WEBVTT 00:00:15.040 --> 00:00:18.640 From New York, this is Democracy Now! 00:00:19.620 --> 00:00:22.720 This bloodshed must end. This bloodshed will end. 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:26.170 Today I’m announcing a surge of federal law enforcement 00:00:26.170 --> 00:00:29.840 into American communities plagued by violent crime. 00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:34.550 President Trump is sending a "surge" of federal agents 00:00:34.550 --> 00:00:37.170 into Democratic cities with protests 00:00:37.170 --> 00:00:39.450 against police violence and racism. 00:00:39.450 --> 00:00:41.060 We’ll go to Philadelphia 00:00:41.060 --> 00:00:44.120 to speak with District Attorney Larry Krasner, 00:00:44.120 --> 00:00:46.430 who’s warning he’ll arrest agents 00:00:46.430 --> 00:00:49.290 if they kidnap or attack protesters. 00:00:49.290 --> 00:00:50.650 Then to Chicago, 00:00:50.650 --> 00:00:54.500 where protesters are demanding justice after police officers 00:00:54.500 --> 00:00:58.160 punched teenage activist Miracle Boyd in the face, 00:00:58.160 --> 00:01:00.550 knocking out her teeth, during a protest 00:01:00.550 --> 00:01:02.900 when people were trying to topple a statue 00:01:02.900 --> 00:01:04.600 of Christopher Columbus. 00:01:05.190 --> 00:01:08.080 There’s no way I should have left a protest bruised 00:01:08.080 --> 00:01:10.560 and battered for exercising my freedom of speech 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:11.940 and freedom to assemble. 00:01:11.940 --> 00:01:14.280 I am disgusted and never would have ever thought 00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:17.130 I’d become a victim to the biggest gang in America. 00:01:17.130 --> 00:01:20.670 And the harrowing scenes of paramilitary-style units 00:01:20.670 --> 00:01:22.290 in the streets of American cities 00:01:22.290 --> 00:01:24.320 has shocked mainstream America, 00:01:24.320 --> 00:01:26.820 but the violent presence of federal border agents 00:01:26.820 --> 00:01:30.390 is not unfamiliar to many Black and Brown communities, 00:01:30.390 --> 00:01:32.430 especially those along the border. 00:01:33.590 --> 00:01:38.130 The Border Patrol is — it does patrol the border, 00:01:38.130 --> 00:01:43.090 not only the boundary line, but in 100-mile jurisdictions, 00:01:43.090 --> 00:01:45.740 with extraconstitutional powers, 00:01:45.740 --> 00:01:49.460 meaning that the Border Patrol can do things above 00:01:49.460 --> 00:01:52.040 and beyond what normal law enforcement can do. 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:54.790 They can put up checkpoints. They do roving patrols. 00:01:54.790 --> 00:01:57.560 They can pull over people for, you know, 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:00.970 reasons of — not even national security reasons. 00:02:02.220 --> 00:02:03.760 We’ll speak with Todd Miller, 00:02:03.760 --> 00:02:06.640 who documents all of this in his book Empire of Borders: 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:09.210 The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World, 00:02:09.210 --> 00:02:12.210 and with professor Cecilia Menjívar, 00:02:12.210 --> 00:02:15.150 originally from El Salvador, who lived this. 00:02:15.150 --> 00:02:16.850 All that and more, coming up. 00:02:20.980 --> 00:02:24.500 Welcome to Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, 00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:27.400 The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman. 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:30.630 President Trump has announced he is sending a "surge" 00:02:30.630 --> 00:02:33.200 of federal officers into Chicago, 00:02:33.200 --> 00:02:36.740 Albuquerque and other large Democrat-run cities, 00:02:36.740 --> 00:02:39.010 claiming it is needed to combat a rise in crime. 00:02:39.010 --> 00:02:40.690 President Donald Trump: 00:02:40.690 --> 00:02:43.180 "I am announcing that the Department of Justice 00:02:43.180 --> 00:02:46.020 will immediately surge federal law enforcement 00:02:46.750 --> 00:02:48.450 to the city of Chicago. 00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:56.360 The FBI, ATF, DEA, U.S. Marshals Service and Homeland Security 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:58.670 will together be sending hundreds of skilled 00:02:58.670 --> 00:03:01.090 law enforcement officers to Chicago 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:03.840 to help drive down violent crime." 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:08.680 Trump’s announcement came as he faces increasing criticism 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:13.050 for deploying paramilitary-style units to Portland, Oregon, 00:03:13.050 --> 00:03:15.510 where unidentified federal officers 00:03:15.510 --> 00:03:18.180 have attacked antiracist protesters 00:03:18.180 --> 00:03:22.760 and even snatched activists off the streets in unmarked vans. 00:03:22.760 --> 00:03:26.350 The Portland City Council has voted to end cooperation 00:03:26.350 --> 00:03:29.290 between local police and federal law enforcement. 00:03:29.290 --> 00:03:30.620 On Wednesday night, 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:35.060 federal forces fired tear gas at protesters once again. 00:03:35.060 --> 00:03:38.010 Among those hit was Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, 00:03:38.010 --> 00:03:41.390 who also serves as police commissioner. 00:03:41.390 --> 00:03:43.780 Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union 00:03:43.780 --> 00:03:46.220 has sued the Department of Homeland Security, 00:03:46.220 --> 00:03:48.890 U.S. Marshals Service and the city of Portland 00:03:48.890 --> 00:03:53.100 for attacking medics while they cared for injured protesters. 00:03:53.650 --> 00:03:57.040 For a second day in a row, the United States reported more 00:03:57.040 --> 00:04:00.690 than 1,100 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday. 00:04:00.690 --> 00:04:04.120 The New York Times reports nearly 60,000 people 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:07.980 are now hospitalized for COVID-19 across the country, 00:04:07.980 --> 00:04:10.770 nearly eclipsing the number of hospitalizations 00:04:10.770 --> 00:04:13.610 during the peak of the pandemic in April. 00:04:13.610 --> 00:04:16.680 California set new single-day records on Wednesday 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.220 for cases and hospitalizations. 00:04:19.220 --> 00:04:23.360 The U.S. death toll has now topped 143,000, 00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:25.740 with the total number of confirmed cases 00:04:25.740 --> 00:04:28.460 approaching 4 million. 00:04:28.460 --> 00:04:31.500 The governors of Indiana, Minnesota and Ohio 00:04:31.500 --> 00:04:34.460 all announced new orders requiring residents 00:04:34.460 --> 00:04:36.560 to wear masks in public. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:38.820 Meanwhile, a number of large businesses, 00:04:38.820 --> 00:04:42.360 including Costco, Walmart, Winn-Dixie and Whole Foods, 00:04:42.360 --> 00:04:45.700 are now requiring customers to wear masks. 00:04:45.700 --> 00:04:47.780 On Wednesday, the Trump administration 00:04:47.780 --> 00:04:52.190 awarded a $2 billion contract with Pfizer and a German partner 00:04:52.190 --> 00:04:56.560 to make 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine 00:04:56.560 --> 00:04:58.500 that is still being tested. 00:04:58.500 --> 00:04:59.920 President Trump held another 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:02.360 televised coronavirus briefing Wednesday, 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:04.090 where he falsely claimed that children 00:05:04.090 --> 00:05:05.440 do not transmit the virus. 00:05:05.440 --> 00:05:07.620 Trump conducted the briefing alone. 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:09.430 Anthony Fauci, director of the National 00:05:09.430 --> 00:05:11.340 Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 00:05:11.340 --> 00:05:12.860 was not invited to the briefing — 00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:15.700 but he will make a public appearance later today. 00:05:15.700 --> 00:05:17.680 Fauci will throw out the first pitch 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:20.060 at the Washington Nationals opening game. 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:21.390 Major League Baseball 00:05:21.390 --> 00:05:23.130 is beginning a shortened season today. 00:05:23.130 --> 00:05:26.150 Games will be played in empty ballparks. 00:05:27.540 --> 00:05:30.060 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected 00:05:30.060 --> 00:05:34.310 to unveil a new $1 trillion COVID-19 relief package today. 00:05:34.310 --> 00:05:36.770 The deal includes a new round of stimulus checks, 00:05:36.770 --> 00:05:40.650 $16 billion in new funding for COVID-19 testing 00:05:40.650 --> 00:05:44.460 and $70 billion for K-12 schools. 00:05:44.460 --> 00:05:45.700 Under the deal, 00:05:45.700 --> 00:05:49.060 the Trump administration will also spend $9 billion 00:05:49.060 --> 00:05:54.520 already allocated for testing that has not been used yet 00:05:54.520 --> 00:05:58.370 despite widespread testing shortages in many states. 00:05:58.370 --> 00:06:00.890 It remains unclear if Republican lawmakers 00:06:00.890 --> 00:06:02.810 will support extending a program 00:06:02.810 --> 00:06:05.450 that has given unemployed workers an extra $600 00:06:05.960 --> 00:06:08.040 in weekly jobless benefits. 00:06:08.950 --> 00:06:14.420 The number of global COVID-19 cases has now topped 15 million. 00:06:14.420 --> 00:06:17.840 On Wednesday, Brazil set a new single-day record 00:06:17.840 --> 00:06:22.210 with nearly 68,000 new cases and almost 1,300 deaths. 00:06:22.210 --> 00:06:24.660 Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro 00:06:24.660 --> 00:06:27.140 has extended his two-week quarantine 00:06:27.140 --> 00:06:30.990 after testing positive again for the coronavirus. 00:06:30.990 --> 00:06:34.880 Meanwhile, one of Brazil’s most influential Indigenous leaders, 00:06:34.880 --> 00:06:38.650 Aritana Yawalapiti, is in an intensive care unit 00:06:38.650 --> 00:06:40.690 being treated for COVID-19. 00:06:41.420 --> 00:06:46.060 In South Africa, nearly 600 died from the virus on Wednesday — 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:49.830 a new single-day high. India also set a new record 00:06:49.830 --> 00:06:54.370 with nearly 46,000 new cases over the past 24 hours. 00:06:54.370 --> 00:06:58.400 The overall death toll in India is now approaching 30,000. 00:06:58.400 --> 00:07:00.570 In Guatemala, public health officials 00:07:00.570 --> 00:07:03.180 are reporting COVID-19 is spreading inside 00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:05.570 one of the nation’s largest public hospitals 00:07:05.570 --> 00:07:08.740 as overcrowding is causing non-COVID patients 00:07:08.740 --> 00:07:11.320 to come into contact with infected patients. 