WEBVTT 00:00:16.090 --> 00:00:19.610 From San Francisco, this is Democracy Now! 00:00:20.330 --> 00:00:24.710 Deaths in ICE custody continue to skyrocket past 00:00:24.710 --> 00:00:28.950 previous records as the agency has been massively expanding 00:00:28.950 --> 00:00:30.900 the immigration detention system. 00:00:30.900 --> 00:00:33.710 A total of 48 people have died in ICE custody 00:00:33.710 --> 00:00:36.620 so far during the current Trump administration. 00:00:37.350 --> 00:00:42.710 As ICE rapidly expands its immigration jail system, 00:00:43.290 --> 00:00:45.730 deaths in ICE custody are surging. 00:00:46.270 --> 00:00:50.120 At least 17 people have died this year — 00:00:50.120 --> 00:00:54.850 on average, a person every week. Forty-eight have died 00:00:54.850 --> 00:00:57.530 since President Trump returned to office. 00:00:57.530 --> 00:01:00.180 We’ll talk to Detention Watch Network. 00:01:00.180 --> 00:01:05.260 Then, "Caught in the Crackdown: As Arrests at Anti-ICE Protests 00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:08.020 Piled Up, Prosecutions Crumbled," 00:01:08.660 --> 00:01:11.870 a ProPublica-Frontline investigation. 00:01:12.630 --> 00:01:14.980 Immigration officials conducted several raids 00:01:14.980 --> 00:01:16.290 and arrested dozens of people. 00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:19.270 An investigation into the Trump administration’s 00:01:19.270 --> 00:01:20.810 monthslong crackdown. 00:01:20.810 --> 00:01:22.170 Are you encountering a lot of resistance? 00:01:22.170 --> 00:01:23.370 Most I’ve ever seen. 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:24.620 The pushback. 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:26.230 They are creating the emergency 00:01:26.230 --> 00:01:27.830 and the crisis that we then need to deal with. 00:01:27.830 --> 00:01:29.070 I’m asking who’s detaining me? 00:01:29.070 --> 00:01:30.300 People live here! 00:01:30.300 --> 00:01:31.540 And the fallout. 00:01:31.540 --> 00:01:32.780 President Trump and I, 00:01:32.780 --> 00:01:34.050 along with others in the administration, 00:01:34.050 --> 00:01:36.150 have recognized that certain improvements 00:01:36.150 --> 00:01:38.250 could and should be made. 00:01:38.250 --> 00:01:41.840 We’ll speak to investigative reporter A.C. Thompson. 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:45.560 And finally, to the frontlines of the animal rights movement. 00:01:45.560 --> 00:01:49.660 On Saturday, hundreds of activists attempted to rescue 00:01:49.660 --> 00:01:52.610 2,000 beagles from Ridglan Farms, 00:01:52.610 --> 00:01:54.420 a breeding facility in Wisconsin, 00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:56.500 accused of animal cruelty. 00:01:57.570 --> 00:02:01.910 The violence that we experienced today was off the charts. 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:07.750 And yet it does not compare to what the dogs go through! 00:02:09.480 --> 00:02:13.300 Dozens of people were arrested. We’ll go to Madison, Wisconsin, 00:02:13.300 --> 00:02:15.110 to speak with one of the organizers. 00:02:15.110 --> 00:02:16.810 All that and more, coming up. 00:02:21.600 --> 00:02:25.440 Welcome to Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, 00:02:25.440 --> 00:02:26.850 The War and Peace Report. 00:02:26.850 --> 00:02:29.220 I’m Amy Goodman in San Francisco. 00:02:29.860 --> 00:02:32.760 There’s uncertainty over whether the U.S. 00:02:32.760 --> 00:02:35.650 and Iran will hold another round of talks in Pakistan, 00:02:35.650 --> 00:02:38.620 after the White House said Vice President JD Vance 00:02:38.620 --> 00:02:41.730 was preparing to depart for Islamabad today, 00:02:41.730 --> 00:02:45.550 even as Iran refused to confirm it would participate. 00:02:46.110 --> 00:02:48.410 A spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry 00:02:48.410 --> 00:02:51.890 accused the U.S. of violating the 10-day ceasefire. 00:02:51.890 --> 00:02:54.390 He cited the U.S. Navy’s seizure 00:02:54.390 --> 00:02:56.600 of an Iranian cargo ship on Sunday, 00:02:56.600 --> 00:02:58.700 while calling for the release of its sailors 00:02:58.700 --> 00:03:00.550 and vowing to retaliate. 00:03:00.550 --> 00:03:02.240 Meanwhile, President Trump has warned 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:06.340 he’s "highly unlikely" to extend the 10-day ceasefire 00:03:06.340 --> 00:03:11.200 with Iran beyond Wednesday evening 00:03:11.200 --> 00:03:15.150 and said the U.S. would likely resume bombing immediately 00:03:15.150 --> 00:03:17.080 if Iran refuses a deal. 00:03:18.370 --> 00:03:21.170 On Capitol Hill, dozens of military veterans 00:03:21.170 --> 00:03:23.730 and their family members were arrested Monday 00:03:23.730 --> 00:03:28.310 as they nonviolently occupied the Cannon House Office Building 00:03:28.310 --> 00:03:31.490 to protest the U.S. and Israeli war on Iran, 00:03:31.490 --> 00:03:35.450 while demanding a meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson. 00:03:35.450 --> 00:03:37.980 At least 62 people were arrested, 00:03:37.980 --> 00:03:41.640 including elderly and disabled activists. 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:52.820 The protest was organized by a coalition that included 00:03:52.820 --> 00:03:55.600 About Face, Veterans for Peace, 00:03:55.600 --> 00:03:59.260 Common Defense and Military Families Speak Out. 00:03:59.260 --> 00:04:01.060 This is Christina Sarson, 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:03.510 a U.S. Army veteran from Pennsylvania. 00:04:03.510 --> 00:04:04.730 Christina Sarson: 00:04:04.730 --> 00:04:07.220 "I personally am here for my sons. 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:10.850 As a veteran, I know the harm that wars 00:04:10.850 --> 00:04:15.070 do to civilian populations, but also to our soldiers. 00:04:15.070 --> 00:04:16.840 I’m talking about the loss of life. 00:04:16.840 --> 00:04:19.460 I’m talking about injuries and lives changed forever. 00:04:19.460 --> 00:04:21.850 I’m talking about PTSD and moral injury. 00:04:21.850 --> 00:04:23.550 And that’s why I’m here today." 00:04:25.020 --> 00:04:28.410 The State Department says it will host a second round 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:32.940 of talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington, D.C., 00:04:32.940 --> 00:04:35.840 on Thursday, the first negotiations 00:04:35.840 --> 00:04:40.490 since a tenuous ceasefire went into effect last week. 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:43.570 The announcement came as people across Lebanon 00:04:43.570 --> 00:04:46.420 held funerals Monday for loved ones 00:04:46.420 --> 00:04:49.700 whose bodies were retrieved from the rubble of buildings 00:04:49.700 --> 00:04:52.600 left flattened by Israeli strikes. 00:04:53.130 --> 00:04:57.360 In Tyre, relatives prayed by the temporary graves 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:02.670 of 80-year-old Hussein Dbouk and his 32-year-old son Rabih, 00:05:02.670 --> 00:05:05.870 who were killed in the hours before the ceasefire 00:05:05.870 --> 00:05:08.040 took effect last Friday morning. 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:09.960 Sawsan Halaweh: 00:05:09.960 --> 00:05:11.540 "This family, why is it their fault? 00:05:11.540 --> 00:05:13.130 Is it because they didn’t leave Tyre? 00:05:13.130 --> 00:05:14.870 Is this our fault, that we stayed? 00:05:14.870 --> 00:05:16.100 We don’t want to leave our land. 00:05:16.100 --> 00:05:18.490 Our land is our honor and our dignity. … 00:05:18.490 --> 00:05:20.130 What did these people do wrong for Israel 00:05:20.130 --> 00:05:21.410 to come and bomb them? 00:05:21.410 --> 00:05:23.980 You, Israel, who were supposed to do a ceasefire, 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:26.790 committed a crime before it could take effect." 00:05:26.790 --> 00:05:31.880 Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks in March 00:05:31.880 --> 00:05:35.520 and April killed over 2,300 people, 00:05:35.520 --> 00:05:41.050 leaving over 6,700 injured and 1.2 million 00:05:41.050 --> 00:05:43.890 people displaced from their homes. 00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.220 In Gaza, Israeli strikes have killed 00:05:48.220 --> 00:05:51.740 at least five Palestinians in separate incidents. 00:05:51.740 --> 00:05:53.440 With the latest strikes, 00:05:59.740 --> 00:06:04.450 Israeli attacks have killed more than 750 Palestinians 00:06:04.450 --> 00:06:08.730 since last year’s so-called ceasefire deal took effect. 00:06:13.460 --> 00:06:15.430 In the occupied West Bank, Israel has officially 00:06:15.430 --> 00:06:16.860 reestablished the Sanur settlement, 00:06:16.860 --> 00:06:19.790 more than two decades after it was ordered dismantled. 