Bay Area, in Marin, the flare-up is at 400 within a week, and we can expect a flare-up to be even higher, you know, next coming days.
One thing I want to share is, a lot of people in society feel like that what happens inside our prison system will not affect them out here in the real world. And I think that is the biggest mistake that we continue to make. So, if we have, in California, close to 200-plus thousand people that are incarcerated in California and over 67,000 staff that come in and out of these facilities, essentially, every eight hours, it is very difficult for us to believe that COVID-19 and coronavirus will safely contain itself within prison walls. And that’s not the case.
AMY GOODMAN: Adnan, you tweeted earlier this week, “Adjustment Center (AC) in San Quentin is where revolutionary George Jackson’s historic incident took place. He was murdered by corr off right outside of the AC. Now, that is where 200+ #COVID19 outbreak cases are being sent. … [T]he AC [of course] … solitary within solitary confinement.” Can you comment on this, the significance of this?
ADNAN KHAN: You know, the Adjustment Center has always been — well, prisons, in general, have always been seen as the, you know, punishment on society, on Black and Brown people, on people who have already been criminalized just based on the color of their skin. When you go — when you bring that into prison, which we’re talking about systemic oppression, I want to make sure that everyone knows that there’s a tie to what’s happening out here in the world with the uprising and the connection to the prison system.
Really quickly, I want to say that there are literally millions of people in prison based on the, quote-unquote, like, “credible testimony” and written reports of the very police that we’re seeing brutalize protesters, brutalize and shoot at media and nurses during these peaceful protests. And worse, they’re the same officers who are responsible for murders of like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and many, many more. And so, there are lots of people in prison based on that.
So, as we’re having these uprisings out here and we follow what happened in history —
AMY GOODMAN: We have 10 seconds.
ADNAN KHAN: — in history, with the uprising in the '60s or civil rights movement, George Jackson was a revolutionary that — you know, we can — it's hard to describe in a few seconds, but the incident took place in the very Adjustment Center now we’re using —
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going —
ADNAN KHAN: — to house people. I’m sorry, yes.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re going to have to leave it there. Adnan Khan, I want to thank you for being with us, executive director of Re:Store Justice, recently released from San Quentin.
And that does it for our broadcast. A very Happy Birthday to Karen Ranucci! I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González. Thanks so much for joining us. And stay safe.