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:15.240 In Israel, 34 people were arrested earlier this week 00:07:15.990 --> 00:07:17.430 during ongoing protests 00:07:17.430 --> 00:07:19.670 against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 00:07:19.670 --> 00:07:23.020 handling of the coronavirus pandemic and corruption. 00:07:23.020 --> 00:07:25.930 This comes as the United Nations warns Israel’s threat 00:07:25.930 --> 00:07:27.830 to annex parts of the West Bank 00:07:27.830 --> 00:07:31.510 has hindered Palestinian efforts to control the pandemic. 00:07:31.510 --> 00:07:34.640 The U.N. special envoy made the remarks a day 00:07:34.640 --> 00:07:37.490 after Israeli authorities demolished a coronavirus 00:07:37.490 --> 00:07:39.900 testing center in the city of Hebron. 00:07:41.950 --> 00:07:45.490 In immigration news, a federal judge on Wednesday denied 00:07:45.490 --> 00:07:48.220 pleas to release immigrant families imprisoned 00:07:48.220 --> 00:07:50.570 at three Immigration and Customs Enforcement 00:07:50.570 --> 00:07:56.230 "family detention centers" in Texas and Pennsylvania, 00:07:56.230 --> 00:08:00.680 despite concerns over rising coronavirus infections. 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:03.900 This comes as a separate federal judge has given ICE 00:08:03.900 --> 00:08:08.160 until July 27 to release children from these facilities, 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:11.600 prompting fears that families will once again be separated. 00:08:13.150 --> 00:08:16.100 The Associated Press reports the Trump administration 00:08:16.100 --> 00:08:19.260 has been detaining immigrant children and toddlers 00:08:19.260 --> 00:08:22.190 as young as 1 year old in hotels, 00:08:22.190 --> 00:08:25.740 sometimes for weeks at a time, and then deporting them. 00:08:25.740 --> 00:08:28.620 Immigrant rights attorneys say this violates 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:30.980 federal anti-human-trafficking laws 00:08:30.980 --> 00:08:33.730 that demand unaccompanied immigrant children 00:08:33.730 --> 00:08:36.980 be sent to government shelters or placed with sponsors. 00:08:36.980 --> 00:08:38.910 A private contractor working with ICE 00:08:38.910 --> 00:08:40.670 has reportedly been taking children 00:08:40.670 --> 00:08:44.400 to three Hampton Inn & Suites hotels in Arizona 00:08:44.400 --> 00:08:46.530 and at the Texas-Mexico border. 00:08:46.530 --> 00:08:51.010 The hotels have reportedly been used at least 200 times. 00:08:52.020 --> 00:08:54.380 In Canada, a federal court has ruled 00:08:54.380 --> 00:08:57.950 that an asylum agreement with the United States is invalid, 00:08:57.950 --> 00:09:01.640 saying the U.S. violates the human rights of refugees. 00:09:01.640 --> 00:09:05.310 The Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the U.S. 00:09:05.310 --> 00:09:07.680 was established in 2004, 00:09:07.680 --> 00:09:10.090 and it required refugees to seek asylum 00:09:10.090 --> 00:09:13.040 in the first safe country they reached in their journey. 00:09:13.040 --> 00:09:17.690 Refugees arriving to the U.S.-Canada border 00:09:17.690 --> 00:09:19.690 were often turned away and forced 00:09:19.690 --> 00:09:23.550 to go back to the U.S. to apply for asylum there. 00:09:23.550 --> 00:09:26.520 Attorneys and refugees seeking refuge in Canada 00:09:26.520 --> 00:09:31.290 have long argued the U.S. is no longer safe for asylum seekers. 00:09:31.860 --> 00:09:34.890 In more immigration news, state senators in New York 00:09:34.890 --> 00:09:37.450 have passed the Protect Our Courts Act. 00:09:37.450 --> 00:09:41.050 The bill aims to bar Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents 00:09:41.050 --> 00:09:43.480 from making arrests inside courthouses 00:09:43.480 --> 00:09:45.510 without a judicial warrant. 00:09:46.130 --> 00:09:48.600 On Capitol Hill, the Democratic-led House 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:51.420 passed the NO BAN Act on Wednesday. 00:09:51.420 --> 00:09:54.400 The legislation, authored by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, 00:09:54.400 --> 00:09:57.100 aims to reverse all versions of President Trump’s 00:09:57.100 --> 00:10:01.020 travel bans that target many predominantly Muslim countries. 00:10:01.020 --> 00:10:03.050 The House approved a bill to remove 00:10:03.050 --> 00:10:06.240 Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol. 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:09.120 Seventy-two Republicans joined Democrats 00:10:09.120 --> 00:10:10.950 to approve the measure. 00:10:10.950 --> 00:10:13.730 The House passed a bipartisan measure 00:10:13.730 --> 00:10:16.680 to allocate $900 million a year 00:10:16.680 --> 00:10:20.170 to acquire and preserve more land for public use, 00:10:20.170 --> 00:10:24.420 and to spend $9.5 billion on the U.S. national parks 00:10:24.420 --> 00:10:27.900 over the next five years. The National Wildlife Federation 00:10:27.900 --> 00:10:30.100 described the Great American Outdoors Act 00:10:30.100 --> 00:10:31.970 as the most significant investment 00:10:31.970 --> 00:10:34.070 in conservation in decades. 00:10:35.040 --> 00:10:37.820 In the Senate, Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy 00:10:37.820 --> 00:10:40.300 has introduced the John Lewis Voting Rights 00:10:40.300 --> 00:10:43.500 Advancement Act, a bill to restore the landmark 00:10:43.500 --> 00:10:44.750 Voting Rights Act. 00:10:44.750 --> 00:10:48.120 The House has already approved similar legislation. 00:10:49.880 --> 00:10:53.810 The self-described anti-feminist attorney 00:10:53.810 --> 00:10:55.890 who is suspected of ambushing the home 00:10:55.890 --> 00:10:57.940 of a federal judge in New Jersey 00:10:57.940 --> 00:11:00.030 and killing her son has been linked 00:11:00.030 --> 00:11:02.600 to the recent murder of Marc Angelucci, 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:05.480 a men’s rights attorney in California 00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:08.230 who was shot dead on July 11. 00:11:08.230 --> 00:11:11.590 The suspect in both cases, Roy Den Hollander, 00:11:11.590 --> 00:11:15.040 was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound 00:11:15.040 --> 00:11:18.550 after he attacked the home of Judge Esther Salas, 00:11:18.550 --> 00:11:21.280 the first Latina federal judge in New Jersey, 00:11:21.280 --> 00:11:23.310 appointed in 2011. 00:11:23.310 --> 00:11:25.220 Salas was not injured in the attack, 00:11:25.220 --> 00:11:26.570 but her son was killed, 00:11:26.570 --> 00:11:28.850 and her husband was critically injured. 00:11:30.700 --> 00:11:33.150 In Afghanistan, local authorities are reporting 00:11:33.150 --> 00:11:34.720 45 people were killed — 00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:36.400 including at least eight civilians — 00:11:36.400 --> 00:11:39.910 in a series of airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan. 00:11:39.910 --> 00:11:43.080 The strikes reportedly targeted Taliban fighters. 00:11:43.950 --> 00:11:46.280 Charles Evers, the brother of Medgar Evers, 00:11:46.280 --> 00:11:52.780 has died at the age of 97. In 1963, Charles Evers 00:11:52.780 --> 00:11:56.720 became the Mississippi field director of the NAACP, 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:59.200 taking the post held by his brother, 00:11:59.200 --> 00:12:01.980 who was assassinated by a white supremacist. 00:12:03.150 --> 00:12:07.010 In 1969, Charles Evers was elected mayor of Fayette, 00:12:07.010 --> 00:12:09.670 becoming the first African American mayor 00:12:09.670 --> 00:12:12.190 in Mississippi since Reconstruction. 00:12:13.970 --> 00:12:16.990 The South African anti-apartheid activist 00:12:16.990 --> 00:12:21.000 Andrew Mlangeni has died at the age of 95. 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:24.130 In 1964, he was sentenced to life in prison 00:12:24.130 --> 00:12:25.810 alongside Nelson Mandela 00:12:25.810 --> 00:12:27.920 and six others during the infamous Rivonia 00:12:27.920 --> 00:12:29.160 Trial. 00:12:29.160 --> 00:12:32.780 He served 26 years in prison, much of it at Robben Island. 00:12:32.780 --> 00:12:36.030 In 2013, he spoke at Mandela’s funeral. 00:12:36.800 --> 00:12:38.020 Andrew Mlangeni: 00:12:38.020 --> 00:12:42.280 "Madiba’s greatness as a leader stems from his humility 00:12:42.280 --> 00:12:46.200 and an engraved belief in the persuasion 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:49.220 and respect for collective leadership. 00:12:51.070 --> 00:12:53.850 He believed in sharing insights, 00:12:55.060 --> 00:12:58.450 and listening to and learning from others." 00:13:00.270 --> 00:13:02.680 And those are some of the headlines this is Democracy 00:13:02.680 --> 00:13:06.070 Now, Democracynow.org, the War and Peace Report. 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:11.510 I’m Amy Goodman. 00:13:16.750 --> 00:13:18.910 AMY GOODMAN: President Trump has announced Wednesday 00:13:18.910 --> 00:13:24.160 he’s sending a "surge" of federal agents into Chicago, 00:13:24.160 --> 00:13:27.460 Albuquerque and other Democrat-run cities 00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:30.570 to crack down on Black Lives Matter protests, 00:13:30.570 --> 00:13:34.020 claiming the move is necessary to combat a rise in crime. 00:13:34.020 --> 00:13:36.510 This is Trump speaking this week. 00:13:36.510 --> 00:13:37.740 PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’re not going to let 00:13:37.740 --> 00:13:39.670 New York and Chicago and Philadelphia, 00:13:39.670 --> 00:13:44.120 Detroit and Baltimore and all of these — 00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:46.050 Oakland is a mess. 00:13:46.050 --> 00:13:48.170 We’re not going to let this happen in our country. 00:13:48.170 --> 00:13:50.070 All run by liberal Democrats. 00:13:50.810 --> 00:13:52.750 AMY GOODMAN: This comes as the president faces 00:13:52.750 --> 00:13:54.260 increasing criticism 00:13:54.260 --> 00:13:58.350 for deploying paramilitary-style units to Portland, Oregon, 00:13:58.350 --> 00:14:00.690 where unidentified federal officers 00:14:00.690 --> 00:14:03.260 have attacked antiracist protesters 00:14:03.260 --> 00:14:07.890 and even snatched activists off the streets in unmarked vans. 00:14:07.890 --> 00:14:11.410 On Wednesday night, federal forces fired tear gas 00:14:11.410 --> 00:14:13.700 at protesters in Portland once again. 00:14:14.340 --> 00:14:17.310 Among those hit was Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, 00:14:17.310 --> 00:14:20.060 who also serves as Portland’s police commissioner. 00:14:20.580 --> 00:14:23.610 Portland’s City Council voted to end cooperation 00:14:23.610 --> 00:14:26.780 between local police and federal law enforcement. 00:14:26.780 --> 00:14:28.730 And the American Civil Liberties Union 00:14:28.730 --> 00:14:31.850 is now suing the Department of Homeland Security, 00:14:31.850 --> 00:14:34.680 U.S. Marshals Service, as well as the city of Portland, 00:14:34.680 --> 00:14:38.540 for attacking medics while they cared for injured protesters. 00:14:38.540 --> 00:14:40.790 Trump has responded by saying federal agents 00:14:40.790 --> 00:14:42.640 are doing a "fantastic job," 00:14:42.640 --> 00:14:46.130 and is now threatening to deploy them across the country. 