democracynow--2020-05-08--"A Lynch Mob": After Months of Inaction, 2 White Men Are Charged with Murder of Ahmaud Arbery in GA

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : The two White men who were caught on film shooting and killing Ahmaud Arbery , an unarmed 25-year-old African American man , in February , were arrested and charged with murder , two days after the video was shared with the public , sparking widespread outrage .
Retired police officer Gregory McMichael and his son Travis were both charged with murder and aggravated assault , and booked in Glynn County , Georgia , where the killing took place more than two months @ @ @ @ @ @ @ protest over the details of the case and the fact that the two men walked free for months after slaying Arbery .
The disturbing video that emerged Tuesday shows Ahmaud Arbery jogging down a narrow road in Brunswick , Georgia , in broad daylight , when he ’ s confronted by the two armed men .
As Arbery jogs , Travis McMichael can be seen waiting for him in the road with a shotgun while his father stands in the back of a pickup truck with a revolver .
After a brief confrontation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations said in a news briefing Travis McMichael is the one who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery .
The video was filmed by a third White man , William Bryan .
Journalist Shaun King said on Twitter Friday Bryan is also being charged but has not yet been arrested .
The Brunswick police reportedly had a copy of the shocking video since February , but before Thursday no charges had been filed against the McMichaels , who claimed they chased Arbery because he looked like a burglary suspect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the Glynn County Police Department , who also worked as an investigator in the District Attorney ’ s Office there .
This is Ahmaud Arbery ’ s mother , Wanda Cooper , in an exclusive interview last week with activist and journalist Shaun King for his new podcast , The Breakdown .
AMY GOODMAN : Today would have been Ahmaud Arbery ’ s 26th birthday .
The local NAACP chapter will protest outside the Brunswick courthouse in Georgia today .
Under the hashtag # IRunWithMaud , people are pledging to run 2.23 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arbery was killed , February 23rd , and send pictures .
We ’ re joined now by Benjamin Crump , civil rights attorney representing the family of Ahmaud Arbery .
He is the author of Open Season : Legalized Genocide of Colored People .
Welcome back to Democracy Now !
, Ben Crump .
Can you explain what exactly happened ?
We are seeing this video for the first time this week , but Ahmaud was murdered on February 23rd .
What happened ?
BENJAMIN CRUMP : Well , Amy , it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ duo , this father and son , the McMichaels , profiled Ahmaud Arbery , we believe , because the basis of his race .
They claim that , like with Trayvon Martin , that he was burglarizing a home or he had committed a burglary , yet there ’ s no burglary mask , there ’ s no burglary tools , there ’ s no burglary bag .
I mean , he has a T-shirt and shorts on .
But yet they claim that ’ s the reason they stopped him .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it harkens back to yesteryears , things we thought we had overcome in America .
I mean , it looks like it ’ s a lynch mob chasing a young Black man .
And when they kill him , there is no accountability .
They go home and sleep in their beds at night .
And it takes 74 days before there is an arrest .
And the arrest was not because the police or the law enforcement individuals saw the video , because they had it on day one , in February @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the video , Amy .
That ’ s why we got an arrest , finally , after all these days , even though these men chased him with a shotgun and a .357 Magnum , and they executed Ahmaud Arbery in broad daylight .
AMY GOODMAN : I mean , this is just an astounding story .
Maud , as he was known , his nickname , was a well-known jogger in the community , ran almost every day .
And can you then explain — this was a Sunday afternoon , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us on that journey , as you understand it at this point .
Not only are we following Maud jogging in the middle of the road , coming upon this pickup truck with the retired White police officer in the back — you wouldn ’ t know he was a police officer , of course — and his son holding the shotgun next to it .
But the question of the man who is following Arbery , filming this .
BENJAMIN CRUMP : Yes .
William Bryan , who we believe is an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be charged with aiding and abetting the McMichaels in their execution of Ahmaud Arbery .
And it ’ s just unbelievable , Amy , that they would want to film this .
And , you know , it shocks the conscience .
You just can ’ t believe it .
But it ’ s real , in 2020 .
We ’ re not talking about 1920 .
We ’ re talking about in 2020 .
They can do this , there could be ocular proof on that video , but yet the law @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this matter let them leave and go home and sleep in their beds at night .
That ’ s why it ’ s so outrageous to us , people in communities of color , because we know if the shoe was on the other foot and it was Ahmaud and his father Marcus in that pickup truck , and they had a shotgun and a .357 Magnum and they chased Greg McMichael ’ s son in broad daylight and end up killing him , they know they would have been arrested from day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not have been given a bond .
Nobody would have had to justify anything .
So why the two justice systems in America , one for Black America and one for White America ?
We ’ re the United States of America .
And even though us Black people understand the Constitution wasn ’ t written for us , as my hero Thurgood Marshall said , we ’ re going to make the Constitution ours anyway , because we are Americans .
AMY GOODMAN : I want to go to a piece that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shooting , the prosecutor for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit , Jackie Johnson , recused herself because Gregory McMichael had worked in her office .
The case was [ then ] sent to George Barnhill , the district attorney in Waycross , Ga. , who later recused himself from the case after Mr. Arbery ’ s mother argued that he had a conflict because his son also works for the Brunswick district attorney .
But before he relinquished the case , … Barnhill wrote a letter to the Glynn County Police Department .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Times , he argued that there was not sufficient probable cause to arrest … Arbery ’ s pursuers.
” This is an astounding story .
Explain the conflicts here .
Again , McMichael , a retired police officer , an investigator .
BENJAMIN CRUMP : Yes , ma ’ am , Amy .
He was a police officer and an investigator for the District Attorney ’ s Office and had worked for them for over 30 years .
So we are very distrustful of any legal or law enforcement agencies in that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ feel they all know the McMichaels , and they are going to be biased in favor of the McMichaels because of those relationships .
And even the current prosecutor , we don ’ t have trust for him , because he has revealed his perspective .
He had that video .
He could have issued an arrest warrant based on just the video , like the Georgia Bureau of Investigations finally did when they took over the investigation , because it was probable cause in the video .
You didn ’ t have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s probable cause .
Black people are arrested on far less in America every day .
But they actually have a video , and they still said there was not enough evidence just to arrest them .
And that ’ s why we want a special prosecutor appointed , and we want to make sure that if these are individuals who currently work at the law enforcement agencies there in and around Brunswick , Georgia , who failed to arrest them either because of incompetence or intentional , they should not have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prosecution of this case .
AMY GOODMAN : Ben Crump , what forced the release of this video this week ?
I mean , and it comes at the same time that Georgia has lifted its lockdown , so there was immediate protest .
I mean , it ’ s clear it ’ s the protesters and the outcry across the country that have led to this — to the arrests of the McMichaels .
Talk about what forced this video release .
And it also was just released on a local website @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ am .
Apparently , a lawyer or a former lawyer associated with the McMichaels , the murderous father and son duo who executed Ahmaud Arbery , released the video .
And apparently he said he released it because he felt that it would somehow exonerate these killers .
And it makes no sense to me .
It ’ s asinine how they feel this hunting party , this hunting posse , chasing this unarmed , young African American throughout that community was something that would exonerate them .
Amy , they teach @ @ @ @ @ @ @ malice of forethought .
That is , you know , what is in the mind of the killer .
And we believe when they got in that truck with all that firepower going to confront this young Black man , that they had evil intent , that you can look at their intentions and conclude that they should be held liable for murder , because we know , again , if the shoe was on the other foot and it was two African American men who got in their trucks with this kind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ young White man in broad daylight , that they would be charged and convicted with murder , day one .
AMY GOODMAN : So , you have , at the time of this broadcast , in a little bit , the Georgia Department of Investigation is going to hold a news conference .
Then a major protest is going to be held .
If you can explain what the Georgia Department of Investigation had to say ?
Now the Georgia governor says there will be justice .
And also , you represented Trayvon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would have been the same age of Ahmaud if he had lived and not been killed by George Zimmerman .
And again , today is Ahmaud ’ s 26th birthday .
So , if you can talk about what this means , that the Georgia Department of Investigation is involved , and your comparisons ?
BENJAMIN CRUMP : Certainly .
The similarities between Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery are eerie .
Both of them were killed in the month of February — Trayvon on February 26 , 2012 , and Ahmaud on February @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of them were accused of burglary , you know , Trayvon in the gated community and then Ahmaud in the Satilla Shores community .