00:06:20.830 --> 00:06:24.040 Elsewhere, a Palestinian boy was killed earlier today 00:06:24.040 --> 00:06:27.400 after being struck by a vehicle in the security convoy 00:06:27.400 --> 00:06:30.880 of an Israeli minister in the occupied West Bank. 00:06:30.880 --> 00:06:35.800 Sixteen-year-old Mohammad Majdi al-Jaabir was riding his bicycle 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:38.330 to school when he was run over. 00:06:38.330 --> 00:06:41.910 Haaretz reports that the convoy was en route 00:06:41.910 --> 00:06:45.400 to secure Israeli settlement minister Orit Strock, 00:06:45.400 --> 00:06:48.740 who lives in an illegal Israeli settlement in Hebron. 00:06:49.260 --> 00:06:51.870 Meanwhile, a joint report by the EU, 00:06:51.870 --> 00:06:56.960 U.N. and the World Bank reveals that $71.4 billion 00:06:56.960 --> 00:06:58.630 will be needed over the next decade 00:06:58.630 --> 00:07:01.440 for Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction. 00:07:01.440 --> 00:07:04.540 The report also warns that human development 00:07:04.540 --> 00:07:10.090 across the Gaza Strip has been set back by 77 years. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:12.670 Amnesty International has released 00:07:12.670 --> 00:07:14.500 its annual global human rights report, 00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:16.720 describing the leaders of Israel, Russia 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:21.000 and the United States as "voracious predators" 00:07:21.930 --> 00:07:25.870 intent on economic and political domination. 00:07:25.870 --> 00:07:28.660 The report documents the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, 00:07:28.660 --> 00:07:31.140 which has killed more than 3,000 people; 00:07:31.140 --> 00:07:35.160 Israeli attacks in Lebanon, which have killed nearly 2,400; 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:36.700 and the death toll in Gaza, 00:07:36.700 --> 00:07:43.600 which has surpassed 72,500 since October 2023. 00:07:44.790 --> 00:07:48.020 The report also points to signs of resistance, 00:07:48.020 --> 00:07:49.980 including the growing number of states 00:07:49.980 --> 00:07:53.200 joining South Africa’s genocide case against Israel 00:07:53.200 --> 00:07:55.740 at the International Court of Justice. 00:07:55.740 --> 00:07:59.400 This is Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard. 00:07:59.400 --> 00:08:00.690 Agnès Callamard: 00:08:00.690 --> 00:08:04.300 "It started with unlawful U.S. and Israeli 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:06.580 attack in violation of the U.N. Charter. 00:08:07.350 --> 00:08:10.100 No self-defense can be invoked here. 00:08:11.150 --> 00:08:15.140 It morphed into open warfare against civilians, 00:08:15.670 --> 00:08:17.690 Iran launching indiscriminate, 00:08:18.440 --> 00:08:21.340 disproportionate retaliatory strikes, 00:08:21.880 --> 00:08:24.830 Israel escalating its attacks on Lebanon. 00:08:25.710 --> 00:08:28.820 The conflict is endangering the lives 00:08:28.820 --> 00:08:31.750 and health of millions of people across the region." 00:08:33.970 --> 00:08:36.220 The report comes as Hungary’s 00:08:36.220 --> 00:08:39.920 newly elected Prime Minister Péter Magyar 00:08:39.920 --> 00:08:44.130 declared that his government would be legally obligated 00:08:44.130 --> 00:08:47.420 to detain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 00:08:47.420 --> 00:08:51.730 if he enters Hungarian territory while still subject 00:08:51.730 --> 00:08:54.610 to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. 00:08:54.610 --> 00:08:56.960 Speaking to reporters, Magyar said, 00:08:57.770 --> 00:08:59.960 "If a country is a member of the ICC 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:04.240 and a person who is wanted by the ICC enters our territory, 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:07.140 then that person must be taken into custody." 00:09:08.470 --> 00:09:11.380 Japan has relaxed decades of restrictions 00:09:11.380 --> 00:09:13.140 on the sale of weapons and ammunition, 00:09:13.140 --> 00:09:14.590 clearing the way for arms 00:09:14.590 --> 00:09:17.090 exports to more than a dozen countries. 00:09:17.090 --> 00:09:21.460 Today’s announcement by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi 00:09:21.460 --> 00:09:24.480 is a further shift away from Japan’s pacifist 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:27.820 postwar constitution, created by the U.S. 00:09:27.820 --> 00:09:30.780 as it occupied Japan eight decades ago. 00:09:30.780 --> 00:09:33.390 China said in response it is "seriously concerned" 00:09:33.390 --> 00:09:36.490 about Japan’s "reckless militarization." 00:09:37.560 --> 00:09:39.240 Cuba’s government has confirmed 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:41.790 it recently hosted U.S. officials on the island, 00:09:41.790 --> 00:09:44.820 marking the first time senior American diplomats 00:09:44.820 --> 00:09:48.520 have visited the island nation since 2016. 00:09:48.520 --> 00:09:52.430 Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Alejandro García del Toro 00:09:52.430 --> 00:09:54.970 said lifting the U.S. oil blockade 00:09:54.970 --> 00:09:57.360 was "a top priority," calling it 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:01.480 "an unjustified punishment of the entire Cuban population." 00:10:01.480 --> 00:10:03.110 The talks come as President Trump 00:10:03.110 --> 00:10:06.890 has repeatedly floated the use of military force against Cuba, 00:10:06.890 --> 00:10:09.700 saying his attention could turn to the island 00:10:09.700 --> 00:10:12.970 after the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. 00:10:12.970 --> 00:10:15.160 Last week, Trump said, 00:10:15.160 --> 00:10:19.790 "We may stop by Cuba after we finish with this." 00:10:21.540 --> 00:10:23.920 Meanwhile, the leaders of Mexico, Brazil and Spain, 00:10:23.920 --> 00:10:25.910 meeting in Barcelona as part of a gathering 00:10:25.910 --> 00:10:29.330 of progressive heads of state, issued a joint statement 00:10:29.330 --> 00:10:31.640 pledging increased humanitarian aid to Cuba 00:10:31.640 --> 00:10:35.330 and calling for its sovereignty to be respected. 00:10:36.070 --> 00:10:37.270 Deaths in ICE custody 00:10:37.270 --> 00:10:39.290 have reached a record high this fiscal year, 00:10:39.290 --> 00:10:43.780 with at least 17 immigrants reported dead since January. 00:10:43.780 --> 00:10:46.370 The most recent case is of 27-year-old 00:10:46.370 --> 00:10:48.750 Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, 00:10:48.750 --> 00:10:51.730 an immigrant from Cuba who was found unresponsive last week 00:10:51.730 --> 00:10:53.040 while jailed in Miami. 00:10:53.040 --> 00:10:56.270 He reportedly died of a presumed suicide, 00:10:56.270 --> 00:10:58.700 but the cause is still under investigation. 00:10:58.700 --> 00:11:01.570 We’ll have more on this later in the broadcast. 00:11:02.130 --> 00:11:04.090 The Justice Department has demanded 00:11:04.090 --> 00:11:06.160 that officials in Wayne County, Michigan, 00:11:06.160 --> 00:11:09.820 turn over more than 860,000 ballots, 00:11:09.820 --> 00:11:11.950 along with envelopes and receipts, 00:11:11.950 --> 00:11:16.540 from the 2024 general election. Trump defeated Kamala Harris 00:11:16.540 --> 00:11:18.880 to win Michigan’s 15 electoral votes, 00:11:18.880 --> 00:11:22.430 but he lost in Wayne County, which is home to Detroit, 00:11:22.430 --> 00:11:24.690 by nearly a quarter-million votes. 00:11:24.690 --> 00:11:28.140 The DOJ’s threats come weeks after the FBI 00:11:28.140 --> 00:11:31.230 subpoenaed election records in Arizona’s Maricopa County 00:11:31.230 --> 00:11:33.820 and raided an elections hub in Fulton County, Georgia, 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:35.820 seizing thousands of ballots. 00:11:35.820 --> 00:11:37.750 Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel 00:11:37.750 --> 00:11:40.240 called the request "absurd" and "baseless." 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:41.980 She wrote, "Once again, 00:11:41.980 --> 00:11:44.640 President Trump is weaponizing the Justice Department 00:11:44.640 --> 00:11:47.660 in an attempt to sabotage our democratic process 00:11:47.660 --> 00:11:50.040 and turn it into his own personal agency 00:11:50.040 --> 00:11:53.320 to interfere in state elections." 00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:57.600 Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:00.870 that arrests over the 2020 election 00:12:00.870 --> 00:12:03.360 were coming as soon as this week. 00:12:05.590 --> 00:12:12.040 Kash Patel has filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit 00:12:12.040 --> 00:12:14.190 against The Atlantic magazine and journalist 00:12:14.190 --> 00:12:16.990 Sarah Fitzpatrick, after she reported that 00:12:16.990 --> 00:12:21.070 Patel has alarmed FBI colleagues with episodes of excessive 00:12:21.070 --> 00:12:26.290 drinking, erratic behavior and unexplained absences. 