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:48.680 Now, in a remarkable statement, 00:14:48.680 --> 00:14:50.460 the Philadelphia district attorney 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:53.160 has warned Trump’s police forces 00:14:53.160 --> 00:14:55.850 that he will criminally charge them 00:14:55.850 --> 00:14:58.830 if they bring these same tactics to Philadelphia. 00:14:59.490 --> 00:15:02.220 DA Larry Krasner issued the statement 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:03.480 Wednesday that, quote, 00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:06.330 "My dad volunteered and served in World War II 00:15:06.330 --> 00:15:08.690 to fight fascism, like most of my uncles, 00:15:08.690 --> 00:15:10.960 so we would not have an American president 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:13.360 brutalizing and kidnapping Americans 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:15.850 for exercising their constitutional rights 00:15:15.850 --> 00:15:18.060 and trying to make America a better place, 00:15:18.060 --> 00:15:19.830 which is what patriots do. 00:15:19.830 --> 00:15:21.960 Anyone, including federal law enforcement, 00:15:21.960 --> 00:15:24.770 who unlawfully assaults and kidnaps people will face 00:15:24.770 --> 00:15:27.120 criminal charges from my office." 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:29.550 Again, the words of Larry Krasner, 00:15:29.550 --> 00:15:31.520 the district attorney of Philadelphia, 00:15:31.520 --> 00:15:34.710 who joins us now from Philadelphia for more. 00:15:34.710 --> 00:15:37.370 DA Larry Krasner, thank you for joining us. 00:15:37.370 --> 00:15:42.090 Can you explain how exactly you plan to arrest federal agents? 00:15:42.780 --> 00:15:46.360 And what actions do you feel would warrant that? 00:15:47.450 --> 00:15:48.810 LARRY KRASNER: Good morning. 00:15:48.810 --> 00:15:52.040 Well, first of all, we do not plan to arrest anyone. 00:15:52.760 --> 00:15:55.160 We plan for people to obey the law. 00:15:55.160 --> 00:15:58.500 So, if any federal authorities were to come to Philadelphia 00:15:58.500 --> 00:16:00.870 and follow the law and follow the Constitution, 00:16:00.870 --> 00:16:02.130 the issue will not present, 00:16:02.130 --> 00:16:03.830 which is certainly what we all hope. 00:16:03.830 --> 00:16:05.140 But it’s real simple. 00:16:05.140 --> 00:16:08.220 The law applies to the president of the United States, 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:09.630 even though he doesn’t think so. 00:16:09.630 --> 00:16:11.700 The law applies to law enforcement. 00:16:11.700 --> 00:16:13.180 The law applies to civilians. 00:16:13.180 --> 00:16:15.720 I mean, it is real simple. We have to be even-handed. 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:18.130 So, if people are going to come to Philadelphia, 00:16:18.130 --> 00:16:20.250 and, in uniform, they’re going to fracture 00:16:20.250 --> 00:16:23.660 the skulls of protesters with rubber bullets, 00:16:23.660 --> 00:16:25.310 they’re going to jump out of rental vans 00:16:25.310 --> 00:16:28.490 and drag people into those vans without probable cause, 00:16:28.490 --> 00:16:32.040 they are committing crimes under the Pennsylvania statutes. 00:16:32.040 --> 00:16:33.620 These are Pennsylvania offenses 00:16:33.620 --> 00:16:36.030 over which the district attorney in Philly 00:16:36.030 --> 00:16:39.380 has jurisdiction over that area, and we can bring those charges. 00:16:39.380 --> 00:16:41.450 The law is very clear. 00:16:41.450 --> 00:16:43.730 We can proceed with those charges in state court. 00:16:43.730 --> 00:16:45.140 Under certain circumstances, 00:16:45.140 --> 00:16:48.730 they might end up being processed in federal court. 00:16:48.730 --> 00:16:50.730 But, initially, we can bring those charges. 00:16:50.730 --> 00:16:52.730 We can pursue them. And as much as possible, 00:16:52.730 --> 00:16:56.270 we can put those individuals in front of a Philadelphia jury, 00:16:56.270 --> 00:16:58.869 who might have something to say about those tactics. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.350 NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, I mean, the question is: 00:17:01.350 --> 00:17:05.340 Does the president even have the legal authority 00:17:05.340 --> 00:17:10.430 to deploy federal officers on the streets of Philadelphia, 00:17:10.430 --> 00:17:12.610 irrespective of what they do? 00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:15.940 Cornell University constitutional law professor 00:17:15.940 --> 00:17:17.520 Michael Dorf 00:17:17.520 --> 00:17:21.520 said that federal authorities coming into states like this 00:17:21.520 --> 00:17:26.520 without the cooperation of state and local authorities is, quote, 00:17:26.520 --> 00:17:30.430 "extraordinary outside the context of a civil war." 00:17:31.330 --> 00:17:33.280 Larry Krasner, your response? 00:17:34.120 --> 00:17:36.690 LARRY KRASNER: So, you know, there are certain kinds 00:17:36.690 --> 00:17:38.050 of overlapping jurisdiction. 00:17:38.050 --> 00:17:41.530 A couple of classic ones are over drug offenses, 00:17:41.530 --> 00:17:43.070 over gun offenses. 00:17:43.070 --> 00:17:45.740 And there are collaborations between state 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:48.380 and federal law enforcement that go on all the time. 00:17:48.380 --> 00:17:50.050 In fact, they are happening in my office 00:17:50.050 --> 00:17:53.020 right now in many different investigations. 00:17:53.020 --> 00:17:54.290 But there is also 00:17:54.290 --> 00:17:57.200 a long-standing sort of protocol to this, 00:17:57.200 --> 00:17:59.790 in which you inform each other of what you’re doing. 00:17:59.790 --> 00:18:01.500 Some of the time, you know, 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:04.000 one of the prosecutorial entities or police entities 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.600 gets out of the way, so as to not trip over it. 00:18:06.600 --> 00:18:07.950 That’s not what we’re seeing here. 00:18:07.950 --> 00:18:09.580 What we are seeing here is, 00:18:09.580 --> 00:18:12.210 A, who knows what, because it’s Donald Trump — 00:18:12.210 --> 00:18:13.970 who knows what entity is going to show up, 00:18:13.970 --> 00:18:16.920 in what uniforms, to do what? And what we are seeing 00:18:16.920 --> 00:18:19.600 is absolutely no interest in collaboration. 00:18:19.600 --> 00:18:22.070 But I think it’s very important not to overstate 00:18:22.070 --> 00:18:23.860 what’s really happening here. 00:18:23.860 --> 00:18:26.290 When, you know, the president talks about 00:18:26.290 --> 00:18:29.820 how he’s going to take over cities — really? 00:18:29.820 --> 00:18:31.070 Is that what you’re going to do? 00:18:31.070 --> 00:18:35.490 In Chicago, there are 12,500 active police officers. 00:18:35.490 --> 00:18:38.200 The last number I heard coming from the president 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:42.700 was he was going to send 150 federal agents of some sort. 00:18:43.280 --> 00:18:44.980 Really? Wow! That’s 1%. 00:18:45.650 --> 00:18:49.750 That is 1% of the normal police force in Chicago. 00:18:49.750 --> 00:18:51.590 So we should not lose sight of the reality 00:18:51.590 --> 00:18:53.750 that what Donald Trump always does 00:18:53.750 --> 00:18:57.560 is he’s got some shiny object that he’s shining over here, 00:18:57.560 --> 00:18:59.540 and he wants us to pay attention to it 00:18:59.540 --> 00:19:02.120 because he’s doing some dirt in some other location. 00:19:02.120 --> 00:19:05.260 Here, he obviously is doing a pretty effective job 00:19:05.260 --> 00:19:08.250 of trying to distract from his incredible failures, 00:19:08.250 --> 00:19:10.210 including his failures with the pandemic 00:19:10.210 --> 00:19:12.210 and with the economy at this point. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:15.380 So, it remains to be seen what exactly he’ll do, 00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:16.970 if anything, in Philadelphia. 00:19:16.970 --> 00:19:19.840 It remains to be seen to what extent this is all fluff. 00:19:19.840 --> 00:19:22.130 Obviously, there have been some pretty terrible things 00:19:22.130 --> 00:19:23.370 that have happened in Portland, 00:19:23.370 --> 00:19:25.790 that appear — without perfect information, 00:19:25.790 --> 00:19:27.320 because I don’t have perfect information, 00:19:27.320 --> 00:19:30.680 but they appear to be illegal, and blatantly so. 00:19:31.710 --> 00:19:34.760 All I can say is, if federal authorities 00:19:34.760 --> 00:19:37.400 want to come to Philadelphia and break the law, 00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:39.920 then they will face the law like everyone else. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:41.180 AMY GOODMAN: DA Krasner, 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:43.080 can you talk about your family’s history? 00:19:43.080 --> 00:19:45.820 And would you say that President Trump’s move, 00:19:45.820 --> 00:19:48.270 calling for a "surge" of these federal agents 00:19:48.270 --> 00:19:49.550 throughout the country, 00:19:49.550 --> 00:19:51.400 particularly in Democratic cities — 00:19:52.160 --> 00:19:54.160 would you call President Trump fascist? 00:19:57.470 --> 00:19:58.930 LARRY KRASNER: I would say President Trump 00:19:58.930 --> 00:20:00.470 is definitely a wannabe fascist. 00:20:00.470 --> 00:20:02.270 I’m not sure he can spell the word, 00:20:02.270 --> 00:20:06.020 but he definitely is someone who’s in love with dictators. 00:20:06.020 --> 00:20:08.180 He’s in love with authoritarianism, 00:20:08.180 --> 00:20:11.180 brutality, racism, division, hate. 00:20:11.180 --> 00:20:13.880 His playbook is essentially the same playbook 00:20:13.880 --> 00:20:15.940 as the white supremacist playbook, 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:18.740 which is, you know, as we see with the Proud Boys, 00:20:18.740 --> 00:20:20.740 the "boogaloo" movement, all this kind of stuff, 00:20:20.740 --> 00:20:23.010 we see that they are trying to take advantage 00:20:23.010 --> 00:20:26.630 of the peaceful protests, which is the vast majority 00:20:26.630 --> 00:20:28.730 of what it is, around George Floyd 00:20:28.730 --> 00:20:32.190 to become agent provocateurs, to get into it 00:20:32.190 --> 00:20:33.570 and to cause violence 00:20:33.570 --> 00:20:35.440 that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:37.230 So, once they have caused it, they can say, 00:20:37.230 --> 00:20:38.610 "Look at these people. 00:20:38.610 --> 00:20:40.440 Look at what these Black people do. 00:20:40.440 --> 00:20:42.580 Or look at what these left-wing people do." 00:20:42.580 --> 00:20:45.030 Well, they’re not doing it. The Proud Boys are doing it. 00:20:45.030 --> 00:20:47.260 The "boogaloo" crew are doing it, 00:20:47.260 --> 00:20:49.050 because, as they have repeatedly stated, 00:20:49.050 --> 00:20:51.170 they’re looking to have a second civil war, 00:20:51.170 --> 00:20:53.770 as absurd as that may all sound. 00:20:53.770 --> 00:20:55.100 It’s the same tactic 00:20:55.100 --> 00:20:57.340 that we’re seeing with Donald Trump right now. 00:20:57.340 --> 00:21:00.420 We have cities that have not had unrest, 00:21:00.420 --> 00:21:02.560 that have not had an uprising for weeks. 