And then , both of the killers , who were armed , claimed that they had to kill these young unarmed , Black men because they were in fear of their lives .
And then , both of the killers , after they killed these two unarmed , young Black men , Trayvon and Ahmaud , they both got to go home and sleep in their beds at night @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prosecutors in Sanford , Florida , with Trayvon , having alleged conflicts of interest , and then you had the prosecutors in Brunswick , Georgia , have a alleged conflict of interest .
And then , you didn ’ t get an arrest for weeks in Trayvon ’ s case ; you didn ’ t get an arrest for weeks in Ahmaud ’ s case .
In Trayvon ’ s case , the state police , the Florida Department of Law Enforcement , had to take over the investigation before there was an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ case , the Georgia Bureau of Investigations had to take over the investigation before there was an arrest .
And in both cases , you had objective evidence of a pursuit .
In Trayvon , we had audio .
We heard the pursuit , and we heard the gunshot .
But in Ahmaud ’ s case , we visually see the pursuit with our own eyes , and we see the gunshots .
And so , it ’ s so eerily similar .
And the fact that they both would be 26 years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tells us all we need to know , that in America , we must do better .
We must do better .
AMY GOODMAN : Ben Crump , what happens next , as we wrap up ?
BENJAMIN CRUMP : We ask that there ’ s a special prosecutor brought in , because we have great distrust in anybody working in that southeast Georgia law enforcement community .
And we want to make sure that we have a diverse jury panel , because we don ’ t want a repeat of cases past @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jury and they don ’ t understand the culture or the common life experiences of Ahmaud Arbery .
AMY GOODMAN : We want to thank you so much , Ben Crump , for joining us , civil rights attorney representing the family of Ahmaud Arbery , the author of Open Season : Legalized Genocide of Colored People .
He represented the family of Trayvon Martin .
And , of course , we ’ ll continue to follow this story as it unfolds .
When we come back , we look at the deadly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans as told through the story of Linda Villarosa , looking at the Zulu club , a Black social organization in New Orleans , during and after Mardi Gras .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : “ I ’ ll Fly Away ” by Brass-a-Holics featuring Mecca Notes .
The song is traditionally played during New Orleans funerals .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: The two white men who were caught on film shooting and killing Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25-year-old African American man, in February, were arrested and charged with murder, two days after the video was shared with the public, sparking widespread outrage. Retired police officer Gregory McMichael and his son Travis were both charged with murder and aggravated assault, and booked in Glynn County, Georgia, where the killing took place more than two months ago. Their arrests follow days of protest over the details of the case and the fact that the two men walked free for months after slaying Arbery.
The disturbing video that emerged Tuesday shows Ahmaud Arbery jogging down a narrow road in Brunswick, Georgia, in broad daylight, when he’s confronted by the two armed men. As Arbery jogs, Travis McMichael can be seen waiting for him in the road with a shotgun while his father stands in the back of a pickup truck with a revolver. After a brief confrontation, Arbery is shot at three times. The Georgia Bureau of Investigations said in a news briefing Travis McMichael is the one who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery.
The video was filmed by a third white man, William Bryan. Journalist Shaun King said on Twitter Friday Bryan is also being charged but has not yet been arrested. The Brunswick police reportedly had a copy of the shocking video since February, but before Thursday no charges had been filed against the McMichaels, who claimed they chased Arbery because he looked like a burglary suspect. Gregory McMichael is a former officer with the Glynn County Police Department, who also worked as an investigator in the District Attorney’s Office there.
This is Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper, in an exclusive interview last week with activist and journalist Shaun King for his new podcast, The Breakdown.
WANDA COOPER: He was killed, and he was killed in the street, after he was chased down and cut off by two vehicles. And nobody went to jail.
SHAUN KING: Right.
WANDA COOPER: Nobody went to jail behind it. You know, they were able to go home, and my baby was placed in a body bag. You know, that’s not — that’s not fair.
AMY GOODMAN: Today would have been Ahmaud Arbery’s 26th birthday. The local NAACP chapter will protest outside the Brunswick courthouse in Georgia today. Under the hashtag #IRunWithMaud, people are pledging to run 2.23 miles today to mark the day Ahmaud Arbery was killed, February 23rd, and send pictures.
We’re joined now by Benjamin Crump, civil rights attorney representing the family of Ahmaud Arbery. He is the author of Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People.
Welcome back to Democracy Now!, Ben Crump. Can you explain what exactly happened? We are seeing this video for the first time this week, but Ahmaud was murdered on February 23rd. What happened?
BENJAMIN CRUMP: Well, Amy, it is clear from the video that this murderous duo, this father and son, the McMichaels, profiled Ahmaud Arbery, we believe, because the basis of his race. They claim that, like with Trayvon Martin, that he was burglarizing a home or he had committed a burglary, yet there’s no burglary mask, there’s no burglary tools, there’s no burglary bag. I mean, he has a T-shirt and shorts on. But yet they claim that’s the reason they stopped him.
And when you look at the video, it harkens back to yesteryears, things we thought we had overcome in America. I mean, it looks like it’s a lynch mob chasing a young Black man. And when they kill him, there is no accountability. They go home and sleep in their beds at night.
And it takes 74 days before there is an arrest. And the arrest was not because the police or the law enforcement individuals saw the video, because they had it on day one, in February. It’s because we saw the video, Amy. That’s why we got an arrest, finally, after all these days, even though these men chased him with a shotgun and a .357 Magnum, and they executed Ahmaud Arbery in broad daylight.
AMY GOODMAN: I mean, this is just an astounding story. Maud, as he was known, his nickname, was a well-known jogger in the community, ran almost every day. And can you then explain — this was a Sunday afternoon, in broad daylight. And then, take us on that journey, as you understand it at this point. Not only are we following Maud jogging in the middle of the road, coming upon this pickup truck with the retired white police officer in the back — you wouldn’t know he was a police officer, of course — and his son holding the shotgun next to it. But the question of the man who is following Arbery, filming this.
BENJAMIN CRUMP: Yes. William Bryan, who we believe is an accomplice to this murder, he should be charged with aiding and abetting the McMichaels in their execution of Ahmaud Arbery.
And it’s just unbelievable, Amy, that they would want to film this. And, you know, it shocks the conscience. You just can’t believe it. But it’s real, in 2020. We’re not talking about 1920. We’re talking about in 2020. They can do this, there could be ocular proof on that video, but yet the law enforcement officials who came out to investigate this matter let them leave and go home and sleep in their beds at night.
That’s why it’s so outrageous to us, people in communities of color, because we know if the shoe was on the other foot and it was Ahmaud and his father Marcus in that pickup truck, and they had a shotgun and a .357 Magnum and they chased Greg McMichael’s son in broad daylight and end up killing him, they know they would have been arrested from day one, and they know they would not have been given a bond. Nobody would have had to justify anything.
So why the two justice systems in America, one for Black America and one for white America? We’re the United States of America. And even though us Black people understand the Constitution wasn’t written for us, as my hero Thurgood Marshall said, we’re going to make the Constitution ours anyway, because we are Americans.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go to a piece that talks about, “Shortly after the shooting, the prosecutor for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, Jackie Johnson, recused herself because Gregory McMichael had worked in her office. The case was [then] sent to George Barnhill, the district attorney in Waycross, Ga., who later recused himself from the case after Mr. Arbery’s mother argued that he had a conflict because his son also works for the Brunswick district attorney. But before he relinquished the case, … Barnhill wrote a letter to the Glynn County Police Department. In the letter, which was obtained by The Times, he argued that there was not sufficient probable cause to arrest … Arbery’s pursuers.” This is an astounding story. Explain the conflicts here. Again, McMichael, a retired police officer, an investigator.
BENJAMIN CRUMP: Yes, ma’am, Amy. He was a police officer and an investigator for the District Attorney’s Office and had worked for them for over 30 years. So we are very distrustful of any legal or law enforcement agencies in that southeastern part of Georgia, because we feel they all know the McMichaels, and they are going to be biased in favor of the McMichaels because of those relationships.
And even the current prosecutor, we don’t have trust for him, because he has revealed his perspective. He had that video. He could have issued an arrest warrant based on just the video, like the Georgia Bureau of Investigations finally did when they took over the investigation, because it was probable cause in the video. You didn’t have to do — I mean, it’s probable cause. Black people are arrested on far less in America every day. But they actually have a video, and they still said there was not enough evidence just to arrest them.