00:12:26.290 --> 00:12:29.080 The report cited more than two dozen people, 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:31.630 including current and former FBI officials, 00:12:31.630 --> 00:12:35.830 members of Congress, lobbyists, former advisers and others. 00:12:35.830 --> 00:12:39.070 Several officials said morning meetings at the FBI 00:12:39.070 --> 00:12:41.030 were rescheduled until the afternoon 00:12:41.030 --> 00:12:43.680 because Patel was incapacitated 00:12:43.680 --> 00:12:45.650 following nights of heavy drinking. 00:12:47.180 --> 00:12:51.000 Patel’s security detail reportedly struggled to wake him 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.870 on multiple occasions last year, 00:12:53.870 --> 00:12:57.430 and in at least one instance requested 00:12:57.430 --> 00:13:00.300 "breaching equipment" normally used by 00:13:00.300 --> 00:13:03.110 SWAT teams to enter buildings. 00:13:04.410 --> 00:13:09.190 U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned Monday 00:13:09.190 --> 00:13:12.940 amid a series of reports that she abused her position. 00:13:13.760 --> 00:13:17.190 She’s accused of using public funds for personal travel; 00:13:17.190 --> 00:13:19.370 bringing subordinates to a strip club; 00:13:19.370 --> 00:13:22.260 drinking on the job in government offices; 00:13:22.260 --> 00:13:25.270 and having a romantic affair with her bodyguard. 00:13:25.270 --> 00:13:28.140 This comes after Chavez-DeRemer’s husband Shawn 00:13:28.140 --> 00:13:30.470 DeRemer was barred from the Labor 00:13:30.470 --> 00:13:34.140 Department’s headquarters after at least two female staff 00:13:34.140 --> 00:13:38.200 members reported he had sexually assaulted them. Lori 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:41.220 Chavez-DeRemer is the third member of Trump’s Cabinet 00:13:41.220 --> 00:13:43.180 to be forced out in the last seven weeks 00:13:43.180 --> 00:13:44.450 — all of them women — 00:13:44.450 --> 00:13:46.040 following the departure of Homeland 00:13:46.040 --> 00:13:50.270 Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi. 00:13:51.160 --> 00:13:53.380 Wired magazine has revealed new details 00:13:53.380 --> 00:13:55.570 about how facial recognition technology 00:13:55.570 --> 00:13:59.200 has been used to closely monitor sports fans at the iconic 00:13:59.200 --> 00:14:02.590 Madison Square Garden arena in New York. 00:14:02.590 --> 00:14:05.830 Over a two-year period, security staff for New York 00:14:05.830 --> 00:14:08.870 Knicks owner James Dolan used the surveillance system 00:14:08.870 --> 00:14:11.410 to track the movements of a trans woman, 00:14:11.410 --> 00:14:15.950 in part to prevent her image from being seen on TV. 00:14:16.750 --> 00:14:20.400 An 18-page dossier obtained by Wired 00:14:20.400 --> 00:14:22.800 shows the system tracked all of her movements, 00:14:22.800 --> 00:14:25.410 including when she entered and exited the bathroom. 00:14:26.020 --> 00:14:28.990 Dolan also used the facial recognition system 00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:31.540 to ban hundreds of people from the venue, 00:14:31.540 --> 00:14:35.750 including a group of lawyers involved in disputes with him. 00:14:35.750 --> 00:14:36.990 Photos of the lawyers 00:14:36.990 --> 00:14:39.280 were fed into the facial recognition software 00:14:39.280 --> 00:14:43.100 to prevent them from entering the Garden. 00:14:44.050 --> 00:14:46.950 Hundreds of delegates are arriving at the United Nations 00:14:46.950 --> 00:14:48.340 this week for the world’s largest 00:14:48.340 --> 00:14:49.980 gathering of Indigenous peoples, 00:14:49.980 --> 00:14:53.030 the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. 00:14:53.030 --> 00:14:55.810 This year’s forum centers on the survival of Indigenous 00:14:55.810 --> 00:14:58.320 peoples in the context of armed conflict. 00:14:58.320 --> 00:15:01.610 Advocates also warn that the artificial intelligence boom 00:15:01.610 --> 00:15:05.890 is driving a new era of digital extractivism, 00:15:05.890 --> 00:15:09.780 with tech companies scraping Indigenous medicinal knowledge, 00:15:09.780 --> 00:15:11.900 traditional stories and genetic data 00:15:11.900 --> 00:15:14.520 without consent, while massive data centers 00:15:14.520 --> 00:15:17.480 threaten tribal lands and water resources. 00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:19.310 The Trump administration has also made it 00:15:19.310 --> 00:15:22.170 increasingly difficult for delegates from the Global South 00:15:22.170 --> 00:15:27.070 to obtain U.S. visas to attend the forum. 00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:29.850 The Goldman Environmental Prize, 00:15:29.850 --> 00:15:32.040 widely known as the "Green Nobel," 00:15:32.040 --> 00:15:34.980 has announced its 2026 recipients. 00:15:34.980 --> 00:15:39.280 For the first time since the prize was established in 1989, 00:15:39.280 --> 00:15:42.240 all six winners are women. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.510 They are Iroro Tanshi of Nigeria, 00:15:44.510 --> 00:15:45.860 Borim Kim of South Korea, 00:15:45.860 --> 00:15:47.790 Sarah Finch of the United Kingdom, 00:15:47.790 --> 00:15:50.940 Theonila Roka Matbob of Papua New Guinea, 00:15:50.940 --> 00:15:53.700 Yuvelis Morales Blanco of Colombia 00:15:53.700 --> 00:15:57.340 and Alannah Acaq Hurley of the United States. 00:15:57.340 --> 00:16:00.100 Hurley is the executive director 00:16:00.100 --> 00:16:02.760 of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay. 00:16:02.760 --> 00:16:05.630 She led a successful campaign against the Pebble Mine, 00:16:05.630 --> 00:16:08.410 a proposed gold and copper mine that would have required 00:16:08.410 --> 00:16:10.210 construction of a massive power plant, 00:16:10.210 --> 00:16:14.100 natural gas pipeline and huge, toxic tailing ponds. 00:16:14.100 --> 00:16:16.990 Alannah Acaq Hurley: "This award honors all of us, 00:16:17.650 --> 00:16:19.710 those who stood against all odds, 00:16:20.770 --> 00:16:23.280 those who never wavered in speaking up 00:16:23.280 --> 00:16:25.080 against greed and destruction. 00:16:26.040 --> 00:16:29.460 It honors those who have shown up year after year, 00:16:29.980 --> 00:16:34.730 writing letters, testifying at hearings, protesting, 00:16:34.730 --> 00:16:38.760 and raising their kids to value people over profit." 00:16:41.590 --> 00:16:44.440 And those are some of the headlines this is Democracy 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:48.580 Now, Democracynow.org, the War and Peace Report. 00:16:48.580 --> 00:16:50.280 I’m Amy Goodman. 00:17:03.190 --> 00:17:04.920 AMY GOODMAN: As the Trump administration 00:17:04.920 --> 00:17:07.330 continues to rapidly expand 00:17:07.330 --> 00:17:11.130 its immigration jail system across the country, 00:17:11.130 --> 00:17:15.500 we look now at the rising death toll of people in ICE custody, 00:17:15.500 --> 00:17:20.080 which has reached a record high in over two decades. 00:17:20.080 --> 00:17:22.760 At least 17 immigrants are reported to have died 00:17:22.760 --> 00:17:25.570 in ICE custody since January — 00:17:25.570 --> 00:17:29.520 that’s on average about an immigrant death a week. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:32.510 The most recent death is of 27-year-old 00:17:32.510 --> 00:17:34.440 Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:38.280 an immigrant from Cuba who was jailed in Miami. 00:17:38.280 --> 00:17:40.860 He reportedly died of a presumed suicide, 00:17:40.860 --> 00:17:43.360 but the cause is still under investigation. 00:17:44.430 --> 00:17:46.860 At least 48 immigrants have died in custody 00:17:46.860 --> 00:17:50.190 since President Trump returned to office. 00:17:50.190 --> 00:17:51.890 The cause of death has varied, 00:17:52.650 --> 00:17:55.000 but includes at least one homicide. 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:57.950 In January, El Paso County’s medical examiner 00:17:57.950 --> 00:18:01.960 found that 55-year-old Geraldo Lunas Campos 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:06.010 died from asphyxia due to neck and chest compression. 