00:21:02.560 --> 00:21:05.380 The only thing that’s been happening in Philly for weeks 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:07.740 has been a moderate amount of peaceful protest. 00:21:07.740 --> 00:21:10.600 And yet the president is announcing to the nation 00:21:10.600 --> 00:21:12.270 that Philadelphia is out of control. 00:21:12.270 --> 00:21:14.940 No, it’s not. I’m here. I live here. 00:21:14.940 --> 00:21:17.510 The police commissioner is here. We all see what’s going on. 00:21:17.510 --> 00:21:19.350 There is no problem. 00:21:19.350 --> 00:21:21.080 There is no crisis that would in any way 00:21:21.080 --> 00:21:23.230 require federal intervention. 00:21:23.230 --> 00:21:26.490 But, once again, if he sends troops of some sort, 00:21:26.490 --> 00:21:29.710 federal agents of some sort, in here to stir things up, 00:21:29.710 --> 00:21:32.130 to requisition people, to beat people up, 00:21:32.130 --> 00:21:35.850 if he sends it in, he’s going to cause unrest. 00:21:35.850 --> 00:21:37.050 So, what I’m saying is, 00:21:37.050 --> 00:21:39.890 he is acting as an agent provocateur 00:21:39.890 --> 00:21:42.090 by using his authority to send people in. 00:21:42.090 --> 00:21:44.680 And what is the real purpose of this, from his perspective? 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:46.530 It’s probably not a second civil war. 00:21:47.570 --> 00:21:49.990 He’s much more shortsighted and narcissistic than that. 00:21:49.990 --> 00:21:53.660 His real purpose is to distract from his dismal record, 00:21:53.660 --> 00:21:56.480 the fact that his campaign is dropping like a stone. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:58.520 In terms of my family history, 00:21:58.520 --> 00:22:02.240 you know, I mean, it’s just — we have a lot of people — 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:03.950 or they’re almost all passed now, 00:22:03.950 --> 00:22:06.640 but we have a lot of people in the family who were of an age 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:09.400 that they volunteered and they served in World War II. 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:13.090 My dad served in the Pacific on a Pacific island at an airbase. 00:22:13.090 --> 00:22:15.670 I had an uncle who was in Germany. 00:22:16.210 --> 00:22:19.410 He was an artillery spotter, which is one lousy job to have, 00:22:19.410 --> 00:22:22.810 because you’re in between both sides watching the shells 00:22:22.810 --> 00:22:24.750 that have been fired from both sides, 00:22:24.750 --> 00:22:26.160 and hopefully they don’t land on you. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:27.430 That’s a tough thing to do. 00:22:27.430 --> 00:22:29.220 I had another one who lost most of his hearing 00:22:29.220 --> 00:22:31.400 serving on a Navy vessel. 00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:33.260 And going a little further than that, 00:22:33.260 --> 00:22:35.330 if you look to my wife’s side of the family, 00:22:35.330 --> 00:22:37.940 her father was career military. He was not in World War II, 00:22:37.940 --> 00:22:40.450 but he flew planes in a couple different wars 00:22:40.450 --> 00:22:43.150 and eventually ended up being a pilot 00:22:43.150 --> 00:22:44.870 for an ambassador to Afghanistan, 00:22:45.470 --> 00:22:48.580 which is where my wife lived when she was a young child. 00:22:48.580 --> 00:22:50.720 So, we go way back when it comes to this. 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:53.610 That’s not to say we’re any different or any better. 00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:57.490 But we have someone here who avoided military service, 00:22:57.490 --> 00:23:01.510 not because he was a conscientious objector, 00:23:01.510 --> 00:23:05.510 but because he’s entitled, privileged, cowardly and lazy. 00:23:06.100 --> 00:23:07.610 We have this person 00:23:07.610 --> 00:23:10.540 pretending to be some kind of wannabe fascist. 00:23:10.540 --> 00:23:12.160 And it is intolerable. 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:14.640 This is nothing that we can accept in the United States. 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:15.960 AMY GOODMAN: Larry Krasner, I want to ask you about 00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:18.530 the people still locked up in Philadelphia’s jails 00:23:18.530 --> 00:23:21.100 despite the higher risk of contracting COVID. 00:23:21.760 --> 00:23:24.070 Most of them are waiting for their day in court, 00:23:24.070 --> 00:23:26.880 which has been disrupted due to the spread of the virus. 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:28.250 Many are bail-eligible. 00:23:28.250 --> 00:23:30.330 The Philadelphia Community Bail Fund 00:23:30.330 --> 00:23:33.250 has been actively bailing people out during this time. 00:23:33.250 --> 00:23:36.110 Some activists have focused in particular on young people 00:23:36.110 --> 00:23:37.530 who are still imprisoned. 00:23:37.530 --> 00:23:39.330 This is a member of the Youth Art & 00:23:39.330 --> 00:23:41.500 Self-Empowerment Project named Briyanna 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:43.980 describing what it was like when her juvenile son 00:23:43.980 --> 00:23:46.400 was recently incarcerated during COVID. 00:23:47.610 --> 00:23:49.970 BRIYANNA: I worried. I worried about my son. 00:23:50.630 --> 00:23:53.900 Is he eating? Is he safe? Is he cold? 00:23:56.800 --> 00:24:00.230 I also couldn’t see my son because of COVID-19, 00:24:00.230 --> 00:24:03.840 which made it even worse. So there was 14 days 00:24:04.670 --> 00:24:07.280 that I only had a phone conversation with my son. 00:24:07.810 --> 00:24:10.420 There were no hugs. There were no kisses. 00:24:11.800 --> 00:24:13.030 AMY GOODMAN: DA Larry Krasner, 00:24:13.030 --> 00:24:15.340 do you think there are people locked up right now 00:24:15.340 --> 00:24:18.190 who should not be, given the health risks? 00:24:18.190 --> 00:24:21.520 What is your office doing to release more people 00:24:22.270 --> 00:24:24.340 from what have been called death traps? 00:24:24.340 --> 00:24:25.660 I’m looking at an ad 00:24:25.660 --> 00:24:27.760 by the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund. 00:24:27.760 --> 00:24:31.330 They said, "DA Larry Krasner, drop the charges, 00:24:31.330 --> 00:24:32.720 not your knee." 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:35.330 They said charged more than 400 people 00:24:35.330 --> 00:24:37.230 in the last two days of protests — 00:24:37.230 --> 00:24:40.610 this was in the last weeks — kept over a hundred 00:24:40.610 --> 00:24:44.290 Black youth in detention during COVID, incarcerated thousands 00:24:44.290 --> 00:24:48.480 of Black Philadelphians in cages at risk of death during COVID. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:52.350 Can you respond to these accusations 00:24:52.350 --> 00:24:54.070 or criticisms against you? 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:56.280 LARRY KRASNER: Well, you know, 00:24:56.280 --> 00:24:58.000 the problem with a lot of these criticisms 00:24:58.000 --> 00:24:59.590 is they’re completely out of context, 00:24:59.590 --> 00:25:02.310 and, frankly, cynically out of context. 00:25:02.830 --> 00:25:05.960 When we came into office, we were coming off of a city 00:25:05.960 --> 00:25:08.940 that had 10,000 people in county custody. 00:25:08.940 --> 00:25:10.900 We started with 6,500. 00:25:10.900 --> 00:25:14.710 We knocked it down to about 5,000 within a year and a half, 00:25:14.710 --> 00:25:17.970 which was the quickest progress towards decarceration, 00:25:17.970 --> 00:25:20.880 essentially, in the history of the city. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:22.530 And we are currently at 4,000. 00:25:22.530 --> 00:25:24.950 This is the lowest rate of incarceration in Philadelphia 00:25:24.950 --> 00:25:29.240 since about 1985. 1985. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:33.290 And we have gotten there through a lot of extremely diligent 00:25:33.290 --> 00:25:34.720 and careful work. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:37.360 But, you know, I would be misleading you if I told you 00:25:37.360 --> 00:25:40.380 I thought that people who were accused of murdering four people 00:25:40.380 --> 00:25:42.240 should be out of custody. They should not. 00:25:42.240 --> 00:25:45.110 They should be in custody before they kill five people. 00:25:45.110 --> 00:25:47.410 And I’m not making that up. We have someone sitting there 00:25:47.410 --> 00:25:49.620 who literally was a contract killer 00:25:49.620 --> 00:25:52.680 and who is associated with four different murders. 00:25:52.680 --> 00:25:54.980 We have someone else associated with five. 00:25:54.980 --> 00:25:58.560 Once again, you know, let’s talk about the juveniles. 00:25:58.560 --> 00:26:02.950 When we came in, there were about 650 juveniles in custody, 00:26:02.950 --> 00:26:05.250 which was lower than it had been in the past. 00:26:05.250 --> 00:26:07.930 There is now on the — it changes every day, of course, 00:26:07.930 --> 00:26:10.320 but there’s now something like 140. 00:26:10.320 --> 00:26:13.160 It is not enough simply to say that someone is a juvenile. 00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:16.190 If that juvenile has paralyzed another juvenile 00:26:16.190 --> 00:26:19.590 by shooting them in the back of the head behind a dumpster, 00:26:19.590 --> 00:26:22.410 there is a role that has to be played by the state 00:26:22.410 --> 00:26:23.870 in order to make sure that we do 00:26:23.870 --> 00:26:26.870 not have the slaughter of people on the street. 00:26:26.870 --> 00:26:30.000 So, I do not have any reservation about saying 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:31.250 that there are some people 00:26:31.250 --> 00:26:33.670 who need to be in custody even under these circumstances. 00:26:33.670 --> 00:26:34.910 But this office, 00:26:34.910 --> 00:26:37.450 working closely with the Public Defender’s Office, 00:26:37.450 --> 00:26:41.700 has done a remarkable job of diminishing the harm 00:26:41.700 --> 00:26:44.570 that could have come from Philadelphia’s jails 00:26:44.570 --> 00:26:47.280 becoming an epicenter. They have not become that. 00:26:48.080 --> 00:26:51.150 We have experienced — based on my limited information, 00:26:51.150 --> 00:26:53.420 we’ve experienced a total of two deaths 00:26:53.420 --> 00:26:54.730 among the inmate population, 00:26:54.730 --> 00:26:57.740 I believe, two deaths among the staff population. 00:26:57.740 --> 00:27:00.220 But as we compare that to national averages, 00:27:00.220 --> 00:27:02.500 a lot of the extremely hard work that we have done, 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:05.230 and that we’re continuing to do, has paid off. 00:27:05.230 --> 00:27:07.210 It’s a real problem. I mean, I’m not going to kid you. 00:27:07.210 --> 00:27:09.770 It’s a real problem, in a city where ordinarily you have 00:27:09.770 --> 00:27:11.850 a hundred new criminal cases a day, 00:27:11.850 --> 00:27:14.660 that there’s no easy exit door to the jail, 00:27:14.660 --> 00:27:16.030 because the courts are closed. 