And that’s why we want a special prosecutor appointed, and we want to make sure that if these are individuals who currently work at the law enforcement agencies there in and around Brunswick, Georgia, who failed to arrest them either because of incompetence or intentional, they should not have anything at all to do with the prosecution of this case.
AMY GOODMAN: Ben Crump, what forced the release of this video this week? I mean, and it comes at the same time that Georgia has lifted its lockdown, so there was immediate protest. I mean, it’s clear it’s the protesters and the outcry across the country that have led to this — to the arrests of the McMichaels. Talk about what forced this video release. And it also was just released on a local website.
BENJAMIN CRUMP: Yes, ma’am. Apparently, a lawyer or a former lawyer associated with the McMichaels, the murderous father and son duo who executed Ahmaud Arbery, released the video. And apparently he said he released it because he felt that it would somehow exonerate these killers. And it makes no sense to me. It’s asinine how they feel this hunting party, this hunting posse, chasing this unarmed, young African American throughout that community was something that would exonerate them.
Amy, they teach us in first year law school about malice of forethought. That is, you know, what is in the mind of the killer. And we believe when they got in that truck with all that firepower going to confront this young Black man, that they had evil intent, that you can look at their intentions and conclude that they should be held liable for murder, because we know, again, if the shoe was on the other foot and it was two African American men who got in their trucks with this kind of firepower and killed an unarmed, young white man in broad daylight, that they would be charged and convicted with murder, day one.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you have, at the time of this broadcast, in a little bit, the Georgia Department of Investigation is going to hold a news conference. Then a major protest is going to be held. If you can explain what the Georgia Department of Investigation had to say? Now the Georgia governor says there will be justice. And also, you represented Trayvon Martin’s family. Trayvon Martin would have been the same age of Ahmaud if he had lived and not been killed by George Zimmerman. And again, today is Ahmaud’s 26th birthday. So, if you can talk about what this means, that the Georgia Department of Investigation is involved, and your comparisons?
BENJAMIN CRUMP: Certainly. The similarities between Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery are eerie. Both of them were killed in the month of February — Trayvon on February 26, 2012, and Ahmaud on February 23rd, 2020. And then both of them were accused of burglary, you know, Trayvon in the gated community and then Ahmaud in the Satilla Shores community. And then, both of the killers, who were armed, claimed that they had to kill these young unarmed, Black men because they were in fear of their lives. And then, both of the killers, after they killed these two unarmed, young Black men, Trayvon and Ahmaud, they both got to go home and sleep in their beds at night.
And then, you had the prosecutors in Sanford, Florida, with Trayvon, having alleged conflicts of interest, and then you had the prosecutors in Brunswick, Georgia, have a alleged conflict of interest. And then, you didn’t get an arrest for weeks in Trayvon’s case; you didn’t get an arrest for weeks in Ahmaud’s case. In Trayvon’s case, the state police, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, had to take over the investigation before there was an arrest, and in Ahmaud’s case, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations had to take over the investigation before there was an arrest.
And in both cases, you had objective evidence of a pursuit. In Trayvon, we had audio. We heard the pursuit, and we heard the gunshot. But in Ahmaud’s case, we visually see the pursuit with our own eyes, and we see the gunshots.
And so, it’s so eerily similar. And the fact that they both would be 26 years old today, had they lived, tells us all we need to know, that in America, we must do better. We must do better.
AMY GOODMAN: Ben Crump, what happens next, as we wrap up?
BENJAMIN CRUMP: We ask that there’s a special prosecutor brought in, because we have great distrust in anybody working in that southeast Georgia law enforcement community. And we want to make sure that we have a diverse jury panel, because we don’t want a repeat of cases past where you have no diversity on the jury and they don’t understand the culture or the common life experiences of Ahmaud Arbery.
AMY GOODMAN: We want to thank you so much, Ben Crump, for joining us, civil rights attorney representing the family of Ahmaud Arbery, the author of Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People. He represented the family of Trayvon Martin. And, of course, we’ll continue to follow this story as it unfolds.
When we come back, we look at the deadly disparate impact of the pandemic on African Americans as told through the story of Linda Villarosa, looking at the Zulu club, a Black social organization in New Orleans, during and after Mardi Gras. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “I’ll Fly Away” by Brass-a-Holics featuring Mecca Notes. The song is traditionally played during New Orleans funerals.


democracynow--2020-05-08--Trump Death Clock: Times Square Billboard Tallies Lives Lost to COVID-19 Inaction

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : A 56-foot billboard called the Trump Death Clock has been unveiled in Times Square here in New York .
The billboard was created by the Oscar-nominated filmmaker Eugene Jarecki .
EUGENE JARECKI : So , the Trump Death Clock is a billboard that hangs over Times Square .
And what it shows is an estimate of the number of U.S. COVID-19 deaths that resulted from the president and his team ’ s failed response to the coronavirus outbreak .
Thanks to Dr. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know that had the mitigation guidelines been put into effect just one week earlier , on March 9th instead of March 16th , 60 % of U.S. COVID-19 deaths would have been prevented .
That ’ s an incredible number .
And on behalf of all those who needlessly lost their lives to this failed leadership in a pandemic , we need a symbol , a symbol cries out not only for accountability , but also for more responsible and responsive stewardship , going forward .
AMY GOODMAN : At the time of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stands at 46,485 and growing .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: A 56-foot billboard called the Trump Death Clock has been unveiled in Times Square here in New York. The billboard was created by the Oscar-nominated filmmaker Eugene Jarecki.
EUGENE JARECKI: So, the Trump Death Clock is a billboard that hangs over Times Square. And what it shows is an estimate of the number of U.S. COVID-19 deaths that resulted from the president and his team’s failed response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Thanks to Dr. Fauci and leading epidemiologists, we now know that had the mitigation guidelines been put into effect just one week earlier, on March 9th instead of March 16th, 60% of U.S. COVID-19 deaths would have been prevented. That’s an incredible number.
And on behalf of all those who needlessly lost their lives to this failed leadership in a pandemic, we need a symbol, a symbol cries out not only for accountability, but also for more responsible and responsive stewardship, going forward.
AMY GOODMAN: At the time of this broadcast, the Trump Death Clock stands at 46,485 and growing.


democracynow--2020-05-08--Headlines for May  8, 2020

Headlines for May  8, 2020

One of President Trump ’ s personal valets has tested positive for COVID-19 .
NBC News reports Trump became “ lava level mad ” at his staff over the incident , accusing them of failing to protect him from the virus .
Trump confirmed the valet ’ s positive test during an Oval Office meeting Thursday with Texas Governor Greg Abbott .
President Donald Trump : “ I just had a test , as you probably heard .
In fact , I had one yesterday , and I had one today .
And it ’ s negative .
Mike just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s negative .
But they do the tests , and it just shows you that the — the fallacy — it ’ s what I ’ ve been saying .
Testing is not a perfect art.
” Trump said he and Vice President Pence will now be tested for coronavirus once a day .
That ’ s not an option for the vast majority of Americans .
Over the past week , the United States has carried out , on average , less than a quarter-million diagnostic tests for coronavirus per day .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ 900,000 tests a day recommended by Harvard ’ s Global Health Institute as the minimum level needed to safely begin reopening parts of the United States .
The Harvard plan calls for the U.S. to ramp up to 20 million tests per day by mid-summer .

One of President Trump’s personal valets has tested positive for COVID-19. NBC News reports Trump became “lava level mad” at his staff over the incident, accusing them of failing to protect him from the virus. Trump confirmed the valet’s positive test during an Oval Office meeting Thursday with Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
President Donald Trump: “I just had a test, as you probably heard. In fact, I had one yesterday, and I had one today. And it’s negative. Mike just had a test, and it’s negative. But they do the tests, and it just shows you that the — the fallacy — it’s what I’ve been saying. Testing is not a perfect art.”
Trump said he and Vice President Pence will now be tested for coronavirus once a day. That’s not an option for the vast majority of Americans. Over the past week, the United States has carried out, on average, less than a quarter-million diagnostic tests for coronavirus per day. That’s far short of the 900,000 tests a day recommended by Harvard’s Global Health Institute as the minimum level needed to safely begin reopening parts of the United States. The Harvard plan calls for the U.S. to ramp up to 20 million tests per day by mid-summer.


democracynow--2020-05-11--Trump Death Clock: Creator Eugene Jarecki Says "Reckless Mishandling" of COVID-19 Must Be Quantified

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 .