00:18:06.740 --> 00:18:08.200 Lunas Campos was pronounced 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:11.940 dead January 3rd at Camp East Montana, 00:18:11.940 --> 00:18:15.900 a sprawling immigration detention tent camp 00:18:15.900 --> 00:18:18.930 at the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso. 00:18:19.700 --> 00:18:21.860 ICE claimed the Cuban father had died 00:18:21.860 --> 00:18:24.590 after experiencing medical distress, 00:18:24.590 --> 00:18:30.090 but several immigrants that he was jailed with later testified 00:18:30.090 --> 00:18:33.770 they heard Lunas Campos pleading for medication 00:18:33.770 --> 00:18:36.780 shortly before guards tackled him to the ground. 00:18:37.530 --> 00:18:39.770 One of the witnesses said in a sworn court 00:18:39.770 --> 00:18:42.720 declaration he heard a guard tell Lunas Campos, 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:44.920 "Shut up, or we’re going to make you faint." 00:18:45.970 --> 00:18:48.820 He added, quote, "The last thing I heard was Geraldo 00:18:48.820 --> 00:18:51.950 speak in a voice that sounded like he couldn’t breathe. 00:18:51.950 --> 00:18:53.200 He said, 'Let go of me. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:55.260 You're asphyxiating me,’" unquote. 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:58.480 The Associated Press also reported a witness 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:00.810 saw Lunas Campos handcuffed 00:19:00.810 --> 00:19:03.090 as at least five guards held him down, 00:19:03.090 --> 00:19:04.690 while one put an arm around his neck 00:19:04.690 --> 00:19:07.840 and squeezed until he was unconscious. 00:19:08.610 --> 00:19:11.780 Meanwhile, a San Francisco Chronicle investigation 00:19:11.780 --> 00:19:15.040 found over a dozen deaths under the Trump administration 00:19:15.040 --> 00:19:17.960 could have been prevented with proper medical care. 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:20.190 The Chronicle examined several cases, 00:19:20.190 --> 00:19:23.860 including Maksym Chernyak — he had a seizure, 00:19:23.860 --> 00:19:28.750 but they waited to call 911; Luis Beltrán Yanez-Cruz — 00:19:28.750 --> 00:19:30.690 he complained of chest pain 00:19:30.690 --> 00:19:33.460 but wasn’t seen by a doctor for weeks; 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:37.110 Santos Banegas Reyes — he was in withdrawal 00:19:37.110 --> 00:19:41.450 but not sent to the ER; Lorenzo Antonio Batrez Vargas — 00:19:41.450 --> 00:19:45.190 he couldn’t breathe, but they told him to wait; 00:19:45.190 --> 00:19:49.000 and Ismael Ayala-Uribe — he was in severe pain, 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:50.980 but they sent him back to his cell. 00:19:51.830 --> 00:19:53.260 For more, we go to Washington, 00:19:53.260 --> 00:19:56.520 D.C., where we’re joined by Setareh Ghandehari, 00:19:57.070 --> 00:20:00.040 advocacy director at Detention Watch Network. 00:20:00.600 --> 00:20:05.990 Can you explain this surge in deaths, Setareh? 00:20:06.520 --> 00:20:11.050 I’m talking about deaths of immigrants in ICE custody. 00:20:11.050 --> 00:20:12.840 Explain what you have found. 00:20:14.090 --> 00:20:15.460 SETAREH GHANDEHARI: Good morning, Amy, 00:20:15.460 --> 00:20:17.460 and thanks for having me. 00:20:17.460 --> 00:20:19.060 As you said in your intro, 00:20:19.060 --> 00:20:23.490 we’ve already seen 17 people die in ICE custody this year, 00:20:23.490 --> 00:20:25.660 which is an average of about one death per week. 00:20:25.660 --> 00:20:26.980 And I can tell you, 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:29.640 I’ve been tracking these numbers for several years now, 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:32.270 including during the COVID-19 pandemic, 00:20:32.270 --> 00:20:35.190 which was another point where we hit a record number of deaths, 00:20:35.190 --> 00:20:38.100 and I have never seen anything like this, 00:20:38.100 --> 00:20:41.970 where I’m seeing ICE reporting out at least one death per week. 00:20:41.970 --> 00:20:43.330 It’s really shocking. 00:20:43.330 --> 00:20:45.710 And, of course, this comes on the heels 00:20:45.710 --> 00:20:48.970 of a record number of deaths in ICE custody last year, 00:20:48.970 --> 00:20:51.880 which also doesn’t include the number of deaths 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:54.120 that have occurred as ICE has been chaotically 00:20:54.120 --> 00:20:57.090 and violently targeting immigrant communities 00:20:57.090 --> 00:20:59.200 during their enforcement actions. 00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:04.110 At this point, if we continue to see the same pace of deaths, 00:21:04.110 --> 00:21:06.100 with one death per week, 00:21:06.100 --> 00:21:08.810 we’re set to far exceed last year’s record 00:21:08.810 --> 00:21:10.510 by the end of this year. 00:21:11.630 --> 00:21:13.720 JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Setareh, how do you explain, 00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:15.090 given all the amount, 00:21:15.090 --> 00:21:18.460 all the extra, additional, skyrocketing amounts of money 00:21:18.460 --> 00:21:20.990 that the Trump administration has given to ICE, 00:21:21.610 --> 00:21:26.810 that they seem unable to provide the kind of care necessary 00:21:26.810 --> 00:21:28.700 for the people they detain? 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:30.050 SETAREH GHANDEHARI: Sure. Well, you know, 00:21:30.050 --> 00:21:33.080 ICE has been acting with impunity now for decades. 00:21:33.080 --> 00:21:35.520 And we have seen, really, 00:21:35.520 --> 00:21:37.610 that the system is inherently violent. 00:21:37.610 --> 00:21:39.310 It’s inherently abusive. 00:21:39.310 --> 00:21:41.050 We’ve seen these kinds of conditions 00:21:41.050 --> 00:21:43.730 now that have been documented for decades. 00:21:43.730 --> 00:21:48.570 And as the Trump administration came into office last year 00:21:48.570 --> 00:21:50.250 and embarked on its violent 00:21:50.250 --> 00:21:52.560 and cruel mass deportation campaign, 00:21:52.560 --> 00:21:54.810 we know that immigration detention 00:21:54.810 --> 00:21:58.950 has been a key pillar of that campaign. 00:21:58.950 --> 00:22:01.380 You know, they issued several executive orders 00:22:01.380 --> 00:22:02.610 in the first days, 00:22:02.610 --> 00:22:06.080 all of which emphasized the need for expanding ICE detention. 00:22:07.020 --> 00:22:10.070 They really kicked off this entire campaign 00:22:10.070 --> 00:22:11.320 with their announcement 00:22:11.320 --> 00:22:15.390 about expanding migrant detention at Guantánamo Bay, 00:22:15.390 --> 00:22:17.510 and they entered into an agreement 00:22:17.510 --> 00:22:21.770 with the government of El Salvador to offshore detention. 00:22:21.770 --> 00:22:24.580 And so, these two announcements, in many ways, 00:22:24.580 --> 00:22:26.050 really served to normalize 00:22:26.050 --> 00:22:29.030 the sort of everyday expansion of the system, 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:33.850 where we have seen ICE expand its usual contracts 00:22:33.850 --> 00:22:37.820 with local jails and sheriffs and local prisons. 00:22:37.820 --> 00:22:41.310 We’ve seen them expand into military bases, 00:22:41.310 --> 00:22:44.690 as you mentioned, at Fort Bliss in Texas and others. 00:22:45.250 --> 00:22:50.530 We have seen a massive expansion into the federal prison system, 00:22:50.530 --> 00:22:53.940 the reopening of shuttered Bureau of Prisons facilities, 00:22:54.760 --> 00:22:57.250 agreements — really unprecedented agreements 00:22:57.250 --> 00:23:00.420 — with state governments to open facilities, 00:23:00.420 --> 00:23:03.610 including the cruelly dubbed 00:23:03.610 --> 00:23:07.110 "Alligator Alcatraz" in Florida in the Everglades, 00:23:07.110 --> 00:23:08.980 as well as the reopening 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:11.640 of a shuttered state prison in Indiana. 00:23:12.380 --> 00:23:14.330 So, they have really gone all out. 00:23:15.020 --> 00:23:18.040 And, of course, last summer, their efforts were boosted 00:23:18.040 --> 00:23:24.620 by a massive, unprecedented infusion of funds from Congress 00:23:24.620 --> 00:23:28.940 that has allowed them to really ramp up 00:23:28.940 --> 00:23:30.970 this expansion of the ICE detention system. 00:23:30.970 --> 00:23:36.410 So, as Congress is pouring more and more money into ICE and CBP, 00:23:36.930 --> 00:23:39.660 this money is being used to really expand the system. 00:23:39.660 --> 00:23:42.970 And, of course, the conditions remain as dire as ever 00:23:42.970 --> 00:23:44.830 and are being exacerbated, 00:23:44.830 --> 00:23:47.660 because we know that ICE doesn’t really care 00:23:47.660 --> 00:23:50.160 about the well-being of the people in its custody. 00:23:51.090 --> 00:23:52.620 JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And who is responsible 00:23:52.620 --> 00:23:54.370 for providing medical care 00:23:54.370 --> 00:23:57.670 and mental healthcare in ICE facilities? 