00:27:16.030 --> 00:27:17.230 And they’ve been closed for months, 00:27:17.230 --> 00:27:18.470 and it does not look like 00:27:18.470 --> 00:27:19.920 they’re going to open up quickly. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:21.840 But all things considered, 00:27:21.840 --> 00:27:24.210 when we are objective and fair about it, 00:27:24.210 --> 00:27:26.060 I think we’ve actually done an excellent job 00:27:26.060 --> 00:27:27.540 of keeping this population down, 00:27:27.540 --> 00:27:30.390 of being very surgical about which individuals 00:27:30.390 --> 00:27:32.200 need to be in custody at this time. 00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:34.250 I also think it is fair to say that — 00:27:34.940 --> 00:27:37.170 and I’m not going to get specific with which bail fund, 00:27:37.170 --> 00:27:39.560 but, you know, there’s one of these bail funds 00:27:39.560 --> 00:27:41.950 that took a young man who had no prior record 00:27:41.950 --> 00:27:44.350 and was racking up one drug case after another 00:27:44.350 --> 00:27:46.030 in a very short period of time, 00:27:46.030 --> 00:27:48.350 in a way that anyone experienced in criminal justice 00:27:48.350 --> 00:27:52.040 would say signifies that this person needs to be held 00:27:52.040 --> 00:27:54.520 in custody, needs an intervention. 00:27:54.520 --> 00:27:58.680 But once again, the bail fund, you know, went charging in, 00:27:58.680 --> 00:27:59.900 paid that person’s bail. 00:27:59.900 --> 00:28:02.630 He came out and was killed on a corner shortly thereafter. 00:28:02.630 --> 00:28:04.810 He was on the corner, because the bail fund, 00:28:04.810 --> 00:28:06.080 even though this young man, 00:28:06.080 --> 00:28:08.700 who was only 18-and-a-half when it started, 00:28:08.700 --> 00:28:11.110 had collected six consecutive drug cases 00:28:11.110 --> 00:28:12.780 in a very short period of time, 00:28:12.780 --> 00:28:15.250 they ran and paid his bail and got him out the last time. 00:28:15.250 --> 00:28:18.190 We’ve seen another case — it was a domestic violence case — 00:28:18.190 --> 00:28:23.100 where the defendant had viciously harmed 00:28:23.100 --> 00:28:24.320 his long-term partner 00:28:24.320 --> 00:28:27.180 in a number of different states, been convicted for it, 00:28:27.180 --> 00:28:29.330 and, over the objection of the DA’s Office, 00:28:29.910 --> 00:28:33.280 who were trying to protect her, bail fund 00:28:33.280 --> 00:28:35.680 looked at none of that, ran and paid it, 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:38.170 and she then suffered a terrible sexual assault 00:28:38.940 --> 00:28:40.430 at the hands of the same person. 00:28:40.430 --> 00:28:41.640 So, it is not the case 00:28:41.640 --> 00:28:43.850 that every single person should get out all of the time. 00:28:43.850 --> 00:28:45.910 It is not the case that simply saying, 00:28:45.910 --> 00:28:47.940 no matter what the offense, no matter what the record, 00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:49.870 and no matter what the circumstances, 00:28:49.870 --> 00:28:52.050 everyone should get out. The life of that woman mattered. 00:28:52.050 --> 00:28:55.430 The life of that young man whose bail was paid and died mattered. 00:28:55.430 --> 00:28:57.540 It all matters, and we have to be careful about these things. 00:28:57.540 --> 00:28:58.750 AMY GOODMAN: Before we go, 00:28:58.750 --> 00:29:00.790 I wanted to ask you about Mumia Abu-Jamal, 00:29:00.790 --> 00:29:04.120 one of the most recognized cases in Philadelphia history. 00:29:04.120 --> 00:29:06.470 One of the least-known facts of the case 00:29:06.470 --> 00:29:10.010 is that Mumia was nearly beaten to death at the crime scene. 00:29:10.010 --> 00:29:12.170 Within weeks of the end of the trial, 00:29:12.170 --> 00:29:14.730 a third of the police involved in his case were jailed 00:29:14.730 --> 00:29:16.970 for systematically tampering with evidence 00:29:16.970 --> 00:29:19.960 to obtain convictions in cases across Philadelphia. 00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:22.690 At least one police officer in the case, James Forbes, 00:29:22.690 --> 00:29:25.930 lied on the stand, saying he had properly handled guns. 00:29:25.930 --> 00:29:29.160 What are the recourses for addressing police corruption, 00:29:29.160 --> 00:29:32.860 both in Mumia Abu-Jamal’s case and that of so many others 00:29:32.860 --> 00:29:34.850 in which police were jailed for wrongdoing 00:29:34.850 --> 00:29:36.930 but the victims remained in jail? 00:29:36.930 --> 00:29:40.200 Some say Philadelphia has a history of cases like this. 00:29:40.200 --> 00:29:41.730 I asked you about Mumia Abu-Jamal 00:29:41.730 --> 00:29:43.140 when you were running for DA. 00:29:43.140 --> 00:29:47.380 You’re now in for three years. What’s happening in his case? 00:29:47.380 --> 00:29:48.580 LARRY KRASNER: So, 00:29:48.580 --> 00:29:51.030 in terms of the broader question about corruption, 00:29:51.030 --> 00:29:53.720 one of the things that my office has done is we’ve established 00:29:53.720 --> 00:29:57.010 a police misconduct database — you might call it a list, 00:29:57.010 --> 00:30:00.230 but it’s really a lot better than that — in which we have, 00:30:00.230 --> 00:30:02.780 consistent with our constitutional obligation 00:30:02.780 --> 00:30:05.830 to give the defense all the information they’re entitled to, 00:30:05.830 --> 00:30:08.650 including information that may be used by the defense 00:30:08.650 --> 00:30:11.770 to try to defeat our case as prosecutors. 00:30:11.770 --> 00:30:14.720 What happens is, we keep data, we keep information, 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:18.600 whether it is findings by police of lying or brutality, 00:30:18.600 --> 00:30:21.630 or it’s a police officer having been charged with a crime 00:30:21.630 --> 00:30:22.900 in a different county, 00:30:22.900 --> 00:30:25.660 or it may even be a judge having made a decision 00:30:25.660 --> 00:30:27.110 that a particular police officer lied, 00:30:27.110 --> 00:30:29.380 or it could be, you know, postings on Facebook 00:30:29.380 --> 00:30:32.250 that show bias towards any particular group. 00:30:32.250 --> 00:30:33.820 We keep all of that information. 00:30:33.820 --> 00:30:36.510 And because it’s a database, as soon as a new case 00:30:36.510 --> 00:30:39.100 comes into the system involving that officer, 00:30:39.100 --> 00:30:43.140 the information automatically is connected to the case 00:30:43.140 --> 00:30:45.820 and is then appropriately provided to the defense. 00:30:45.820 --> 00:30:47.910 That’s never been done in Philadelphia before. 00:30:47.910 --> 00:30:49.640 It is a relatively high-tech 00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:51.360 and, we think, kind of excellent solution. 00:30:51.360 --> 00:30:53.050 And it’s also fair to the police, 00:30:53.050 --> 00:30:55.350 because they are notified that they’re on this database. 00:30:55.350 --> 00:30:56.780 They’re given the opportunity to come in 00:30:56.780 --> 00:30:58.860 and explain why it may be biased. 00:30:58.860 --> 00:31:00.360 And the truth is, sometimes it is, 00:31:00.360 --> 00:31:03.080 because Internal Affairs is as political 00:31:03.080 --> 00:31:06.050 and as biased as anything else at certain times, 00:31:06.050 --> 00:31:07.290 in certain cases. 00:31:07.290 --> 00:31:08.950 So, you know, that’s part of what we’ve done. 00:31:08.950 --> 00:31:12.220 We have exonerated, at this point, 14 people. 00:31:12.220 --> 00:31:14.210 And we’ve been in office for about 26 months. 00:31:14.210 --> 00:31:17.960 It is a sea change from everything that came before. 00:31:18.790 --> 00:31:21.170 And included on our police misconduct database, 00:31:21.170 --> 00:31:24.170 there are certain individuals who are categorized 00:31:24.170 --> 00:31:26.380 as ordinarily people we will not call, 00:31:26.380 --> 00:31:28.150 we will not call to testify, 00:31:28.150 --> 00:31:29.930 because we do not trust their integrity. 00:31:29.930 --> 00:31:33.650 There are other people who are in a less difficult situation. 00:31:33.650 --> 00:31:35.350 As for Mumia Abu-Jamal, 00:31:35.350 --> 00:31:38.330 that is in about the 40th year of its litigation. 00:31:38.330 --> 00:31:42.240 We have some things going on very actively in that case. 00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:44.260 We take that case no more 00:31:44.260 --> 00:31:47.030 and no less seriously than every other case, 00:31:47.030 --> 00:31:48.820 because of the notoriety about it. 00:31:48.820 --> 00:31:51.860 One of the things that I’ve certainly seen in our work 00:31:51.860 --> 00:31:54.560 around exoneration and conviction integrity 00:31:54.560 --> 00:31:57.340 is I have seen that often the unfamous people 00:31:57.340 --> 00:32:00.670 get a whole lot less attention than the famous people. 00:32:00.670 --> 00:32:03.230 But what I can say in that regard is it is pending. 00:32:03.230 --> 00:32:04.590 There are certain restrictions 00:32:04.590 --> 00:32:07.230 on what we should appropriately say at this time. 00:32:07.890 --> 00:32:12.280 But it does — you know, it is a microcosm of the realities 00:32:12.280 --> 00:32:14.610 of what progressive prosecutors face now 00:32:14.610 --> 00:32:18.280 when they’re trying to go back in time and do justice, 00:32:18.280 --> 00:32:20.450 when they’re trying to do justice moving forward, 00:32:20.450 --> 00:32:22.930 when they’re trying to comply with their obligations 00:32:22.930 --> 00:32:26.890 to give exculpatory information, in a culture that used to shred 00:32:26.890 --> 00:32:29.040 and used to hide and used to destroy, 00:32:29.040 --> 00:32:31.410 a culture that I experienced for almost 30 years 00:32:31.410 --> 00:32:33.500 as a criminal defense and civil rights attorney. 00:32:33.500 --> 00:32:35.050 AMY GOODMAN: Larry Krasner, I want to thank you for being 00:32:35.050 --> 00:32:37.120 with us, district attorney of Philadelphia. 00:32:37.120 --> 00:32:39.800 Next, we go to Chicago, where Trump is saying 00:32:39.800 --> 00:32:42.580 he’s sending a "surge" of federal agents. 00:32:42.580 --> 00:32:45.370 We’ll look at how protesters are demanding justice 00:32:45.370 --> 00:32:48.600 after police officers punched out the teeth 00:32:48.600 --> 00:32:52.240 of an 18-year-old activist named Miracle Boyd. 00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:53.940 Stay with 00:33:53.940 --> 00:33:55.640 us. 00:34:23.650 --> 00:34:24.910 AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! 00:34:24.910 --> 00:34:26.140 The Quarantine Report. 00:34:26.140 --> 00:34:27.790 I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. 00:34:27.790 --> 00:34:29.460 We go now to Chicago, 00:34:29.460 --> 00:34:33.150 where protesters are demanding justice after police officers 00:34:33.150 --> 00:34:36.590 attacked a teenage activist last week during a demonstration 00:34:36.590 --> 00:34:38.940 in which people attempted to topple a statue 00:34:38.940 --> 00:34:41.200 of Christopher Columbus in Grant Park. 00:34:41.200 --> 00:34:44.380 An officer punched 18-year-old Miracle Boyd 00:34:44.380 --> 00:34:47.360 in the face, knocking out several teeth. 