As the death toll from COVID-19 in the United States surpasses 80,000 — higher than any other country in the world — an unusual new billboard called the Trump Death Clock has been unveiled in New York City ’ s Times Square .
The 56-foot sign keeps tally of lives lost to government inaction .
It was created by filmmaker Eugene Jarecki , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ quote , “ it is time for the establishment of a national 'death clock ' to measure the cost in human lives of President Trump and his team ’ s reckless handling of the coronavirus pandemic , ” unquote .
White House Coronavirus Task Force adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has said the virus would have been mitigated , and lives would have been saved , if social distancing guidelines had been implemented earlier .
Dr. Fauci is now one of three members of the task force who have entered self-quarantine after possible exposure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people who have just tested positive at the White House — among them , Vice President Pence ’ s press secretary , though Vice President Pence says he will be coming to the White House today .
This is Dr. Fauci on CNN last month .
AMY GOODMAN : Reports show President Trump ignored warnings from advisers and experts as early as January about the need for urgent mitigation measures against the spread of the virus .
It wasn ’ t until March 16th that Trump reversed his previously dismissive stance and announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it was too late .
Well , for more , we ’ re joined by Eugene Jarecki , award-winning documentary filmmaker , author , activist .
He created the Trump Death Clock billboard that was unveiled in New York City ’ s Times Square Friday morning .
We will also link to his piece in The Washington Post , “ Trump ’ s covid-19 inaction killed Americans .
Here ’ s a counter that shows how many.
” It ’ s great to have you with us , Eugene .
Just explain what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Sure .
Well , it started out actually as a website .
It wasn ’ t a billboard ; it was just an effort on the part of myself and my team to quantify what we were learning from the epidemiologists .
And then we got in contact with the leading epidemiologists , on whom The New York Times had relied and the British government had relied , Drs .
Jewell and Jewell , and spoke to them about their findings .
And what we found was that there was an amazing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that spoke to reckless mishandling of a pandemic by the president and his team .
And we thought that ought to be quantified .
And first , it became a website .
AMY GOODMAN : So , talk about — describe the website for us , where it is in Times Square .
EUGENE JARECKI : So , the website itself is called TrumpDeathClock.com , and you can go to it .
Every minute , you ’ ll see it update .
And you ’ ll see , very tragically , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Trump administration ’ s failure to handle the outbreak as they should have .
But what was inspiring to me originally — I ’ m a New Yorker .
And every New Yorker knows , and most visitors to New York at one time or another pass , the famous Debt Clock that hangs over the Avenue of the Americas , 6th Avenue .
And that National Debt Clock stands for something .
It ’ s symbolic , and it speaks about the country ’ s reckless borrowing .
And it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a symbol , that there will be grave future consequences to that borrowing .
Well , I didn ’ t need to look far to see the grave consequences of the reckless handling of this pandemic .
And so , it seemed to me that in the spirit of the Debt Clock , there ought to be a Death Clock .
And it ought to be somewhere hanging for the world to see , for the media to see , and to be sort of implanted in our minds , our public @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grave consequences of reckless leadership during a time of crisis .
AMY GOODMAN : Tell us exactly the place it is in Times Square , how you got — AMY GOODMAN : — permission to do it , and then how you make the calculation , because , clearly , the United States would have been affected by the coronavirus , whether it was President Trump or President Obama or the next president .
EUGENE JARECKI : Yes .
So , the Trump Death Clock now lives in Times Square at 43rd and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s the building that it ’ s at .
And , you know , what we found — people read my editorial , when I was writing it for The Washington Post , and I showed it to friends and acquaintances , who were supportive of what I was thinking , but they were , you know , giving me good editorial ideas .
And over time , they said , “ You know , if you ’ re so focused on the Debt Clock , why don ’ t you find @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the real world ?
Why just do it as a website ?
” And , of course , I had thought about that , but I didn ’ t know — my gosh , what must a billboard cost , you know , or a big clock to put up ?
Well , when we poked around a little bit — friends had offered to give some support — we found that , maybe not surprisingly , billboard space is not very expensive right now , because , after all , there ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ height of a pandemic , if people are sort of living by the guidelines that they ’ ve been supposed to be under .
And that means that billboard space in New York was much , much more affordable than one would have ever dreamt , a tiny , tiny fraction of what it usually costs to advertise in Times Square , which is one of the most expensive areas of the world .
So , some friends put together some support to really put this up , to put it up and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hope will roll across the country .
We hope that the Trump Death Clock in New York can be emulated in small towns and big cities across the country , where people can get a billboard that ’ s sitting dormant , or they can actually just project it .
You know , those little projectors that people have , you can project it on a building , you can project it on your house , just to remind your community of what the incredible cost has been of the reckless handling of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about being critical .
As you say , you know , this could have happened to any president .
So , the fact is , there is a specific calculation that we base the Death Clock on .
We ’ re not just saying , “ Oh , Donald Trump , you ’ ve been bad , ” in some general , blurry way .
We wanted to find the single calculation that was most damning and most specific .
In other words , we looked for the most conservative number .
And @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — you know , reasonable people will debate .
The president ’ s defenders will say , “ Oh , it was China ’ s fault , ” or “ It was the World Health Organization , ” or “ It was the CDC , ” or blame individuals , blame anybody but the White House .
Well , they can do that .
Trump ’ s ’ s detractors will point to things that happened much earlier , like that his team disbanded the White House pandemic directorate in 2018 , got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind of outbreak .
Or they might have pointed to — they want to say , “ Well , in January and February , the intelligence services gave the president countless warnings about the need to move quickly.
” That is all true , and reasonable people can debate that .
But they can debate it 'til they 're not reasonable .
We wanted a single calculation , and that ’ s the basis of the Trump Death Clock , which just looks at one period around which there is no debate , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 9 and March 16 .
And after Dr. Fauci and others made clear that they had knowledge that mitigation guidelines were not put in when they should have been , the question is , “ OK , what was the cost of that ?
” Because when a virus is spreading exponentially , as viruses do , every second counts .
And in my view , every life counts .
So the question is , “ The seconds that you lost , Mr. President , while you dithered ” — you know , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at that same moment that we were beginning to see the outbreak of this , they instituted mitigation guidelines , and they ended up with 300 deaths to our 70,000 , 80,000 .
You know ?
So , you ’ re in a position where the enormity of the mistake , Donald Trump made a political calculation , whatever his reasoning was .
He made a bet .
The bet failed , was a failure .
At what cost ?
And at what cost being borne by the American people ?
AMY @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eugene Jarecki , who has just erected the Trump Death Clock in Times Square .
Eugene , have you gotten response from the administration ?
EUGENE JARECKI : We have not heard from the administration .
Most of what we ’ ve heard from , frankly , are from people who are detractors of the president , who wish that we had used a higher number .
They say , “ Your Death Clock only shows that the administration is sort of attributable to 60 % of the death toll in America , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shows .
Basically , Drs .
Jewell and Jewell , in the piece they published in The New York Times and in other releases of their findings , said , had the president and his team moved on March 9 rather than March 16 , 60 % of American lives would have been saved .
That ’ s a harrowing statistic , that puts us today , at this moment , at 48,337 deaths could have been averted had mitigation guidelines been put in place earlier .
To me , that is damning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earlier and enter the debate , the big echo chamber of hyperbolic claims that will go in both directions , they may even have truth in them , but the president will try to use that to get out of accountability .
The goal here is to require accountability , to demand it .
Amy , thousands of people lost their lives needlessly .
And in their name , we must demand not just accountability , but more responsible and more responsive leadership , going forward .
AMY GOODMAN : Let me go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was produced by The Recount and captures those months of downplaying and denial , before President Trump pivoted to coronavirus crisis mode .
It begins on January 22nd .
AMY GOODMAN : So , there you have President Trump in that lead-up , he who repeatedly says that he was the first to institute that Chinese travel ban .
But if that is true , in late January , the question is : Where was the gearing up for the tests , and where was the gearing up for making the personal protective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over this country , not to mention people all over the country , in general , need , masks ?
Why wasn ’ t that begun at that time , clearly a life-saving measure ?
Now you have , to this day , President Trump and his new press secretary mocking the need for massive testing in this country , but we see , over the weekend , with three people very close to the White House testing positive for COVID , that what the president and the vice president are saying is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every day , ” and everyone is being tested regularly there — which seems like a perfect model for how the rest of the country should be , that we also should be able to have access regularly to tests , especially as the country reopens .
Eugene Jarecki , your final comments on what this means , going forward ?