00:23:57.670 --> 00:24:00.390 Could you talk about the third-party contractors? 00:24:00.980 --> 00:24:02.180 SETAREH GHANDEHARI: Sure, yes. 00:24:02.180 --> 00:24:07.220 ICE contracts with third parties to provide medical care. 00:24:07.870 --> 00:24:11.320 The reality is, the system is set up for — 00:24:11.320 --> 00:24:13.330 you know, with a profit incentive. 00:24:14.050 --> 00:24:15.580 And, of course, you know, 00:24:15.580 --> 00:24:17.220 ICE isn’t really interested in caring 00:24:17.220 --> 00:24:19.330 for the people in its custody. 00:24:19.330 --> 00:24:22.060 They’re interested in getting as many people into detention 00:24:22.060 --> 00:24:23.930 and deporting as many people as possible. 00:24:23.930 --> 00:24:28.160 So, routine care goes ungiven. 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:31.750 People are ignored to the point of emergency. 00:24:31.750 --> 00:24:35.270 And so, we see, you know, all deaths in 00:24:35.270 --> 00:24:36.790 ICE custody really are preventable, 00:24:36.790 --> 00:24:39.690 because no one should be in the system to begin with. 00:24:39.690 --> 00:24:41.580 It’s inherently violent. 00:24:41.580 --> 00:24:43.230 But we’re seeing more and more 00:24:43.230 --> 00:24:46.850 that people are reaching the point of emergency 00:24:46.850 --> 00:24:50.190 for issues that could easily be dealt with 00:24:51.250 --> 00:24:53.080 if proper medical care was given. 00:24:56.140 --> 00:24:59.460 AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the growing opposition 00:24:59.460 --> 00:25:04.860 around the country to the ICE detention facilities? 00:25:04.860 --> 00:25:08.980 And what has happened since Kristi Noem left, 00:25:08.980 --> 00:25:12.290 purchasing warehouses across the country 00:25:13.040 --> 00:25:16.480 to imprison thousands of immigrants? 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:19.070 What’s happened to those facilities, Setareh? 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:22.100 SETAREH GHANDEHARI: With the warehouses, 00:25:22.100 --> 00:25:23.690 this is the most recent venture 00:25:23.690 --> 00:25:26.720 that ICE has gone into in order to expand its system. 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:29.730 Of course, in December, they announced plans to purchase 00:25:29.730 --> 00:25:34.110 dozens of former industrial warehouses across the country 00:25:34.670 --> 00:25:39.060 and convert them into ICE detention facilities. 00:25:39.060 --> 00:25:42.990 And, of course, we have seen a massive opposition 00:25:42.990 --> 00:25:44.230 to these warehouses. 00:25:44.230 --> 00:25:46.740 It’s been really inspiring to see people 00:25:46.740 --> 00:25:50.070 across the country standing up in solidarity 00:25:50.070 --> 00:25:52.000 with their immigrant neighbors and saying, you know, 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:54.220 "We don’t want these types of facilities 00:25:54.220 --> 00:25:57.670 in our communities, in our country. It’s wrong." 00:25:57.670 --> 00:26:03.640 And, you know, this is, again, part of a much broader effort 00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:06.810 that has been going on for many years now. 00:26:06.810 --> 00:26:10.180 At Detention Watch Network, we coordinate the Communities 00:26:10.180 --> 00:26:12.670 Not Cages campaign, where folks across the country 00:26:12.670 --> 00:26:15.020 have been fighting against ICE detention centers 00:26:15.020 --> 00:26:17.200 in their communities for many years. 00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:19.820 But what we’ve seen with the announcement of these warehouses 00:26:19.820 --> 00:26:23.600 is really a grassroots sort of swelling opposition 00:26:23.600 --> 00:26:26.220 to the growth of this system 00:26:26.220 --> 00:26:29.690 into facilities that are warehouses. 00:26:29.690 --> 00:26:31.940 They’re meant for industrial labor, 00:26:31.940 --> 00:26:35.530 for warehousing goods, not for detaining people. 00:26:35.530 --> 00:26:37.080 And they’ve been successful, 00:26:37.080 --> 00:26:39.920 and it’s been such, such an inspiration to see. 00:26:41.950 --> 00:26:44.500 JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, last week, Todd Lyons, 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:47.830 the acting director of Immigration 00:26:47.830 --> 00:26:50.460 and Customs Enforcement, resigned. 00:26:50.460 --> 00:26:53.080 Now, he’d never been confirmed by the Senate 00:26:53.740 --> 00:26:55.260 in his appointment. 00:26:55.260 --> 00:26:59.920 Your reaction to his resignation and his tenure? 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:01.840 SETAREH GHANDEHARI: Sure. 00:27:01.840 --> 00:27:04.820 I mean, what we’ve seen over the last several weeks 00:27:04.820 --> 00:27:07.190 is sort of a superficial shake-up 00:27:07.190 --> 00:27:09.630 of the leadership at ICE and DHS. 00:27:09.630 --> 00:27:11.940 And I think it’s really important to note that, 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:13.910 you know, Todd Lyons might be out, 00:27:14.500 --> 00:27:19.540 but the agenda and the goals of this administration 00:27:19.540 --> 00:27:21.160 remain the same. 00:27:21.160 --> 00:27:23.860 And I think what it does speak to, however, 00:27:23.860 --> 00:27:28.330 is this growing opposition to this violent and chaotic 00:27:28.330 --> 00:27:31.400 and cruel mass detention and deportation agenda. 00:27:33.020 --> 00:27:34.670 People across the country are saying, 00:27:34.670 --> 00:27:36.370 "No, this is not the kind of country 00:27:36.370 --> 00:27:38.110 that we want to live in." 00:27:38.110 --> 00:27:40.060 And so, I think that’s why we’re seeing 00:27:40.730 --> 00:27:45.890 this sort of shaky place where the leadership is. 00:27:45.890 --> 00:27:47.940 And, you know, I think we are prepared 00:27:47.940 --> 00:27:49.400 to continue that opposition. 00:27:49.400 --> 00:27:52.750 This weekend, together with folks across the country, 00:27:53.290 --> 00:27:55.670 we’re engaging in coordinated actions 00:27:55.670 --> 00:27:59.300 in more than 160 locations across the country to stand up 00:27:59.300 --> 00:28:04.670 and fight back against this warehouse expansion. 00:28:04.670 --> 00:28:06.870 And I think, you know, hearing that, 00:28:07.910 --> 00:28:11.670 seeing that opposition over the last several months 00:28:11.670 --> 00:28:14.620 has forced ICE to sort of put a pause on that. 00:28:14.620 --> 00:28:16.680 But I think it’s important to remember, 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:18.600 you know, first of all, ICE lies. 00:28:18.600 --> 00:28:20.380 I’m sure that there’s negotiations 00:28:20.380 --> 00:28:21.650 happening behind the scenes. 00:28:21.650 --> 00:28:23.380 Several warehouses have already been purchased 00:28:23.380 --> 00:28:24.650 and are set to open. 00:28:24.650 --> 00:28:27.270 So we’re going to — we’re going to do everything we can 00:28:27.270 --> 00:28:30.380 to stop that infrastructure from being established. 00:28:30.380 --> 00:28:32.200 And, you know, this is — it’s important to remember 00:28:32.200 --> 00:28:34.860 that this is really part of a broader scheme 00:28:34.860 --> 00:28:36.710 to expand the ICE detention system. 00:28:36.710 --> 00:28:40.240 So, we really need to keep paying attention to this, 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:44.260 because ICE is determined to expand its capacity 00:28:44.260 --> 00:28:45.480 to detain people 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:48.530 to more than 100,000 people at any given time, 00:28:48.530 --> 00:28:50.350 which is really a shocking number 00:28:50.350 --> 00:28:54.160 and, you know, parallel to the number of Japanese Americans 00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:55.940 that were incarcerated during World War II. 00:28:55.940 --> 00:29:00.190 So, I don’t think we can overemphasize how dire 00:29:00.190 --> 00:29:02.520 and how unprecedented this agenda 00:29:02.520 --> 00:29:04.220 is by the current administration. 00:29:06.030 --> 00:29:07.300 AMY GOODMAN: Before we go, Setareh, 00:29:07.300 --> 00:29:10.800 if you could describe the ongoing detention 00:29:10.800 --> 00:29:13.060 of families and children at the Dilley 00:29:13.060 --> 00:29:16.180 Immigration Processing Center in Texas? 00:29:16.180 --> 00:29:18.000 That’s the ICE jail there. 00:29:19.100 --> 00:29:21.710 Reporter Sarah Stillman writes in The New Yorker, 00:29:21.710 --> 00:29:24.810 "Under the Trump Administration, 00:29:24.810 --> 00:29:27.860 thousands of immigrant children have been detained, 00:29:27.860 --> 00:29:31.540 … many have suffered from medical neglect." 00:29:31.540 --> 00:29:33.140 If you can explain that? 00:29:33.140 --> 00:29:35.990 And then, ultimately, who is responsible 00:29:35.990 --> 00:29:40.120 for providing medical care all over? 00:29:40.120 --> 00:29:43.910 Talk more about these third-party contractors. 