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:49.400 Miracle is a recent high school graduate, 00:34:49.400 --> 00:34:52.130 an organizer with the group GoodKids MadCity. 00:34:52.130 --> 00:34:54.900 Journalists also reported being mistreated by police, 00:34:54.900 --> 00:34:57.710 who used chemical sprays and batons on protesters. 00:34:57.710 --> 00:34:59.610 Police said 12 people were arrested. 00:34:59.610 --> 00:35:02.580 This is Miracle Boyd speaking at a news conference Monday. 00:35:03.770 --> 00:35:05.340 MIRACLE BOYD: I was attacked by CPD, 00:35:05.340 --> 00:35:08.380 who value a supremacist statue over my life, safety 00:35:08.380 --> 00:35:10.650 and well-being. ... Christopher Columbus 00:35:10.650 --> 00:35:12.750 did not discover America! 00:35:16.620 --> 00:35:30.700 He was a rapist, murderer, thief and colonizer, 00:35:36.630 --> 00:35:39.200 who laid the groundwork for Indigenous genocide 00:35:39.200 --> 00:35:41.700 and the transatlantic slave trade of Africans. 00:35:42.290 --> 00:35:45.000 Yet the police is protecting a statue of a man 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:46.830 who died more than 500 years ago. 00:35:47.700 --> 00:35:49.799 The police are not serving and protecting. 00:35:53.110 --> 00:35:55.990 There is no way I should have left a protest bruised 00:35:55.990 --> 00:35:58.480 and battered for exercising my freedom of speech 00:35:58.480 --> 00:35:59.860 and freedom to assemble. 00:35:59.860 --> 00:36:02.170 I am disgusted and never would have ever thought 00:36:02.170 --> 00:36:04.530 I’d become a victim to the biggest gang in America. 00:36:04.530 --> 00:36:05.800 AMY GOODMAN: That’s Miracle Boyd 00:36:05.800 --> 00:36:07.740 speaking at a news conference on Monday. 00:36:07.740 --> 00:36:09.420 This comes as President Trump announced 00:36:09.420 --> 00:36:12.720 he’s sending a "surge" of federal agents into Chicago. 00:36:12.720 --> 00:36:15.160 Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded on CNN. 00:36:16.060 --> 00:36:18.970 MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT: We do not want unconstitutional, 00:36:19.540 --> 00:36:22.950 secret federal agents coming into our cities, 00:36:22.950 --> 00:36:25.600 grabbing our residents and detaining them 00:36:25.600 --> 00:36:27.240 and violating their rights. 00:36:27.240 --> 00:36:29.380 I’ve drawn a very bright line there, 00:36:29.380 --> 00:36:31.880 and we’re not going to go back from that. 00:36:31.880 --> 00:36:33.130 AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Chicago 00:36:33.130 --> 00:36:34.620 to speak with Sheila Bedi. 00:36:34.620 --> 00:36:37.080 professor of law at Northwestern University. 00:36:37.080 --> 00:36:39.920 She is the lawyer representing Miracle Boyd. 00:36:40.460 --> 00:36:42.460 Professor Bedi, thanks so much for joining us. 00:36:42.460 --> 00:36:45.190 Can you start off, before we talk about the "surge," 00:36:45.850 --> 00:36:49.050 in talking about what exactly happened to Miracle? 00:36:50.570 --> 00:36:53.370 SHEILA BEDI: Thank you so much for having me. 00:36:53.370 --> 00:36:57.780 So, Miracle Boyd is an activist, a freedom fighter. 00:36:57.780 --> 00:37:01.110 She works for an organization called GoodKids MadCity, 00:37:01.110 --> 00:37:04.010 that really focuses on ending violence 00:37:04.010 --> 00:37:06.440 in the South and West Sides of Chicago. 00:37:06.440 --> 00:37:08.990 And Miracle was at the protest on Friday, 00:37:08.990 --> 00:37:11.160 and she was doing what she does, 00:37:11.160 --> 00:37:14.170 which is documenting police violence, 00:37:14.170 --> 00:37:18.230 trying to ensure that the protest was going to occur 00:37:18.230 --> 00:37:21.400 without some of the violence that we’ve seen consistently 00:37:21.400 --> 00:37:23.260 during the uprisings in Chicago. 00:37:23.260 --> 00:37:25.170 She was filming the arrest of a man, 00:37:26.020 --> 00:37:29.470 and an officer came up to her and slapped her 00:37:29.470 --> 00:37:31.269 because she was filming this arrest, 00:37:31.790 --> 00:37:34.150 and slapped her with such force that her front teeth 00:37:34.150 --> 00:37:35.850 were knocked out of her head. 00:37:36.490 --> 00:37:38.660 And this is consistent with what we’ve seen 00:37:38.660 --> 00:37:40.650 from the Chicago Police Department 00:37:40.650 --> 00:37:41.990 over the last three months 00:37:41.990 --> 00:37:44.010 in their response to these uprisings. 00:37:45.410 --> 00:37:46.710 NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Sheila Bedi, 00:37:46.710 --> 00:37:49.400 could you explain that in Chicago, 00:37:49.400 --> 00:37:54.480 head strikes, like the one Miracle Boyd was subject to, 00:37:54.480 --> 00:37:58.940 are considered a use of lethal force in Chicago? 00:37:59.590 --> 00:38:01.050 So, could you talk about that 00:38:01.050 --> 00:38:03.260 and what the implications of that are, 00:38:03.260 --> 00:38:07.540 and what exactly it is that Miracle Boyd is calling for — 00:38:09.020 --> 00:38:10.920 restorative justice? 00:38:10.920 --> 00:38:13.560 Explain what she’d like to see happen. 00:38:14.650 --> 00:38:15.950 SHEILA BEDI: Sure. 00:38:15.950 --> 00:38:18.280 So, the city of Chicago is subject 00:38:18.280 --> 00:38:20.280 to a federal consent decree. 00:38:20.280 --> 00:38:24.320 And the decree makes it clear that head strikes, 00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:26.400 which is where police officers are using force 00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:29.560 to the head area, is a form of lethal force. 00:38:30.440 --> 00:38:33.450 It’s a form of force that should only be used 00:38:33.450 --> 00:38:35.040 when lethal force can be justified, 00:38:35.040 --> 00:38:37.130 so if you’re dealing with somebody 00:38:37.130 --> 00:38:40.000 who’s suspected of a violent felony, 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:43.790 if you’re dealing with somebody who is an immediate threat 00:38:44.730 --> 00:38:47.260 to a police officer or to somebody else. 00:38:47.260 --> 00:38:49.500 That, of course, is not Miracle Boyd. 00:38:49.500 --> 00:38:51.980 But what we’ve seen throughout these protests 00:38:51.980 --> 00:38:55.690 is police officers using that kind of lethal force 00:38:55.690 --> 00:38:58.670 against protesters in an effort to try to quell the movement, 00:38:58.670 --> 00:39:01.800 in an effort to retaliate against protesters 00:39:01.800 --> 00:39:04.410 for the exercise of their First Amendment speech. 00:39:05.520 --> 00:39:08.190 What Miracle is calling for at this time 00:39:08.190 --> 00:39:09.730 is for the officer to be fired. 00:39:09.730 --> 00:39:12.740 The videotape is very clear: Miracle was not a threat. 00:39:12.740 --> 00:39:14.680 Miracle was exercising her First Amendment. 00:39:14.680 --> 00:39:16.570 This officer came up to her 00:39:16.570 --> 00:39:18.370 and used this lethal force against her 00:39:18.370 --> 00:39:21.910 in retaliation for the exercise of her First Amendment rights. 00:39:21.910 --> 00:39:23.920 And the other thing that Miracle is asking for 00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:27.360 is for this officer to engage in a restorative justice process. 00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:29.600 She’s not asking for the officer to be charged. 00:39:29.600 --> 00:39:32.180 She’s asking for the officer to engage in a process 00:39:32.180 --> 00:39:35.520 where she can really explain to him what this has done to her, 00:39:35.520 --> 00:39:38.230 what this violence has done to her, how it’s affected her, 00:39:38.230 --> 00:39:41.700 the trauma that she is experiencing. 00:39:41.700 --> 00:39:44.580 So, that’s her demand of this officer at this time. 00:39:45.310 --> 00:39:49.610 AMY GOODMAN: And now if you can respond to what President Trump 00:39:49.610 --> 00:39:51.710 is saying he’s doing in Chicago? 00:39:52.390 --> 00:39:54.690 It looks like he’s particularly focusing — 00:39:54.690 --> 00:39:56.610 and he’s clearly said, you know, Democratic mayors — 00:39:56.610 --> 00:40:00.190 particularly focusing on cities that have mayors 00:40:00.190 --> 00:40:01.890 who are women and women of color. 00:40:03.780 --> 00:40:06.000 SHEILA BEDI: I mean, no question about that. 00:40:06.700 --> 00:40:10.500 During Donald Trump’s comments yesterday, 00:40:10.500 --> 00:40:13.780 he made it very clear that this action 00:40:13.780 --> 00:40:17.110 was about quelling the movement, that this action was about 00:40:17.760 --> 00:40:20.350 specifically taking on the activists 00:40:20.350 --> 00:40:22.440 who have called for defunding the police, 00:40:23.310 --> 00:40:26.180 and that he’s tying intercommunal violence 00:40:26.790 --> 00:40:29.760 to those demands, which is just not supported by data, 00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:32.120 not supported by the facts. 00:40:32.840 --> 00:40:36.960 It is also very clear that this request 00:40:36.960 --> 00:40:39.800 for the federal troops to come into Chicago 00:40:39.800 --> 00:40:42.150 was supported by the Chicago police union. 00:40:42.890 --> 00:40:46.400 The police in Chicago have a long history of cooperating 00:40:46.400 --> 00:40:48.200 with the federal government 00:40:48.200 --> 00:40:51.049 to violate the rights of people in the Chicago community. 00:40:51.820 --> 00:40:55.930 There’s a real concern that that is what is going to happen here, 00:40:55.930 --> 00:40:59.230 that the deployment of these troops, 00:41:00.160 --> 00:41:02.850 that that’s been done to try to quell these protests. 00:41:03.590 --> 00:41:06.800 And that’s unconstitutional. And that’s something 00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:09.620 that will absolutely be challenged in court. 00:41:10.300 --> 00:41:11.810 You know, the issue that we have right now 00:41:11.810 --> 00:41:13.690 is that the Chicago Police Department 00:41:13.690 --> 00:41:17.520 has systematically attempted to chill 00:41:17.520 --> 00:41:19.990 the First Amendment rights of protesters. 00:41:19.990 --> 00:41:22.520 And that has been happening on a regular basis. 00:41:22.520 --> 00:41:25.230 It’s been happening in a very systematic way. 00:41:25.230 --> 00:41:28.060 The overlay of additional federal troops 00:41:28.060 --> 00:41:29.290 is deeply disturbing 00:41:29.290 --> 00:41:31.350 in what that might mean for these protests. 00:41:31.350 --> 00:41:32.660 AMY GOODMAN: Sheila Bedi, 00:41:32.660 --> 00:41:34.050 we want to thank you for being with us. 00:41:34.050 --> 00:41:36.130 So, just to answer in a word, 00:41:36.130 --> 00:41:38.340 you’re suing on behalf of Miracle Boyd? 00:41:40.300 --> 00:41:41.840 SHEILA BEDI: Miracle Boyd will be filing a civil rights 00:41:41.840 --> 00:41:43.040 lawsuit, that’s correct. 00:41:43.040 --> 00:41:44.330 AMY GOODMAN: Sheila Bedi, 00:41:44.330 --> 00:41:46.030 professor of law at Northwestern University, 00:41:46.030 --> 00:41:48.540 lawyer representing Miracle Boyd. 00:41:49.400 --> 00:41:53.150 When we come back, the harrowing scenes of paramilitary-style 00:41:53.150 --> 00:41:54.730 units in the streets of American cities 00:41:54.730 --> 00:41:56.410 may shock mainstream America, 00:41:56.410 --> 00:41:58.960 but the violent presence of federal border agents 00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:01.560 is not unfamiliar to many Black and Brown communities. 