EUGENE JARECKI : Well , the president is conducting himself like an emperor .
You know , this is where we see the breakdown of American democracy .
And Donald Trump is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ looks like when you no longer have a democratic process at work .
In a democratic process , you have a separation of powers , let alone between the branches .
And then , within those branches , there are experts who are brought in to represent areas of public policy with all that they have learned and all that they know from the full time they devote to it .
Donald Trump steps in .
Then , like any sort of would-be despot — I ’ ve seen a very funny clip @ @ @ @ @ @ @ compares the way that Donald Trump speaks about his brain and how smart he is and how great he is and how everything he does is great and nothing he does is wrong and everything is working in the country .
That delusionary speak that he engages himself in , Trevor Noah compares that to Idi Amin , literally shows clips back and forth between the African dictator and Donald Trump , back and forth , back and forth .
And it just makes clear we are dealing with a person who thinks @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re dealing with a person whose dictatorial leanings have caused a massive human death toll in this country , as dictators often do , and as democracies are supposed to protect against .
EUGENE JARECKI : When you reject the experts and you make yourself the focus of everything , you screw up , like the president did here .
And the Trump Death Clock is meant to hold him accountable and to demand a better path forward .
We hope he takes it .
AMY GOODMAN : Eugene Jarecki , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for being with us , award-winning documentary filmmaker , author , activist , who created the Trump Death Clock website and the billboard that ’ s been unveiled in New York City ’ s Times Square .
That does it for our show .
Democracy Now !
is working with as few people on site as possible .
The majority of our amazing team is working from home .
Democracy Now !
is produced with Renée Feltz , Mike Burke , Deena Guzder , Libby Rainey , Nermeen Shaikh , Carla Wills , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Alcoff , Tey-Marie Astudillo , John Hamilton , Robby Karran , Hani Massoud , Adriano Contreras and María Taracena .
Our general manager is Julie Crosby .
Special thanks to Becca Staley , Miriam Barnard , Denis Moynihan , Paul Powell , Mike DiFilippo , Miguel Nogueira , Hugh Gran , David Prude .
I ’ m Amy Goodman .
Thanks for joining 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. As the death toll from COVID-19 in the United States surpasses 80,000 — higher than any other country in the world — an unusual new billboard called the Trump Death Clock has been unveiled in New York City’s Times Square. The 56-foot sign keeps tally of lives lost to government inaction. It was created by filmmaker Eugene Jarecki, who writes in The Washington Post that, quote, “it is time for the establishment of a national 'death clock' to measure the cost in human lives of President Trump and his team’s reckless handling of the coronavirus pandemic,” unquote.
White House Coronavirus Task Force adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has said the virus would have been mitigated, and lives would have been saved, if social distancing guidelines had been implemented earlier. Dr. Fauci is now one of three members of the task force who have entered self-quarantine after possible exposure to the virus by one of several people who have just tested positive at the White House — among them, Vice President Pence’s press secretary, though Vice President Pence says he will be coming to the White House today. This is Dr. Fauci on CNN last month.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI: Obviously, you could logically say that if you had a process that was ongoing and you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives. Obviously, no one is going to deny that. But what goes into those kinds of decisions is complicated. But you’re right. I mean, obviously, if we had, right from the very beginning, shut everything down, it may have been a little bit different. But there was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then.
AMY GOODMAN: Reports show President Trump ignored warnings from advisers and experts as early as January about the need for urgent mitigation measures against the spread of the virus. It wasn’t until March 16th that Trump reversed his previously dismissive stance and announced new guidelines. But by then, it was too late.
Well, for more, we’re joined by Eugene Jarecki, award-winning documentary filmmaker, author, activist. He created the Trump Death Clock billboard that was unveiled in New York City’s Times Square Friday morning. We will also link to his piece in The Washington Post, “Trump’s covid-19 inaction killed Americans. Here’s a counter that shows how many.”
It’s great to have you with us, Eugene. Just explain what went into this billboard.
EUGENE JARECKI: Sure. Well, it started out actually as a website. It wasn’t a billboard; it was just an effort on the part of myself and my team to quantify what we were learning from the epidemiologists. And then we got in contact with the leading epidemiologists, on whom The New York Times had relied and the British government had relied, Drs. Jewell and Jewell, and spoke to them about their findings. And what we found was that there was an amazing and very dark truth underlying the numbers, that spoke to reckless mishandling of a pandemic by the president and his team. And we thought that ought to be quantified. And first, it became a website.
AMY GOODMAN: So, talk about — describe the website for us, where it is in Times Square.
EUGENE JARECKI: So, the website itself is called TrumpDeathClock.com, and you can go to it. Every minute, you’ll see it update. And you’ll see, very tragically, the death toll rise, that is attributable to the Trump administration’s failure to handle the outbreak as they should have.
But what was inspiring to me originally — I’m a New Yorker. And every New Yorker knows, and most visitors to New York at one time or another pass, the famous Debt Clock that hangs over the Avenue of the Americas, 6th Avenue. And that National Debt Clock stands for something. It’s symbolic, and it speaks about the country’s reckless borrowing. And it warns, in a way, just as a symbol, that there will be grave future consequences to that borrowing.
Well, I didn’t need to look far to see the grave consequences of the reckless handling of this pandemic. And so, it seemed to me that in the spirit of the Debt Clock, there ought to be a Death Clock. And it ought to be somewhere hanging for the world to see, for the media to see, and to be sort of implanted in our minds, our public imagination, as a reminder of the grave consequences of reckless leadership during a time of crisis.
AMY GOODMAN: Tell us exactly the place it is in Times Square, how you got —
EUGENE JARECKI: Sure.
AMY GOODMAN: — permission to do it, and then how you make the calculation, because, clearly, the United States would have been affected by the coronavirus, whether it was President Trump or President Obama or the next president.
EUGENE JARECKI: Yes. So, the Trump Death Clock now lives in Times Square at 43rd and 7th, at 1500 Broadway. That’s the building that it’s at.
And, you know, what we found — people read my editorial, when I was writing it for The Washington Post, and I showed it to friends and acquaintances, who were supportive of what I was thinking, but they were, you know, giving me good editorial ideas. And over time, they said, “You know, if you’re so focused on the Debt Clock, why don’t you find out about putting a Death Clock in the real world? Why just do it as a website?” And, of course, I had thought about that, but I didn’t know — my gosh, what must a billboard cost, you know, or a big clock to put up?
Well, when we poked around a little bit — friends had offered to give some support — we found that, maybe not surprisingly, billboard space is not very expensive right now, because, after all, there’s nobody on the streets in the height of a pandemic, if people are sort of living by the guidelines that they’ve been supposed to be under. And that means that billboard space in New York was much, much more affordable than one would have ever dreamt, a tiny, tiny fraction of what it usually costs to advertise in Times Square, which is one of the most expensive areas of the world.
So, some friends put together some support to really put this up, to put it up and start the ball rolling, which we hope will roll across the country. We hope that the Trump Death Clock in New York can be emulated in small towns and big cities across the country, where people can get a billboard that’s sitting dormant, or they can actually just project it. You know, those little projectors that people have, you can project it on a building, you can project it on your house, just to remind your community of what the incredible cost has been of the reckless handling of this.
And this is not just about being critical. As you say, you know, this could have happened to any president. So, the fact is, there is a specific calculation that we base the Death Clock on. We’re not just saying, “Oh, Donald Trump, you’ve been bad,” in some general, blurry way. We wanted to find the single calculation that was most damning and most specific. In other words, we looked for the most conservative number. And that number was so damning, that — you know, reasonable people will debate. The president’s defenders will say, “Oh, it was China’s fault,” or “It was the World Health Organization,” or “It was the CDC,” or blame individuals, blame anybody but the White House. Well, they can do that. Trump’s’s detractors will point to things that happened much earlier, like that his team disbanded the White House pandemic directorate in 2018, got rid of people chiefly concerned with this kind of outbreak. Or they might have pointed to — they want to say, “Well, in January and February, the intelligence services gave the president countless warnings about the need to move quickly.” That is all true, and reasonable people can debate that. But they can debate it 'til they're not reasonable.
We wanted a single calculation, and that’s the basis of the Trump Death Clock, which just looks at one period around which there is no debate, and that is the period between March 9 and March 16. And after Dr. Fauci and others made clear that they had knowledge that mitigation guidelines were not put in when they should have been, the question is, “OK, what was the cost of that?” Because when a virus is spreading exponentially, as viruses do, every second counts. And in my view, every life counts.