00:29:45.770 --> 00:29:47.560 SETAREH GHANDEHARI: Sure, yes. Well, as you mentioned, 00:29:47.560 --> 00:29:49.510 the Dilley detention center in Texas 00:29:49.510 --> 00:29:51.700 is a family detention center. 00:29:51.700 --> 00:29:54.100 That means people are being detained there 00:29:54.100 --> 00:29:56.920 with their children. This was a practice 00:29:56.920 --> 00:30:01.570 that the United States has done for many years. 00:30:01.570 --> 00:30:03.540 It went away during the last administration, 00:30:03.540 --> 00:30:06.180 and the Trump administration has brought it back. 00:30:06.180 --> 00:30:09.220 And as you said, hundreds of kids have been detained 00:30:09.220 --> 00:30:10.550 in really horrific conditions. 00:30:10.550 --> 00:30:12.910 I mean, you know, the ICE detention system, 00:30:12.910 --> 00:30:18.150 overall, is, as I said before, inherently inhumane, 00:30:18.150 --> 00:30:21.770 and we have seen really unconscionable conditions 00:30:21.770 --> 00:30:23.310 throughout the system that, 00:30:23.310 --> 00:30:25.940 you know, no human being should suffer through, 00:30:25.940 --> 00:30:27.620 and especially not kids. 00:30:27.620 --> 00:30:30.000 And we’re seeing very similar conditions 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:32.980 to the adult detention centers at Dilley, 00:30:32.980 --> 00:30:35.050 where kids are being detained 00:30:35.050 --> 00:30:37.170 on a regular basis with their families, 00:30:37.170 --> 00:30:39.320 you know, being denied proper medical care. 00:30:39.950 --> 00:30:42.310 You know, their education is being interrupted. 00:30:42.310 --> 00:30:44.680 I mean, there’s really no amount of detention 00:30:44.680 --> 00:30:46.660 that is appropriate for a child, 00:30:46.660 --> 00:30:50.710 and yet we’re seeing kids in these prolonged situations 00:30:50.710 --> 00:30:53.200 in detention, and it’s really horrific. 00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:56.570 And ultimately, ICE is responsible for the health 00:30:56.570 --> 00:30:59.240 and well-being of the people in its custody, 00:30:59.240 --> 00:31:03.040 and they’re utterly failing to provide that care. 00:31:03.040 --> 00:31:05.860 They are — they do contract with third parties. 00:31:06.410 --> 00:31:08.670 There’s a number of them that are contracted 00:31:08.670 --> 00:31:11.700 to provide medical care 00:31:11.700 --> 00:31:14.400 and other services inside of ICE detention centers. 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:17.050 But, ultimately, it’s ICE’s responsibility, 00:31:18.410 --> 00:31:22.020 and ICE, you know, fails to hold their contractors accountable. 00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:25.080 Congress has failed to hold ICE accountable. 00:31:25.080 --> 00:31:28.000 So, it’s really just a vicious cycle that continues. 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:29.940 And the whole time, you know, 00:31:29.940 --> 00:31:32.030 we have these private corporations 00:31:32.030 --> 00:31:34.010 profiting off of the pain 00:31:34.010 --> 00:31:36.550 and suffering of adults and children alike. 00:31:39.220 --> 00:31:40.440 AMY GOODMAN: Setareh Ghandehari, 00:31:40.440 --> 00:31:42.230 we want to thank you for being with us, 00:31:42.230 --> 00:31:46.110 advocacy director at Detention Watch Network. 00:31:46.110 --> 00:31:48.200 Coming up, "Caught in the Crackdown: 00:31:48.200 --> 00:31:51.510 As Arrests at Anti-ICE Protests Piled Up, 00:31:51.510 --> 00:31:53.520 Prosecutions Crumbled." 00:31:54.030 --> 00:31:57.380 We’ll speak to A.C. Thompson about his new investigation 00:31:57.380 --> 00:32:02.080 for ProPublica and Frontline. Stay with us. 00:32:02.080 --> 00:33:24.510 [break] 00:33:24.510 --> 00:33:25.730 AMY GOODMAN: "As I Walk," 00:33:25.730 --> 00:33:29.650 written by the Lebanese musical composer Marcel Khalife, 00:33:29.650 --> 00:33:34.230 performed in New York by the NYC Palestinian Youth Choir. 00:33:34.740 --> 00:33:37.940 This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. 00:33:38.550 --> 00:33:40.580 I’m Amy Goodman in San Francisco, 00:33:40.580 --> 00:33:42.760 with Juan González in Chicago. 00:33:42.760 --> 00:33:47.780 I’m in San Francisco for the national theatrical release 00:33:47.780 --> 00:33:50.090 of the documentary about Democracy Now! 00:33:50.090 --> 00:33:53.140 called Steal This Story, Please! 00:33:53.730 --> 00:33:56.890 We’re headed to California’s state capital, 00:33:56.890 --> 00:33:58.590 to Sacramento, today. 00:33:59.120 --> 00:34:02.450 The film will be showing at the Tower Theatre 00:34:02.450 --> 00:34:08.230 in Sacramento at 7 p.m. I’ll be doing the Q&A afterwards 00:34:08.230 --> 00:34:12.510 with the film’s director, Tia Lessin. 00:34:12.510 --> 00:34:14.210 And then, tomorrow, 00:34:14.810 --> 00:34:18.540 the film will show at the Roxie in San Francisco — 00:34:18.540 --> 00:34:21.000 I’ll be introducing it at 6:00. — 00:34:21.000 --> 00:34:26.400 and then in Berkeley, at the Rialto Elmwood, 00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:30.390 and we’ll be doing a Q&A afterwards. 00:34:30.390 --> 00:34:35.450 On Thursday, we’ll be in Seattle at SIFF. 00:34:35.450 --> 00:34:40.050 That’s the Seattle International Film Festival on Thursday night 00:34:40.050 --> 00:34:41.550 and on Friday night. 00:34:41.550 --> 00:34:45.520 And then we’re headed to Portland, Oregon, and beyond. 00:34:45.520 --> 00:34:49.020 It’s continuing to play in New York at the IFC 00:34:49.020 --> 00:34:53.410 and all over the country, in Los Angeles and beyond. 00:34:53.410 --> 00:34:55.670 You can go to democracynow.org 00:34:55.670 --> 00:34:58.940 to get the latest details where I will be. 00:34:58.940 --> 00:35:01.180 AMY GOODMAN: As we continue now to look 00:35:01.180 --> 00:35:04.080 at President Trump’s immigration crackdown, 00:35:04.080 --> 00:35:06.700 we turn to an in-depth investigation 00:35:06.700 --> 00:35:09.930 into the law enforcement response to protesters. 00:35:09.930 --> 00:35:11.590 In cities across the country, 00:35:11.590 --> 00:35:14.800 from Los Angeles to Chicago to Minneapolis, 00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:16.530 residents took to the streets 00:35:16.530 --> 00:35:19.620 to oppose the militarized immigration sweeps, 00:35:19.620 --> 00:35:24.910 enforcement tactics and violence by ICE and Border Patrol agents. 00:35:24.910 --> 00:35:26.790 The investigation by A.C. 00:35:26.790 --> 00:35:29.750 Thompson for ProPublica is headlined 00:35:29.750 --> 00:35:31.860 "Caught in the Crackdown: As Arrests 00:35:31.860 --> 00:35:36.880 at Anti-ICE Protests Piled Up, Prosecutions Crumbled." 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:40.880 The accompanying Frontline documentary 00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:44.010 is Caught in the Crackdown. This is the trailer. 00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:47.360 JOE FRYER: Immigration officials conducted several raids 00:35:47.360 --> 00:35:48.660 and arrested dozens of people. 00:35:48.660 --> 00:35:50.410 NARRATOR: An investigation into the Trump 00:35:50.410 --> 00:35:52.180 administration’s monthslong crackdown. 00:35:52.180 --> 00:35:53.510 A.C. THOMPSON: Are you encountering 00:35:53.510 --> 00:35:54.740 a lot of resistance? 00:35:54.740 --> 00:35:55.940 GREG BOVINO: Most I’ve ever seen. 00:35:55.940 --> 00:35:57.190 NARRATOR: The pushback. 00:35:57.190 --> 00:35:58.600 MAYOR JACOB FREY: They are creating the emergency 00:35:58.600 --> 00:36:00.200 and the crisis that we then need to deal with. 00:36:00.200 --> 00:36:01.440 COLE SHERIDAN: I’m asking, "Who’s detaining me?" 00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:02.670 PROTESTER: People live here! 00:36:02.670 --> 00:36:03.910 NARRATOR: And the fallout. 00:36:03.910 --> 00:36:05.150 TOM HOMAN: President Trump and I, 00:36:05.150 --> 00:36:06.420 along with others in the administration, 00:36:06.420 --> 00:36:08.520 have recognized that certain improvements 00:36:08.520 --> 00:36:10.220 could and should be made. 00:36:11.940 --> 00:36:14.030 AMY GOODMAN: That was the trailer 00:36:14.030 --> 00:36:16.320 for the new ProPublica-Frontline film, 00:36:16.320 --> 00:36:17.590 Caught in the Crackdown. 00:36:17.590 --> 00:36:20.450 In a minute, we’ll be joined by the investigative reporter 00:36:20.450 --> 00:36:23.650 A.C. Thompson to discuss what they found 00:36:23.650 --> 00:36:25.590 when they looked into the tactics, 00:36:25.590 --> 00:36:28.840 the arrests, the legal cases and impact of these protests. 