00:42:01.560 --> 00:42:03.260 Stay with us. 00:43:11.010 --> 00:43:12.950 AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The War and Peace Report. 00:43:12.950 --> 00:43:14.610 I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. 00:43:14.610 --> 00:43:17.240 We turn now to the harrowing scenes of paramilitary-style 00:43:17.240 --> 00:43:19.050 units in the streets of American cities, 00:43:19.050 --> 00:43:22.410 like Portland, Oregon, 00:43:22.410 --> 00:43:24.510 where heavily armed federal agents 00:43:24.510 --> 00:43:27.530 with no agency markings have snatched people off the streets, 00:43:27.530 --> 00:43:29.590 forced them into unmarked vans. 00:43:29.590 --> 00:43:32.020 The developments have shocked mainstream America. 00:43:32.020 --> 00:43:34.510 This is MSNBC host Brian Williams. 00:43:35.490 --> 00:43:37.520 BRIAN WILLIAMS: Overseas, if we saw these pictures, 00:43:37.520 --> 00:43:41.040 we’d call it something like a military junta. 00:43:41.040 --> 00:43:45.510 Under a Mussolini or a Pinochet, we would make nothing of it. 00:43:45.510 --> 00:43:47.600 It would just be a Wednesday. 00:43:48.680 --> 00:43:49.970 AMY GOODMAN: "Just be a Wednesday." 00:43:49.970 --> 00:43:53.220 But the violent presence of federal border agents 00:43:53.220 --> 00:43:56.330 is not unfamiliar to many Black and Brown Americans, 00:43:56.330 --> 00:43:58.580 especially those who live along the border. 00:43:58.580 --> 00:44:00.570 The brutality now seen on U.S. streets 00:44:00.570 --> 00:44:04.140 is also all too recognizable to global communities 00:44:04.140 --> 00:44:07.610 who have faced the terror of U.S.-trained military forces, 00:44:07.610 --> 00:44:11.190 sometimes death squads, from Iraq to Kenya to Guatemala. 00:44:11.190 --> 00:44:13.830 The scene unfolding in Portland, Oregon, 00:44:13.830 --> 00:44:17.750 has also drawn comparisons to U.S.-backed death squads 00:44:17.750 --> 00:44:19.610 that terrorized Latin America for decades. 00:44:19.610 --> 00:44:21.130 For more, we’re joined by two guests. 00:44:21.130 --> 00:44:24.490 Cecilia Menjívar is a professor of sociology 00:44:24.490 --> 00:44:27.350 at the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, 00:44:27.350 --> 00:44:29.410 where she focuses on state and gender-based violence 00:44:29.410 --> 00:44:30.630 in Central America 00:44:30.630 --> 00:44:32.970 and immigration enforcement in the U.S., 00:44:32.970 --> 00:44:34.860 originally from El Salvador. 00:44:34.860 --> 00:44:37.600 Also with us, reporter Todd Miller, 00:44:37.600 --> 00:44:38.850 who has covered border security 00:44:38.850 --> 00:44:40.370 and immigration for over a decade. 00:44:40.370 --> 00:44:42.150 He’s the author of Empire of Borders: 00:44:42.150 --> 00:44:45.380 The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World, 00:44:45.380 --> 00:44:47.830 also author of Border Patrol Nation: 00:44:47.830 --> 00:44:50.680 Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland Security. 00:44:50.680 --> 00:44:52.530 We welcome you both to Democracy Now! 00:44:53.440 --> 00:44:55.990 Professor Menjívar, let’s begin with you. 00:44:56.970 --> 00:45:00.210 If you can respond to what’s happening in Portland, Oregon? 00:45:00.210 --> 00:45:01.810 As you heard Brian Williams say, 00:45:01.810 --> 00:45:03.780 I mean, this may be familiar to others. 00:45:03.780 --> 00:45:06.070 He talked about Chile. He talked about Mussolini. 00:45:06.070 --> 00:45:07.770 But here in America? 00:45:08.410 --> 00:45:11.210 You know a different picture of this country, 00:45:11.210 --> 00:45:14.770 and also back to where you came from, in El Salvador, 00:45:14.770 --> 00:45:17.020 intimately connected to the United States, 00:45:17.020 --> 00:45:21.820 especially in the 1980s, sadly, through soldiers, 00:45:21.820 --> 00:45:23.740 often U.S.-trained soldiers, 00:45:23.740 --> 00:45:26.910 carrying weapons that might come from the United States. 00:45:28.670 --> 00:45:30.150 CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yes. Thank you. 00:45:30.150 --> 00:45:32.690 Thank you for the questions, 00:45:32.690 --> 00:45:35.570 because what is happening in Portland, 00:45:35.570 --> 00:45:38.640 and probably in other cities in the United States, 00:45:39.860 --> 00:45:41.680 was, as Brian Williams said, 00:45:42.530 --> 00:45:46.590 the order of the day for most of Latin America 00:45:46.590 --> 00:45:50.440 during the 1970s and ’80s. 00:45:50.440 --> 00:45:55.420 And, for instance, the image of an unmarked van 00:45:55.420 --> 00:45:59.230 taking people from the streets and taking them who knows where, 00:46:00.810 --> 00:46:04.460 it brings back memories to Latin Americans 00:46:04.460 --> 00:46:09.120 who lived through disappearances of families and friends 00:46:09.120 --> 00:46:12.860 and co-workers for a long period of time. 00:46:12.860 --> 00:46:15.210 So this is something very familiar, 00:46:15.210 --> 00:46:23.230 very close to Latin Americans throughout the region, 00:46:23.230 --> 00:46:29.850 because these were strategies of state violence and state control 00:46:29.850 --> 00:46:33.360 that were implemented throughout the region during 00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:36.980 the military dictatorships of the ’70s and ’80s. 00:46:39.310 --> 00:46:41.350 NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, I’d like to bring Todd Miller 00:46:41.350 --> 00:46:42.660 into the conversation. 00:46:42.660 --> 00:46:47.020 Toddy, you are the author of a book called Empire of Borders: 00:46:47.020 --> 00:46:51.000 The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World. 00:46:51.000 --> 00:46:54.960 So could you talk about that specific — your subtitle, 00:46:54.960 --> 00:46:58.430 The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World, 00:46:58.430 --> 00:47:03.400 and then specifically how the role of the CBP 00:47:03.400 --> 00:47:05.700 changed after 9/11? 00:47:07.550 --> 00:47:09.080 TODD MILLER: Sure. 00:47:09.080 --> 00:47:13.510 One, in terms of the expansion of the U.S. border 00:47:13.510 --> 00:47:15.210 around the world, 00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:19.910 I — even thinking specifically about the specific force 00:47:20.860 --> 00:47:23.620 that was in Portland and with the BORTAC 00:47:23.620 --> 00:47:24.980 unit of the U.S. Border Patrol 00:47:24.980 --> 00:47:28.310 that was pulling people off the streets, 00:47:29.470 --> 00:47:32.440 over the years, in doing research, 00:47:32.440 --> 00:47:35.420 I’ve come across them on several occasions. 00:47:35.940 --> 00:47:38.210 And one occasion was in Guatemala, 00:47:38.210 --> 00:47:40.790 and I was going to a military base 00:47:40.790 --> 00:47:45.130 to meet with a commander of a new Border Patrol force 00:47:45.130 --> 00:47:46.670 that they were forming there. 00:47:46.670 --> 00:47:48.660 And my whole purpose of going there 00:47:48.660 --> 00:47:53.510 was to see how much the United States 00:47:53.510 --> 00:47:58.040 was behind the creation of that border force. 00:47:58.040 --> 00:47:59.570 And so, I got there late, 00:47:59.570 --> 00:48:01.230 but I tried to convince the soldiers 00:48:01.230 --> 00:48:03.650 at the gate of the military base 00:48:03.650 --> 00:48:07.580 if I could still meet with the commander. 00:48:07.580 --> 00:48:08.970 And while I was waiting there, 00:48:08.970 --> 00:48:10.550 one of the soldiers came up to me 00:48:10.550 --> 00:48:12.670 and asked me if I was from BORTAC. 00:48:12.670 --> 00:48:14.640 I went, "What?" And he said, "BORTAC." 00:48:15.190 --> 00:48:17.060 And I couldn’t believe my ears, really. 00:48:17.060 --> 00:48:21.600 BORTAC, nobody — hardly anyone in the United States 00:48:21.600 --> 00:48:22.960 even knew who BORTAC was, 00:48:22.960 --> 00:48:27.750 but here I was, 1,500 miles away from the U.S. southern border, 00:48:27.750 --> 00:48:30.420 a soldier in Guatemala who knew who BORTAC was. 00:48:31.460 --> 00:48:34.220 And I got the meeting with the commander, 00:48:34.220 --> 00:48:38.190 and the commander then verified that BORTAC had been there, 00:48:38.190 --> 00:48:40.700 the U.S. Border Patrol had done trainings there, 00:48:40.700 --> 00:48:42.960 that the United States Embassy funding 00:48:42.960 --> 00:48:47.220 was behind the creation of the new Border Patrol, 00:48:47.220 --> 00:48:49.800 and this one’s called the Chortí in Guatemala. 00:48:49.800 --> 00:48:53.590 And that was just one example of many examples 00:48:53.590 --> 00:48:59.540 of this expansion of the U.S. border abroad, 00:48:59.540 --> 00:49:01.600 what they call externalization 00:49:01.600 --> 00:49:03.760 or the extension of the zone of security, 00:49:03.760 --> 00:49:07.180 if you want to use the kind of "statespeak" that’s being used. 00:49:07.180 --> 00:49:12.740 And Guatemala is one example of, to much to my surprise, 00:49:13.690 --> 00:49:17.810 over a hundred examples in countries all over the world 00:49:17.810 --> 00:49:21.290 where the U.S. Border Patrol, specifically BORTAC 00:49:21.290 --> 00:49:24.200 even, are going and doing trainings, 00:49:25.210 --> 00:49:29.010 sending resources, creating border patrols, 00:49:29.010 --> 00:49:34.360 teaching other countries how to patrol their borders, 00:49:34.360 --> 00:49:38.430 and this whole idea of pushing out the U.S. borders, 00:49:38.430 --> 00:49:43.830 so — according to the mission of stopping people 00:49:43.830 --> 00:49:45.450 from coming to the United States 00:49:45.450 --> 00:49:48.540 long before they get to U.S. shores. 00:49:48.540 --> 00:49:52.580 And this is something that’s been happening 00:49:52.580 --> 00:49:53.860 for quite a while. 00:49:53.860 --> 00:49:56.159 It’s been happening for decades, in many ways. 00:49:57.280 --> 00:50:02.020 In the 1980s, in fact, you could go back to documents of INS, 00:50:02.680 --> 00:50:04.570 the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 00:50:04.570 --> 00:50:06.960 going to Mexico and saying, 00:50:06.960 --> 00:50:09.300 "We’ll stop people coming from different countries 00:50:09.300 --> 00:50:12.730 in Central America from crossing the Mexican border." 00:50:13.770 --> 00:50:16.580 And so that’s an example of how far it goes back. 00:50:16.580 --> 00:50:21.320 But the programs really shifted post-9/11. 00:50:21.320 --> 00:50:23.700 There was really a huge emphasis 00:50:23.700 --> 00:50:28.480 put on this extension of the border. 00:50:28.480 --> 00:50:31.450 And you could really see where the core of this comes from, 00:50:31.450 --> 00:50:35.420 from the 9/11 Commission Report. In the 9/11 Commission Report, 00:50:35.420 --> 00:50:38.530 there is one quote in particular that’s really revealing, 00:50:38.530 --> 00:50:42.430 and it says, "The American homeland is the planet," 00:50:42.430 --> 00:50:46.340 so the idea that the American homeland is everywhere, 00:50:46.340 --> 00:50:49.390 and thus there’s the underlying logic 00:50:50.290 --> 00:50:53.050 of this expansion of the United States 00:50:53.050 --> 00:50:55.160 going to over a hundred countries 00:50:55.160 --> 00:50:57.900 and using the same units that are now found 00:50:58.440 --> 00:51:02.790 in Portland, Oregon, or possibly in Chicago today 00:51:02.790 --> 00:51:04.990 or in other cities around the United States. 