So the question is, “The seconds that you lost, Mr. President, while you dithered” — you know, look at South Korea. South Korea, at that same moment that we were beginning to see the outbreak of this, they instituted mitigation guidelines, and they ended up with 300 deaths to our 70,000, 80,000. You know? So, you’re in a position where the enormity of the mistake, Donald Trump made a political calculation, whatever his reasoning was. He made a bet. The bet failed, was a failure. At what cost? And at what cost being borne by the American people?
AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Eugene Jarecki, who has just erected the Trump Death Clock in Times Square. Eugene, have you gotten response from the administration?
EUGENE JARECKI: We have not heard from the administration. Most of what we’ve heard from, frankly, are from people who are detractors of the president, who wish that we had used a higher number. They say, “Your Death Clock only shows that the administration is sort of attributable to 60% of the death toll in America,” because that’s what it shows.
Basically, Drs. Jewell and Jewell, in the piece they published in The New York Times and in other releases of their findings, said, had the president and his team moved on March 9 rather than March 16, 60% of American lives would have been saved. That’s a harrowing statistic, that puts us today, at this moment, at 48,337 deaths could have been averted had mitigation guidelines been put in place earlier. To me, that is damning enough.
And to try to go earlier and enter the debate, the big echo chamber of hyperbolic claims that will go in both directions, they may even have truth in them, but the president will try to use that to get out of accountability. The goal here is to require accountability, to demand it. Amy, thousands of people lost their lives needlessly. And in their name, we must demand not just accountability, but more responsible and more responsive leadership, going forward.
AMY GOODMAN: Let me go to the Trump Coronavirus Calendar, that was produced by The Recount and captures those months of downplaying and denial, before President Trump pivoted to coronavirus crisis mode. It begins on January 22nd.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China. … We think we have it very well under control. …
We pretty much shut it down, coming in from China. … You know, in April, supposedly it dies, with the hotter weather. … When it gets warm, historically, that has been able to kill the virus. … The people are getting better. They’re all getting better. … And the 15, within a couple of days, is going to be down to close to zero. … It’s going to disappear one day. It’s like a miracle. It will disappear. … And you’ll be fine. …
Now, they’re going to have vaccines, I think, relatively soon. … Not only the vaccines, but the therapies. Therapies is sort of another word for cure. … We’re talking about very small numbers in the United States. … Our numbers are lower than just about anybody. … It’s really working out, and a lot of good things are going to happen. … And we are responding with great speed and professionalism. … It’s going to go away. … Yeah, no, I don’t take responsibility at all. … We’re going to all be great. We’re going to be so good. …
This came up. It — we came up so suddenly. … This is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic. All you had to do was look at other countries. …
The coronavirus. You know that, right? Coronavirus. This is their new hoax. We have 15 people in this massive country. And because of the fact that we went early — we went early. We could have had a lot more than that. We’re doing great. Our country is doing so great.
AMY GOODMAN: So, there you have President Trump in that lead-up, he who repeatedly says that he was the first to institute that Chinese travel ban. But if that is true, in late January, the question is: Where was the gearing up for the tests, and where was the gearing up for making the personal protective equipment that so many in hospitals all over this country, not to mention people all over the country, in general, need, masks? Why wasn’t that begun at that time, clearly a life-saving measure?
Now you have, to this day, President Trump and his new press secretary mocking the need for massive testing in this country, but we see, over the weekend, with three people very close to the White House testing positive for COVID, that what the president and the vice president are saying is, “We’re getting tested every day,” and everyone is being tested regularly there — which seems like a perfect model for how the rest of the country should be, that we also should be able to have access regularly to tests, especially as the country reopens. Eugene Jarecki, your final comments on what this means, going forward?
EUGENE JARECKI: Well, the president is conducting himself like an emperor. You know, this is where we see the breakdown of American democracy. And Donald Trump is sort of the epitome of what it looks like when you no longer have a democratic process at work.
In a democratic process, you have a separation of powers, let alone between the branches. And then, within those branches, there are experts who are brought in to represent areas of public policy with all that they have learned and all that they know from the full time they devote to it.
Donald Trump steps in. Then, like any sort of would-be despot — I’ve seen a very funny clip on Trevor Noah, where Trevor Noah compares the way that Donald Trump speaks about his brain and how smart he is and how great he is and how everything he does is great and nothing he does is wrong and everything is working in the country. That delusionary speak that he engages himself in, Trevor Noah compares that to Idi Amin, literally shows clips back and forth between the African dictator and Donald Trump, back and forth, back and forth. And it just makes clear we are dealing with a person who thinks he’s a dictator, and we’re dealing with a person whose dictatorial leanings have caused a massive human death toll in this country, as dictators often do, and as democracies are supposed to protect against.
AMY GOODMAN: We have 10 seconds.
EUGENE JARECKI: When you reject the experts and you make yourself the focus of everything, you screw up, like the president did here. And the Trump Death Clock is meant to hold him accountable and to demand a better path forward. We hope he takes it.
AMY GOODMAN: Eugene Jarecki, I want to thank you so much for being with us, award-winning documentary filmmaker, author, activist, who created the Trump Death Clock website and the billboard that’s been unveiled in New York City’s Times Square.
That does it for our show. Democracy Now! is working with as few people on site as possible. The majority of our amazing team is working from home. Democracy Now! is produced with Renée Feltz, Mike Burke, Deena Guzder, Libby Rainey, Nermeen Shaikh, Carla Wills, Tami Woronoff, Charina Nadura, Sam Alcoff, Tey-Marie Astudillo, John Hamilton, Robby Karran, Hani Massoud, Adriano Contreras and María Taracena. Our general manager is Julie Crosby. Special thanks to Becca Staley, Miriam Barnard, Denis Moynihan, Paul Powell, Mike DiFilippo, Miguel Nogueira, Hugh Gran, David Prude. I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.


democracynow--2020-05-11--"Weaponized and Racialized": Police Departments Use COVID-19 to Target Black & Brown Communities

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 , as we continue to look at how Black and Brown communities are being disproportionately targeted in New York City ’ s response to the spread of COVID-19 — and it ’ s not only here in New York City .
We ’ re joined by Jill Nelson , usually writing about these issues , author , activist , former professor of journalism .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ York Police Department on April 16th .
She was graffitiing the words “ Trump = Plague ” in chalk on a boarded-up building in her Washington Heights neighborhood in northern Manhattan .
She spent more than five hours in jail , wasn ’ t allowed to make a phone call for hours , had to demand to be given a mask .
Also with us , Norman Siegel , civil rights attorney , who is one of two lawyers representing Jill Nelson .
He ’ s former director of the New York ACLU @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about what Jill Nelson faced and what you ’ re calling for right now ?
NORMAN SIEGEL : Well , we ’ re asking the Manhattan district attorney — we ’ ll begin some telephone conversations in the next week — to dismiss the charges .
We want whatever record exists because of what happened in April to be expunged .
We want an apology to Ms. Nelson .
And finally , Ms. Nelson has requested a meeting with the precinct commander of the 33rd Precinct in Manhattan , so she could sit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police commissioner — the police commander to talk about the affirmative things that the Police Department can do during the COVID-19 period in the Washington Heights community .
Ms. Nelson is an outstanding , as you said , Amy , scholar , activist .
And she ’ s giving voice to people who are suffering , directly or indirectly , similar kind of inappropriate actions by some of the police officers of the New York City Police Department .
AMY GOODMAN : I want to talk about some of the disproportionate approaches of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
So , you have , last week , on the same weekend when police officers were distributing masks to White residents gathered in — oh , in crowded parks , not involved with social distancing — pictures were going online .
Pictures were going , showing White people crowded in Central Park .
At the same time , you had a different group of New York police officers attempting to shut down a press conference and a protest in Manhattan ’ s East Village .
The event was organized by Reclaim Pride @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Health System [ 's ] invitation to partner with the right-wing evangelical group Samaritan 's Purse to open medical tents in Central Park , that happened a while ago .
The officers ordered the protesters to disband , and gave one of them a summons saying she had violated social distancing rules issued in executive orders from the mayor and the governor that ban , quote , “ any non-essential gathering of individuals of any size for any reason.
” So , you have both the arrests around social distancing and the arrests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you talk about this ?
NORMAN SIEGEL : Absolutely .
And it ’ s very alarming , because if the mayor of the largest city in America can ban peaceful political protest , it could reverberate around the entire America .