00:36:28.840 --> 00:36:30.570 But first, another clip. 00:36:30.570 --> 00:36:35.470 This scene is from Minneapolis shortly after Renee Good 00:36:35.470 --> 00:36:40.390 was shot and killed by ICE officer Jonathan Ross. 00:36:42.010 --> 00:36:43.790 A.C. THOMPSON: We were reporting in the neighborhood 00:36:43.790 --> 00:36:45.890 where Renee Good had been killed. 00:36:45.890 --> 00:36:47.120 PROTESTER 1: Go home! 00:36:47.120 --> 00:36:51.770 PROTESTER 2: You don’t need gas masks and more guns. 00:36:51.770 --> 00:36:53.010 PROTESTER 3: What is that about? 00:36:53.010 --> 00:36:54.220 A.C. THOMPSON: Agents were surrounding 00:36:54.220 --> 00:36:55.920 and questioning a man. 00:36:57.370 --> 00:36:59.270 PROTESTER 4: Take your guns home! 00:36:59.270 --> 00:37:01.240 We don’t want guns in our neighborhoods! 00:37:01.240 --> 00:37:02.850 PROTESTER 2: They don’t need that [bleep] hardware. 00:37:02.850 --> 00:37:04.650 It’s ridiculous. 00:37:04.650 --> 00:37:06.460 A.C. THOMPSON: People were coming out of their houses. 00:37:06.460 --> 00:37:09.570 PROTESTER 3: Get the [bleep] out! You don’t belong here! 00:37:10.680 --> 00:37:11.960 A.C. THOMPSON: The agents started to leave. 00:37:11.960 --> 00:37:13.320 PROTESTER 5: Get the [bleep] out of here! 00:37:13.320 --> 00:37:14.790 Move out! You heard them! 00:37:14.790 --> 00:37:16.490 PROTESTER 6: Bye! 00:37:17.810 --> 00:37:19.500 A.C. THOMPSON: One protester was pepper-sprayed 00:37:19.500 --> 00:37:21.200 in the face at close range. 00:37:24.830 --> 00:37:27.410 PROTESTER 7: That’s not necessary! 00:37:27.410 --> 00:37:30.120 You’re [bleep] wrecking cars! Get the [bleep] out of here! 00:37:30.120 --> 00:37:31.360 A.C. THOMPSON: I spoke with the man 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:33.580 they were questioning, Christian Molina. 00:37:34.890 --> 00:37:37.090 He said the officers had rammed his vehicle. 00:37:37.610 --> 00:37:39.170 CHRISTIAN MOLINA: They hit my car for no reason, man. 00:37:39.170 --> 00:37:40.370 They hit me. A.C. THOMPSON: What happened? 00:37:40.370 --> 00:37:41.600 CHRISTIAN MOLINA: They followed me 00:37:41.600 --> 00:37:44.310 for no reason and hit my car. They looked at me, 00:37:44.310 --> 00:37:46.660 and they decided to pull me over for no reason. 00:37:46.660 --> 00:37:48.410 Do you believe that? 00:37:48.410 --> 00:37:50.110 A.C. THOMPSON: That Ford SUV? 00:37:51.190 --> 00:37:52.400 CHRISTIAN MOLINA: I’m a U.S. citizen. 00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:53.680 A.C. THOMPSON: Suddenly… 00:37:53.680 --> 00:37:55.150 Oh, here. Careful. 00:37:55.150 --> 00:37:56.440 ICE AGENT 1: Move back! 00:37:56.440 --> 00:37:57.680 A.C. THOMPSON: Someone threw a snowball 00:37:57.680 --> 00:37:59.380 in the direction of the agents. 00:38:08.660 --> 00:38:09.930 ICE AGENT 1: Move back! 00:38:09.930 --> 00:38:12.010 A.C. THOMPSON: One of them tossed a tear gas canister 00:38:12.010 --> 00:38:13.710 into the crowd. 00:38:16.050 --> 00:38:21.620 PROTESTER 7: You’re tear-gassing a [bleep] neighborhood! 00:38:21.620 --> 00:38:22.910 PROTESTER 8: It’s peaceful! 00:38:22.910 --> 00:38:24.610 PROTESTER 7: People live here! 00:38:31.300 --> 00:38:33.000 ICE AGENT 1: Back it up! 00:38:33.870 --> 00:38:36.050 A.C. THOMPSON: An agent pepper-sprayed protesters 00:38:36.050 --> 00:38:38.080 and a news photographer up close. 00:38:41.050 --> 00:38:43.470 Another fired pepper balls into the crowd. 00:38:45.800 --> 00:38:47.340 I was hit three times. 00:38:47.340 --> 00:38:49.620 I got shot repeatedly with pepper balls. 00:38:49.620 --> 00:38:52.090 CAMERA OPERATOR: Fix your hat. Fix your hat. 00:38:52.090 --> 00:38:54.280 PROTESTER 7: This isn’t a [bleep] war zone! 00:38:54.280 --> 00:38:55.780 This is a [bleep] neighborhood! 00:38:55.780 --> 00:38:57.060 PROTESTER 9: I was in the car, 00:38:57.060 --> 00:38:58.980 and they threw [bleep] underneath the [bleep] car. 00:38:58.980 --> 00:39:00.200 Yes! 00:39:00.200 --> 00:39:01.630 PROTESTER 10: I can’t see! 00:39:01.630 --> 00:39:03.400 PROTESTER 11: Shame on you! 00:39:03.400 --> 00:39:10.340 PROTESTER 12: Hey! Ahh! I need help. I need — 00:39:10.340 --> 00:39:11.760 A.C. THOMPSON: As they left, 00:39:11.760 --> 00:39:13.990 an agent shot pepper spray from his window. 00:39:17.480 --> 00:39:18.940 It hit my colleagues in the face. 00:39:18.940 --> 00:39:20.300 You need this? 00:39:20.300 --> 00:39:21.500 CAMERA OPERATOR: Yes. 00:39:21.500 --> 00:39:23.280 A.C. THOMPSON: Here. Give me the camera. 00:39:23.280 --> 00:39:25.300 Give me the camera. Give me the — 00:39:25.300 --> 00:39:26.620 PROTESTER 13: Water! PROTESTER 14: I got water! 00:39:26.620 --> 00:39:27.820 PROTESTER 15: Water! 00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:29.030 PROTESTER 16: Anybody need an eye wash? 00:39:29.030 --> 00:39:30.270 CAMERA OPERATOR: Was that spray? 00:39:30.270 --> 00:39:33.130 Did they just spray from a moving van? 00:39:33.130 --> 00:39:35.020 A.C. THOMPSON: In the months I’d been covering this story, 00:39:35.020 --> 00:39:37.660 I had seen the same pattern everywhere we went: 00:39:38.530 --> 00:39:42.280 federal agents using weapons like tear gas and pepper spray 00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:44.420 against protesters and bystanders. 00:39:45.490 --> 00:39:47.490 The courts would try to rein them in, 00:39:47.490 --> 00:39:50.880 but they’d move on to the next city and do the same things. 00:39:56.710 --> 00:40:00.000 On local TV, Bovino was unapologetic. 00:40:00.630 --> 00:40:02.920 GREG BOVINO: We’re here to conduct a Title 8 mission. 00:40:02.920 --> 00:40:04.660 It won’t stop. 00:40:04.660 --> 00:40:09.390 Despite rioters, agitators and vast amounts of violence 00:40:09.390 --> 00:40:11.890 against federal officers, we’re not going to stop. 00:40:13.690 --> 00:40:15.370 AMY GOODMAN: There’s also a scene 00:40:15.370 --> 00:40:17.530 from the Frontline documentary 00:40:17.530 --> 00:40:22.080 where A.C. Thompson shows the same footage from Minneapolis 00:40:22.080 --> 00:40:24.370 to former law enforcement officials, 00:40:25.120 --> 00:40:27.060 first Christy Lopez, 00:40:27.060 --> 00:40:31.000 who spent years investigating law enforcement misconduct 00:40:31.000 --> 00:40:33.550 for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. 00:40:35.490 --> 00:40:38.430 A.C. THOMPSON: I showed footage from the scene to Christy Lopez. 00:40:38.430 --> 00:40:40.300 PROTESTER 7: You’re tear-gassing a [bleep] neighborhood! 00:40:40.300 --> 00:40:41.520 PROTESTER 8: It’s peaceful! 00:40:41.520 --> 00:40:43.220 PROTESTER 7: People live here! 00:40:43.920 --> 00:40:47.130 CHRISTY LOPEZ: We see just use of excessive force 00:40:47.130 --> 00:40:48.580 after use of excessive force. 00:40:48.580 --> 00:40:50.980 In no scenario is it OK to be pepper-spraying people 00:40:50.980 --> 00:40:53.320 as you’re leaving the scene. 00:40:53.960 --> 00:40:56.600 It’s just they’re mad, they’re scared. 00:40:56.600 --> 00:40:58.560 You know, they’re able to get away with it, 00:40:58.560 --> 00:41:00.110 so they’re just using the power 00:41:00.110 --> 00:41:02.570 they have to use force against people. 00:41:04.160 --> 00:41:07.410 AMY GOODMAN: Then A.C. Thompson shows the footage 00:41:07.410 --> 00:41:08.730 to Chris Magnus, 00:41:08.730 --> 00:41:12.110 a former head of Customs and Border Protection, 00:41:12.110 --> 00:41:14.640 who once oversaw Bovino. 00:41:14.640 --> 00:41:18.670 Magnus also served as a police chief in multiple cities. 00:41:19.450 --> 00:41:21.150 CHRIS MAGNUS: Pretty awful. 00:41:21.890 --> 00:41:25.990 You know, I mean, one of the things in policing 00:41:25.990 --> 00:41:30.940 when it comes to use of force, it’s proportionality. 00:41:31.650 --> 00:41:36.790 Is the force really proportional to what you’re — 00:41:37.920 --> 00:41:40.890 what you’re receiving or what you’re dealing with? 00:41:40.890 --> 00:41:42.630 People may well get under your skin 00:41:42.630 --> 00:41:44.480 under a lot of circumstances. 00:41:44.480 --> 00:41:47.850 You don’t like it, but professionals don’t react to it. 00:41:49.190 --> 00:41:51.120 AMY GOODMAN: Those were clips from the new 00:41:51.120 --> 00:41:53.310 ProPublica-Frontline documentary, 00:41:53.310 --> 00:41:54.900 Caught in the Crackdown, 00:41:54.900 --> 00:41:57.800 now streaming for free on YouTube, 00:41:57.800 --> 00:42:00.440 PBS.org and the PBS app. 00:42:00.950 --> 00:42:05.160 The ProPublica investigation by A.C. Thompson is headlined 00:42:05.160 --> 00:42:08.500 "Caught in the Crackdown: As Arrests at Anti-ICE Protests 00:42:08.500 --> 00:42:12.180 Piled Up, Prosecutions Crumbled." 00:42:12.180 --> 00:42:13.740 When we come back, A.C. 00:42:13.740 --> 00:42:16.570 Thompson will join us from San Francisco. 00:42:16.570 --> 00:42:18.270 Stay with us. 00:42:18.950 --> 00:42:42.010 [break] 00:42:42.560 --> 00:42:44.260 AMY GOODMAN: Vietnamese 00:43:49.970 --> 00:43:57.610 musician Mai Khôi performing at Joe’s Pub in 2020. 