00:51:05.650 --> 00:51:08.860 AMY GOODMAN: What gives these federal agents, Todd Miller, 00:51:09.720 --> 00:51:12.610 and law enforcement agencies so much power? 00:51:12.610 --> 00:51:14.760 You’ve got Portland, Oregon, 00:51:14.760 --> 00:51:18.760 which falls within 100 miles of the border with Canada. 00:51:18.760 --> 00:51:20.100 You’ve called about — 00:51:20.100 --> 00:51:24.290 you’ve talked about these Constitution-free zones 00:51:24.290 --> 00:51:27.300 and how it relates to border security, 00:51:27.810 --> 00:51:29.580 both the north, the south. 00:51:29.580 --> 00:51:31.650 But now Trump is saying he’s sending it to, 00:51:31.650 --> 00:51:34.940 well, many cities where there are Democratic mayors, 00:51:34.940 --> 00:51:37.850 particularly women and women of color who are mayors. 00:51:39.150 --> 00:51:42.510 TODD MILLER: Yes. So, the BORTAC unit is — 00:51:42.510 --> 00:51:44.750 they’re essentially U.S. Border Patrol agents. 00:51:44.750 --> 00:51:47.080 And U.S. Border Patrol agents, as you just mentioned, 00:51:47.080 --> 00:51:51.050 Amy, they work in what are known the 100-mile zones, 00:51:51.050 --> 00:51:54.070 or, as the ACLU put, Constitution-free zones. 00:51:54.070 --> 00:51:56.090 So, if one can imagine, you know, 00:51:56.090 --> 00:51:58.460 the contours of the United States — right? 00:51:58.460 --> 00:52:00.450 — along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, 00:52:00.450 --> 00:52:03.000 the 5,000-mile U.S.-Canada border, 00:52:03.000 --> 00:52:05.460 along the coasts, and if you imagine a band, 00:52:06.490 --> 00:52:09.640 like an orange band or something like that, along the contours, 00:52:10.330 --> 00:52:14.180 that is covering a huge chunk of the U.S. population. 00:52:14.180 --> 00:52:17.950 Two hundred million people are covered in what is known 00:52:17.950 --> 00:52:21.990 as the Constitution-free zone, where the U.S. Border Patrol 00:52:21.990 --> 00:52:25.950 works with extraconstitutional powers. 00:52:25.950 --> 00:52:29.560 And in that sense, on the southern border, 00:52:29.560 --> 00:52:32.250 the idea of the U.S. Border Patrol agents 00:52:32.250 --> 00:52:34.010 snatching people off the streets 00:52:34.010 --> 00:52:36.370 or snatching people in the desert 00:52:36.370 --> 00:52:38.850 or snatching people in the various checkpoints 00:52:38.850 --> 00:52:40.920 that they can put up in these 100-mile zones 00:52:40.920 --> 00:52:43.160 happens every day, happens all the time. 00:52:43.160 --> 00:52:46.800 In a sense, it’s like the extension of that border 00:52:46.800 --> 00:52:49.110 into places like Portland or Chicago, 00:52:49.110 --> 00:52:50.950 but, as you mentioned, 00:52:50.950 --> 00:52:53.220 fit within the Constitution-free zone 00:52:53.220 --> 00:52:55.320 or the border jurisdiction. 00:52:55.320 --> 00:52:57.640 And Portland, close to the Canadian border 00:52:57.640 --> 00:53:00.440 and also along the coast — so, along the coastlines, 00:53:01.620 --> 00:53:04.890 that’s also in those sorts of jurisdictions. 00:53:04.890 --> 00:53:06.470 And then, when you look at BORTAC, 00:53:06.470 --> 00:53:07.670 which is, you know, 00:53:07.670 --> 00:53:10.190 the special forces unit of the U.S. Border Patrol, 00:53:10.190 --> 00:53:13.510 the ones that are doing the paramilitary-style tactics, 00:53:13.510 --> 00:53:17.150 they are the Border Patrol on top of the Border Patrol — 00:53:17.150 --> 00:53:18.480 right? 00:53:18.480 --> 00:53:20.830 — in terms of being militarized, weaponized. 00:53:21.640 --> 00:53:23.240 They were formed in 1984 00:53:23.240 --> 00:53:27.380 to quell uprisings in detention centers 00:53:27.380 --> 00:53:29.650 for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. 00:53:29.650 --> 00:53:34.820 And then they had a presence in 1992 in Los Angeles, 00:53:34.820 --> 00:53:38.490 when there was unrest after the Rodney King incident. 00:53:38.490 --> 00:53:39.760 And it goes on and on. 00:53:39.760 --> 00:53:46.230 There’s a long history of BORTAC being involved in unrest, 00:53:46.230 --> 00:53:50.070 and it seems to be part of their purpose. 00:53:50.070 --> 00:53:55.170 And so, as Border Patrol has expanded in astronomical fashion 00:53:55.170 --> 00:53:57.600 over the last 25 years particularly — 00:53:57.600 --> 00:53:59.540 4,000 to 21,000 agents — 00:54:00.820 --> 00:54:04.190 the expansion of BORTAC then happens, as well. 00:54:04.190 --> 00:54:07.210 And so, in a way, it’s a surprise — 00:54:07.210 --> 00:54:09.050 in a way, it’s quite a surprise, 00:54:09.050 --> 00:54:10.930 like the clip from Brian Williams. 00:54:10.930 --> 00:54:13.870 And then, in a way, it’s not a surprise at all to see that 00:54:13.870 --> 00:54:18.120 BORTAC is being a part of being put in places where they’re — 00:54:18.120 --> 00:54:19.450 where, you know, from — 00:54:19.450 --> 00:54:21.540 Washington might view as unrest — right? 00:54:21.540 --> 00:54:23.620 — but it’s really people protesting, 00:54:23.620 --> 00:54:25.570 that they’re going to be showing up in Chicago, 00:54:25.570 --> 00:54:27.050 that they’re going to be showing up in New York, 00:54:27.050 --> 00:54:30.330 in places that are in the 100-mile zones. 00:54:30.860 --> 00:54:34.660 And I want to — as people are quite aware of, 00:54:34.660 --> 00:54:38.100 there was an announcement in March that BORTAC, 00:54:38.100 --> 00:54:40.000 or this Border Patrol unit, was going to join forces 00:54:40.000 --> 00:54:42.610 with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in ICE, 00:54:43.380 --> 00:54:46.440 to do a show of force in the sanctuary cities — right? 00:54:46.440 --> 00:54:48.140 — the sanctuary cities, 00:54:48.840 --> 00:54:53.870 to then go after undocumented people in cities, 00:54:53.870 --> 00:54:55.660 the same cities that we’re seeing them being 00:54:55.660 --> 00:54:56.860 deployed right now. 00:54:56.860 --> 00:55:00.510 So, in a way, it’s going hand in hand now 00:55:00.510 --> 00:55:03.440 with what was announced in March, 00:55:03.440 --> 00:55:05.890 with what’s been going on actually for years now. 00:55:08.020 --> 00:55:10.450 NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Professor Cecilia Menjívar, 00:55:10.450 --> 00:55:14.090 if you could also talk about the state violence 00:55:14.090 --> 00:55:15.710 that’s been deployed 00:55:15.710 --> 00:55:19.080 against immigrant communities along the border, 00:55:19.080 --> 00:55:22.240 and also what’s been happening in detention centers, 00:55:23.060 --> 00:55:26.660 where disappearances are routine often? 00:55:27.520 --> 00:55:29.570 CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Right, yes. 00:55:29.570 --> 00:55:33.170 My research has focused not at the border — 00:55:33.790 --> 00:55:35.770 excuse me — away from the border. 00:55:35.770 --> 00:55:37.470 But I was doing — 00:55:39.140 --> 00:55:42.200 I was doing quite a bit of research in Arizona, 00:55:42.200 --> 00:55:44.830 in Maricopa County, 00:55:44.830 --> 00:55:49.290 during the time when the sheriff of Maricopa County 00:55:50.140 --> 00:55:54.150 used many similar techniques to terrorize 00:55:54.150 --> 00:55:56.660 the Latino population specifically. 00:55:56.660 --> 00:56:00.510 And at that time, I was interviewing 00:56:00.510 --> 00:56:02.810 Central American immigrants in the area 00:56:03.330 --> 00:56:07.260 who pointed me in this direction. 00:56:07.260 --> 00:56:11.350 They brought up to my attention the similarities 00:56:11.350 --> 00:56:13.500 between what they had lived 00:56:13.500 --> 00:56:17.390 during the civil wars in Guatemala and El Salvador 00:56:17.390 --> 00:56:20.180 and what they were living in Phoenix 00:56:20.800 --> 00:56:22.770 during the reign of terror 00:56:22.770 --> 00:56:26.030 that the sheriff created in Phoenix, for instance. 00:56:26.030 --> 00:56:31.070 And so, it was their experiences 00:56:31.070 --> 00:56:33.840 that brought to my attention the similarities 00:56:33.840 --> 00:56:37.730 between technologies of state violence and state terror 00:56:37.730 --> 00:56:40.970 used during the civil wars in Latin America 00:56:40.970 --> 00:56:44.500 and what immigrant — Latino immigrants, specifically, 00:56:44.500 --> 00:56:46.770 were living in cities in the United States, 00:56:46.770 --> 00:56:48.010 specifically, for instance, 00:56:48.010 --> 00:56:50.720 Phoenix, where that concentrated. 00:56:50.720 --> 00:56:54.440 And in relation to detention centers 00:56:54.440 --> 00:56:57.000 and disappearances in detention centers, 00:56:57.000 --> 00:57:01.650 what happens to immigrants who are sent to detention facilities 00:57:01.650 --> 00:57:04.690 is that they are sent to very remote places. 00:57:04.690 --> 00:57:06.700 They often lose contact with their families. 00:57:06.700 --> 00:57:08.850 Their families don’t know where they are. 00:57:08.850 --> 00:57:11.630 I have had immigrants calling me, 00:57:11.630 --> 00:57:14.920 asking me to help them locate their family members, 00:57:14.920 --> 00:57:18.900 because they don’t know where they are held, being held. 00:57:18.900 --> 00:57:21.860 And so, this again brings back memories 00:57:21.860 --> 00:57:24.930 to when, in their home countries, 00:57:24.930 --> 00:57:26.970 they would go search for families 00:57:26.970 --> 00:57:29.320 who had been taken from their homes at night 00:57:29.320 --> 00:57:32.990 or from their places of work to be disappeared. 00:57:33.530 --> 00:57:39.680 And so, the same thing was happening here in — 00:57:39.680 --> 00:57:41.920 is happening here in the United States, 00:57:41.920 --> 00:57:47.430 with 638 detention facilities throughout the country. 00:57:48.380 --> 00:57:51.790 Each state has at least two detention facilities 00:57:51.790 --> 00:57:56.110 dedicated to hold immigrants in detention. 00:57:56.110 --> 00:58:02.680 And so, the parallels are so strong 00:58:02.680 --> 00:58:06.270 and so vivid that immigrants who have lived through 00:58:06.270 --> 00:58:12.180 both can very quickly point that out to one’s attention. 00:58:12.180 --> 00:58:14.770 AMY GOODMAN: I can only think — Professor Menjívar, 00:58:14.770 --> 00:58:17.670 I can only think about the words of Archbishop Romero 00:58:18.460 --> 00:58:20.350 as he did his last homily, 00:58:20.350 --> 00:58:22.540 broadcast throughout El Salvador. 00:58:22.540 --> 00:58:24.440 March 24th, 1980, 00:58:24.440 --> 00:58:26.920 he was gunned down by a U.S.-backed death squad, 00:58:27.970 --> 00:58:33.290 and he was saying the words to the soldiers of El Salvador, 00:58:33.290 --> 00:58:35.930 "I implore you, I beg you, I order you: 00:58:35.930 --> 00:58:39.520 Stop the repression!" Professor Cecilia Menjívar, 00:58:39.520 --> 00:58:41.910 professor of sociology at University of California, 00:58:41.910 --> 00:58:44.010 Los Angeles, and Todd Miller, 00:58:44.790 --> 00:58:49.290 author of a number of books, award-winning journalist, 00:58:49.290 --> 00:58:51.480 including Empire of Borders: 00:58:51.480 --> 00:58:54.090 The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World. 00:58:54.090 --> 00:58:55.520 That does it for our show. 00:58:55.520 --> 00:58:57.980 I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. Stay safe.