Other cities , if they see that New York is doing it , might do the same thing .
Political protest is a bedrock principle of American democracy .
It ’ s protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States .
And just think of , without political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the incremental progress that we have made with regard to race relations because of the Southern civil rights movement , because of the ending of the Vietnam War , the women ’ s movement , the LGBTQ+ movement , the environment movement .
Without [ sic ] the right to political protest , people who generally don ’ t have the power have a vehicle to get their message across .
And even today , protests that are needed , peacefully , with Mr. Arbery in Georgia , that situation , reflective of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against people of color and poor people ; the idea that the Department of Justice can all of a sudden drop the charges on Michael Flynn .
Lots of demonstrations are needed , because it ’ s embedded in what American democracy is all about .
So when you have an executive order that the mayor is now relying on , that , as you quoted , talks about nonessential gathering of people , and in the governor ’ s executive order , the examples they give are parties , celebrations , social @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we encourage people , not only in New York , but all across America , understand what ’ s at stake here .
It ’ s the right for the people to peacefully demonstrate .
And usually when you ’ re demonstrating , historically , as well as currently , who ’ s the target ?
The target is government officials and government policy .
So it naturally follows that the governors , the mayors would want to ban and suspend political protest .
So , the bottom line is , is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Supreme Court decisions , they say that if you ’ re going to have an executive order or policy , it ’ s got to be content-neutral , reasonable time/place/manner .
It ’ s got to be narrowly tailored , and it can ’ t be overly broad .
So , the problem here is that you could have both respect and protect free speech and public health , because you can say the people who want to demonstrate , as long as you ’ re wearing a face mask and you ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the other people , you can have free speech , and you won ’ t spread the COVID-19 virus .
AMY GOODMAN : Before we talk about the Arbery case , which I want to do also with Jill Nelson , I wanted to compare what happened to her and Central Park being filled with White people very close together .
The pictures are everywhere .
And yet , in the East Village — and this is a video that also went viral — cellphone video showed police officers aggressively pinning a Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him , accusing him of not social distancing , who was talking across the sidewalk to a woman who was at a police booth , and then violently attacking another Black passerby , dragging him on the street , punching him .
And like with the first Black man , they kneeled — this very burly officer , not wearing a mask , kneeled on both of their necks , separately , during what was supposed to be this social distancing enforcement .
The second man who was attacked , 33-year-old Donnie Wright @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his back , ribs and chest .
The officer , Francisco Garcia , has since been put on modified assignment .
They say they ’ re investigating the situation .
I want to get Jill Nelson ’ s response , and then Norman Siegel , to what is taking place here .
JILL NELSON : Well , you know , I think that COVID-19 has been weaponized and racialized and is being used to further oppress Black and Latinx people .
And we have to resist , as Norman was saying .
You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by and act as if this is acceptable or anything goes to survive .
It ’ s not enough , to me , to bang pots and make cheer and clap at 7:00 every night .
We have to , as Norman said , get out there , demonstrate and resist this militarization of our city , of our country , and the racialization of this alleged great fight against COVID-19 .
What ’ s the difference between , you know — and when you look at the pictures that you mentioned , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are much closer than the people who were beat down in Brooklyn or in Lower Manhattan .
It ’ s just absurd .
And the mayor and the elected officials need to take a stand .
And let me say that I have written — I wrote a letter on the 20th of April to all my elected officials and have heard from Al Taylor , my state assemblyman ; Gale Brewer ; Jumaane Williams .
That ’ s it .
Where ’ s my congressman ?
Where is city councilperson ?
Where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
AMY GOODMAN : So , I wanted to turn nationally to what ’ s happening in Georgia with Ahmaud Arbery ’ s death .
Georgia ’ s Attorney General Chris Carr requested Sunday the U.S. Department of Justice conduct an investigation into the handling of Arbery ’ s case .
The 26-year-old — well , he would have been 26 on Friday , 25-year-old at the time , February 23rd — an African American young man , was shot and killed in February by two White men — a retired police officer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ jogging .
The killers , Gregory and his son Travis McMichael , were arrested and charged with murder Thursday , two days after the video of the shooting was released .
The police department , even the state , had it for months .
They said they hunted down Arbery because he looked like a burglary suspect .
Earlier this month , the cellphone video went viral , showing — so , I was wondering if you could also , Jill — this is the kind of thing you write about in The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken place here ?
Many people are calling for the arrest of the third person , the one who took the cellphone video , who was following Arbery along , who knew the other two men .
But your thoughts on how this fits in to what ’ s happening ?
And interestingly , as the Republican governor , Governor Kemp , opens up Georgia , one of the first states to reopen — AMY GOODMAN : — immediately , hundreds of people protested the death of this young man .
JILL NELSON @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it is , as it has always been in America , open season on people of color .
And we see COVID-19 and the stress in the nation being used as a cover for that same thing .
And Arbery , to me , if people had not — if his mother and his family had not kept up complaining and demanding action , if people had not immediately come out and began demonstrating and resisting , this would never have happened .
There would have been no arrests .
But it ties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White men with swastikas and Confederate flags converging in front of statehouses and demanding that governors reopen .
I mean , this is the Civil War , with this as just the latest battle .
AMY GOODMAN : Final comments , Norman Siegel , on what you feel has to happen nationally right now as states do open up but this crackdown continues ?
NORMAN SIEGEL : Well , first , let me comment .
I want to support the family of Mr. Arbery with regard to the call for an independent prosecutor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this nature , which not only affect that family but are symptomatic of a larger historical pattern , that Jill has just articulated , you need to have someone from the outside come in , in order to get justice .
Second , with regard to what ’ s happening right now , my message to people who are listening this morning , and for you to talk to your friends and neighbors : The rebels need to get out and need to be able to protest , to speak out , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Twitter , but to make sure you ’ re wearing face masks , you ’ re socially distant , and begin to speak up , because what I ’ ve learned , we don ’ t lose our civil rights and civil liberties with a big bang overnight .
We lose it day by day , little by little , and it atrophies .
And then one day you wake up , and you don ’ t have those rights that you took for granted .
So speak up , write , demonstrate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ These are our rights .
And we have to fight for them , because , otherwise , we ’ ll lose them .
AMY GOODMAN : I just wanted to comment that at the same time we ’ re talking about this disparate treatment of people of color and White residents in this country , particularly here in New York City , COVID-19 also does not affect people equally , as we see all over the country the disproportionate number of deaths in the Black and Latinx community of those suffering from COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I want to thank you both for being with us , Jill Nelson , writer , activist , journalist , author of a number of books , including Volunteer Slavery : My Authentic Negro Experience , and Norman Siegel , civil rights attorney , one of the two lawyers representing Jill Nelson .
He ’ s the former director of the New York American Civil Liberties Union .
When we come back , a new billboard has gone up in Times Square : the Trump Death Clock .
We ’ ll speak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : “ Can ’ t Be There Today ” by Billy Bragg .
He released this on Mother ’ s Day , performed , well , remotely for a big City Winery event that included Steve Earle , the Indigo Girls and others .
To see Steve Earle ’ s premiere of his new song , on his new album , you can go to democracynow.org .

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, as we continue to look at how Black and Brown communities are being disproportionately targeted in New York City’s response to the spread of COVID-19 — and it’s not only here in New York City.
We’re joined by Jill Nelson, usually writing about these issues, author, activist, former professor of journalism. She was just arrested herself by the New York Police Department on April 16th. She was graffitiing the words “Trump = Plague” in chalk on a boarded-up building in her Washington Heights neighborhood in northern Manhattan. She spent more than five hours in jail, wasn’t allowed to make a phone call for hours, had to demand to be given a mask. Also with us, Norman Siegel, civil rights attorney, who is one of two lawyers representing Jill Nelson. He’s former director of the New York ACLU.
Norman Siegel, can you talk about what Jill Nelson faced and what you’re calling for right now?
NORMAN SIEGEL: Well, we’re asking the Manhattan district attorney — we’ll begin some telephone conversations in the next week — to dismiss the charges. We want whatever record exists because of what happened in April to be expunged. We want an apology to Ms. Nelson. And finally, Ms. Nelson has requested a meeting with the precinct commander of the 33rd Precinct in Manhattan, so she could sit down and have a discussion with the police commissioner — the police commander to talk about the affirmative things that the Police Department can do during the COVID-19 period in the Washington Heights community.
Ms. Nelson is an outstanding, as you said, Amy, scholar, activist. And she’s giving voice to people who are suffering, directly or indirectly, similar kind of inappropriate actions by some of the police officers of the New York City Police Department.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to talk about some of the disproportionate approaches of the Police Department, and disparate approaches. So, you have, last week, on the same weekend when police officers were distributing masks to white residents gathered in — oh, in crowded parks, not involved with social distancing — pictures were going online. Pictures were going, showing white people crowded in Central Park. At the same time, you had a different group of New York police officers attempting to shut down a press conference and a protest in Manhattan’s East Village. The event was organized by Reclaim Pride Coalition [to] protest Mount Sinai Health System['s] invitation to partner with the right-wing evangelical group Samaritan's Purse to open medical tents in Central Park, that happened a while ago. The officers ordered the protesters to disband, and gave one of them a summons saying she had violated social distancing rules issued in executive orders from the mayor and the governor that ban, quote, “any non-essential gathering of individuals of any size for any reason.” So, you have both the arrests around social distancing and the arrests around protests, Norman Siegel. Can you talk about this?
NORMAN SIEGEL: Absolutely. And it’s very alarming, because if the mayor of the largest city in America can ban peaceful political protest, it could reverberate around the entire America. Other cities, if they see that New York is doing it, might do the same thing.
Political protest is a bedrock principle of American democracy. It’s protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. And just think of, without political protest in the last 75 years, the incremental progress that we have made with regard to race relations because of the Southern civil rights movement, because of the ending of the Vietnam War, the women’s movement, the LGBTQ+ movement, the environment movement. Without [sic] the right to political protest, people who generally don’t have the power have a vehicle to get their message across.
And even today, protests that are needed, peacefully, with Mr. Arbery in Georgia, that situation, reflective of a much more historical pattern of discrimination against people of color and poor people; the idea that the Department of Justice can all of a sudden drop the charges on Michael Flynn. Lots of demonstrations are needed, because it’s embedded in what American democracy is all about.
So when you have an executive order that the mayor is now relying on, that, as you quoted, talks about nonessential gathering of people, and in the governor’s executive order, the examples they give are parties, celebrations, social events. Our position, very strongly, we encourage people, not only in New York, but all across America, understand what’s at stake here. It’s the right for the people to peacefully demonstrate. And usually when you’re demonstrating, historically, as well as currently, who’s the target? The target is government officials and government policy. So it naturally follows that the governors, the mayors would want to ban and suspend political protest.
So, the bottom line is, is that when you take a look at Supreme Court decisions, they say that if you’re going to have an executive order or policy, it’s got to be content-neutral, reasonable time/place/manner. It’s got to be narrowly tailored, and it can’t be overly broad. So, the problem here is that you could have both respect and protect free speech and public health, because you can say the people who want to demonstrate, as long as you’re wearing a face mask and you’re at least six feet apart from the other people, you can have free speech, and you won’t spread the COVID-19 virus.
AMY GOODMAN: Before we talk —
NORMAN SIEGEL: And two —
AMY GOODMAN: Before we talk about the Arbery case, which I want to do also with Jill Nelson, I wanted to compare what happened to her and Central Park being filled with white people very close together. The pictures are everywhere. And yet, in the East Village — and this is a video that also went viral — cellphone video showed police officers aggressively pinning a Black man to the ground as they arrested him, accusing him of not social distancing, who was talking across the sidewalk to a woman who was at a police booth, and then violently attacking another Black passerby, dragging him on the street, punching him. And like with the first Black man, they kneeled — this very burly officer, not wearing a mask, kneeled on both of their necks, separately, during what was supposed to be this social distancing enforcement. The second man who was attacked, 33-year-old Donnie Wright, was hospitalized with severe injuries to his back, ribs and chest. The officer, Francisco Garcia, has since been put on modified assignment. They say they’re investigating the situation. I want to get Jill Nelson’s response, and then Norman Siegel, to what is taking place here.
JILL NELSON: Well, you know, I think that COVID-19 has been weaponized and racialized and is being used to further oppress Black and Latinx people. And we have to resist, as Norman was saying. You know, we cannot just sit by and act as if this is acceptable or anything goes to survive. It’s not enough, to me, to bang pots and make cheer and clap at 7:00 every night. We have to, as Norman said, get out there, demonstrate and resist this militarization of our city, of our country, and the racialization of this alleged great fight against COVID-19.
What’s the difference between, you know — and when you look at the pictures that you mentioned, Amy, in Central Park, people are much closer than the people who were beat down in Brooklyn or in Lower Manhattan. It’s just absurd. And the mayor and the elected officials need to take a stand. And let me say that I have written — I wrote a letter on the 20th of April to all my elected officials and have heard from Al Taylor, my state assemblyman; Gale Brewer; Jumaane Williams. That’s it. Where’s my congressman? Where is city councilperson? Where’s my state senator? Nothing.
AMY GOODMAN: So, I wanted to turn nationally to what’s happening in Georgia with Ahmaud Arbery’s death. Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr requested Sunday the U.S. Department of Justice conduct an investigation into the handling of Arbery’s case. The 26-year-old — well, he would have been 26 on Friday, 25-year-old at the time, February 23rd — an African American young man, was shot and killed in February by two white men — a retired police officer and his son. He was out jogging. The killers, Gregory and his son Travis McMichael, were arrested and charged with murder Thursday, two days after the video of the shooting was released. The police department, even the state, had it for months. They said they hunted down Arbery because he looked like a burglary suspect. Earlier this month, the cellphone video went viral, showing — so, I was wondering if you could also, Jill — this is the kind of thing you write about in The Nation and other publications. What has taken place here? Many people are calling for the arrest of the third person, the one who took the cellphone video, who was following Arbery along, who knew the other two men. But your thoughts on how this fits in to what’s happening? And interestingly, as the Republican governor, Governor Kemp, opens up Georgia, one of the first states to reopen —
JILL NELSON: Right, right.
AMY GOODMAN: — immediately, hundreds of people protested the death of this young man.
JILL NELSON: Right. Well, I think it is, as it has always been in America, open season on people of color. And we see COVID-19 and the stress in the nation being used as a cover for that same thing. And Arbery, to me, if people had not — if his mother and his family had not kept up complaining and demanding action, if people had not immediately come out and began demonstrating and resisting, this would never have happened. There would have been no arrests. But it ties into these scenes we see of armed white men with swastikas and Confederate flags converging in front of statehouses and demanding that governors reopen. I mean, this is the Civil War, with this as just the latest battle.
AMY GOODMAN: Final comments, Norman Siegel, on what you feel has to happen nationally right now as states do open up but this crackdown continues?
NORMAN SIEGEL: Well, first, let me comment. I want to support the family of Mr. Arbery with regard to the call for an independent prosecutor. My experience is that on cases of this nature, which not only affect that family but are symptomatic of a larger historical pattern, that Jill has just articulated, you need to have someone from the outside come in, in order to get justice.
Second, with regard to what’s happening right now, my message to people who are listening this morning, and for you to talk to your friends and neighbors: The rebels need to get out and need to be able to protest, to speak out, not just online, not just on Twitter, but to make sure you’re wearing face masks, you’re socially distant, and begin to speak up, because what I’ve learned, we don’t lose our civil rights and civil liberties with a big bang overnight. We lose it day by day, little by little, and it atrophies. And then one day you wake up, and you don’t have those rights that you took for granted. So speak up, write, demonstrate peacefully. This is our country. These are our rights. And we have to fight for them, because, otherwise, we’ll lose them.
AMY GOODMAN: I just wanted to comment that at the same time we’re talking about this disparate treatment of people of color and white residents in this country, particularly here in New York City, COVID-19 also does not affect people equally, as we see all over the country the disproportionate number of deaths in the Black and Latinx community of those suffering from COVID-19 and contracting it, to begin with.
I want to thank you both for being with us, Jill Nelson, writer, activist, journalist, author of a number of books, including Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience, and Norman Siegel, civil rights attorney, one of the two lawyers representing Jill Nelson. He’s the former director of the New York American Civil Liberties Union.
When we come back, a new billboard has gone up in Times Square: the Trump Death Clock. We’ll speak with the man who unveiled it. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “Can’t Be There Today” by Billy Bragg. He released this on Mother’s Day, performed, well, remotely for a big City Winery event that included Steve Earle, the Indigo Girls and others. To see Steve Earle’s premiere of his new song, on his new album, you can go to democracynow.org.