00:43:58.520 --> 00:44:01.710 This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. 00:44:01.710 --> 00:44:05.570 I’m Amy Goodman in the Bay Area, in Berkeley, 00:44:05.570 --> 00:44:08.860 and Juan González is in Chicago. 00:44:08.860 --> 00:44:12.730 We’ve just been talking about this very important 00:44:13.340 --> 00:44:18.190 PBS investigative series called Caught in the Crackdown. 00:44:18.190 --> 00:44:23.600 It is a Frontline-ProPublica piece. 00:44:23.600 --> 00:44:28.250 A.C. Thompson is the investigative reporter on this. 00:44:28.250 --> 00:44:30.410 A.C., if you can just summarize? 00:44:30.410 --> 00:44:33.150 I mean, you have very dramatic footage here. 00:44:33.150 --> 00:44:37.460 You were in Minneapolis right after an ICE officer, 00:44:37.460 --> 00:44:41.230 Jonathan Ross, killed Renee Good. 00:44:41.790 --> 00:44:44.130 Talk about the protests, 00:44:44.130 --> 00:44:48.050 from Chicago to Minneapolis to Los Angeles, 00:44:48.050 --> 00:44:52.460 what people were doing when they were arrested, 00:44:52.460 --> 00:44:56.400 not to mention brutalized and, in some cases, killed, 00:44:56.400 --> 00:44:59.790 and then how their prosecutions crumbled. 00:45:02.200 --> 00:45:04.540 A.C. THOMPSON: You know, it was fascinating for me to watch 00:45:04.540 --> 00:45:09.730 from June 2025 in Los Angeles to the fall in Chicago 00:45:09.730 --> 00:45:11.980 to winter in Minneapolis 00:45:11.980 --> 00:45:14.050 and following the immigration sweeps 00:45:14.050 --> 00:45:17.540 led by then-Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino 00:45:18.100 --> 00:45:20.050 and the rest of the immigration agents, 00:45:20.600 --> 00:45:22.930 agencies, and looking at the protests 00:45:22.930 --> 00:45:25.160 that were erupting around the country. 00:45:26.020 --> 00:45:29.080 It was this situation where there was allegations 00:45:29.080 --> 00:45:32.830 of a massive surge in assaults on federal agents. 00:45:32.830 --> 00:45:35.870 The Department of Justice was labeling the people 00:45:35.870 --> 00:45:38.340 who were in the streets as domestic terrorists, 00:45:38.340 --> 00:45:40.400 as agitators, as extremists. 00:45:40.930 --> 00:45:45.310 They were rounding them up in large numbers, 00:45:46.010 --> 00:45:50.350 arresting people from city to city to city. 00:45:50.350 --> 00:45:52.600 And then, what we would see after these arrests 00:45:52.600 --> 00:45:53.870 would happen is, 00:45:53.870 --> 00:45:56.770 as these cases moved through the court system, 00:45:56.770 --> 00:45:59.710 the allegations made against the individuals 00:45:59.710 --> 00:46:02.040 tended to fall apart under scrutiny. 00:46:02.040 --> 00:46:06.410 So, we looked at 300 arrests in these various cities 00:46:06.410 --> 00:46:09.630 and found that more than a third of them had collapsed. 00:46:09.630 --> 00:46:11.870 Prosecutors had decided to dismiss them. 00:46:12.530 --> 00:46:15.560 They had refused to even file charges in the first place, 00:46:15.560 --> 00:46:17.930 or juries acquitted the defendants. 00:46:17.930 --> 00:46:20.100 And so, the claims that the government was making 00:46:20.100 --> 00:46:22.520 about this massive surge in assaults, 00:46:22.520 --> 00:46:24.390 about all these people being terrorists 00:46:24.390 --> 00:46:26.980 and domestic extremists and all this sort of stuff, 00:46:26.980 --> 00:46:29.240 it just didn’t match up to the reality that, 00:46:29.240 --> 00:46:32.170 one, that we were seeing on the ground as we were filming, 00:46:32.170 --> 00:46:33.890 and, two, what the courts were finding 00:46:33.890 --> 00:46:35.410 as they looked at the evidence, 00:46:35.410 --> 00:46:37.390 and prosecutors looked at the evidence, 00:46:37.390 --> 00:46:39.640 and said, "This is not going to hold up. 00:46:39.640 --> 00:46:41.340 We’re dismissing this case." 00:46:42.820 --> 00:46:44.960 JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, A.C., you mentioned Chicago. 00:46:44.960 --> 00:46:48.870 There were — you report there were 109 arrests there, 00:46:48.870 --> 00:46:52.560 but prosecutors eventually dropped 75. 00:46:52.560 --> 00:46:55.320 That’s nearly three-quarters of all the people they arrested. 00:46:55.320 --> 00:46:57.090 The charges just disappeared? 00:46:59.080 --> 00:47:00.330 A.C. THOMPSON: And that’s a conservative — 00:47:00.330 --> 00:47:01.870 that’s a conservative number, too. 00:47:01.870 --> 00:47:05.040 I think that number is going to grow in time 00:47:05.040 --> 00:47:07.670 as we get more evidence about exactly what’s happened. 00:47:07.670 --> 00:47:12.020 But, yeah, the vast bulk of the arrests in Chicago 00:47:12.020 --> 00:47:15.010 have been dropped by prosecutors. 00:47:15.010 --> 00:47:17.580 And the handful of cases that are still going on 00:47:17.580 --> 00:47:19.310 are still working through the system, 00:47:19.310 --> 00:47:20.610 but there seem to be some problems 00:47:20.610 --> 00:47:22.310 with some of those, as well. 00:47:23.110 --> 00:47:25.270 Experts told us — law enforcement experts, 00:47:25.270 --> 00:47:29.410 former Department of Justice civil rights personnel said, 00:47:29.410 --> 00:47:33.520 "Look, this looks like a pattern and practice of bad arrests, 00:47:33.520 --> 00:47:35.080 of unjustified arrests." 00:47:35.080 --> 00:47:37.800 And that looks like what we’re seeing across the country. 00:47:37.800 --> 00:47:40.930 When you have arrest after arrest that doesn’t hold up, 00:47:40.930 --> 00:47:44.610 that prosecutors don’t have faith in the evidence, 00:47:44.610 --> 00:47:46.840 that juries don’t have faith in the evidence, 00:47:46.840 --> 00:47:49.310 that’s telling you that this is sort of more 00:47:49.310 --> 00:47:53.060 than just your normal, run-of-the-mill police effort. 00:47:53.060 --> 00:47:54.930 These are bad arrests. 00:47:56.420 --> 00:48:00.390 JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And how do these compare to the normal rates 00:48:01.010 --> 00:48:06.560 for U.S. attorneys or federal authorities in criminal cases? 00:48:07.250 --> 00:48:08.450 A.C. THOMPSON: I mean, 00:48:08.450 --> 00:48:10.370 that’s what stands out so much — right? 00:48:10.370 --> 00:48:13.220 — is, in federal court, federal prosecutors 00:48:13.220 --> 00:48:16.540 win more than 90% of their cases. 00:48:17.230 --> 00:48:18.690 Very few are dismissed. 00:48:18.690 --> 00:48:20.580 They lose very, very few at trial. 00:48:21.420 --> 00:48:23.230 They are incredibly successful. 00:48:23.230 --> 00:48:26.630 This wave of arrests, stemming from the immigration sweeps 00:48:26.630 --> 00:48:28.330 and the protests against them, 00:48:29.030 --> 00:48:31.230 they’ve been very unsuccessful with. 00:48:31.230 --> 00:48:33.950 They’re having problems in city after city 00:48:33.950 --> 00:48:36.830 trying to do these cases. 00:48:36.830 --> 00:48:41.380 And that means, you know, that is a reflection of, 00:48:42.080 --> 00:48:46.080 in all likelihood, unjustified arrests being made 00:48:46.080 --> 00:48:49.660 by Border Patrol agents, ICE agents, other federal agents 00:48:49.660 --> 00:48:52.930 that, frankly, don’t normally deal with protests, 00:48:52.930 --> 00:48:55.830 with crowds, with these kinds of situations 00:48:55.830 --> 00:48:58.840 that they’ve been thrust into over the past year. 00:49:00.170 --> 00:49:01.540 AMY GOODMAN: A.C. Thompson, 00:49:01.540 --> 00:49:03.240 we want to thank you for being with us, 00:49:03.240 --> 00:49:05.220 investigative reporter with ProPublica 00:49:05.220 --> 00:49:06.920 and the PBS series Frontline. 00:49:07.440 --> 00:49:10.910 His new documentary, Caught in the Crackdown, 00:49:10.910 --> 00:49:16.100 is streaming on YouTube, PBS.org and the PBS app. 00:49:17.430 --> 00:49:19.190 We thank you for being with us. 00:49:19.190 --> 00:49:22.220 He’s talking to us from San Francisco. 00:49:22.220 --> 00:49:23.450 I’m in the Bay Area, too. 00:49:23.450 --> 00:49:27.050 We’ll be at Tower Theatre in Sacramento tonight 00:49:27.050 --> 00:49:31.970 at 7:00 for the theatrical premiere of Steal This Story, 00:49:31.970 --> 00:49:35.550 Please!, about Democracy Now! I’ll be doing the Q&A 00:49:35.550 --> 00:49:38.660 with the director Tia Lessin after the film. 00:49:39.260 --> 00:49:40.760 AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, 00:49:40.760 --> 00:49:42.480 democracynow.org. 00:49:42.480 --> 00:49:44.200 I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González. 00:49:44.200 --> 00:49:47.080 We end today’s show in Wisconsin, 00:49:47.080 --> 00:49:48.990 where police fired tear gas, 00:49:48.990 --> 00:49:51.380 pepper spray and rubber-coated steel bullets 00:49:51.380 --> 00:49:53.100 at hundreds of animal rights activists 00:49:53.100 --> 00:49:54.790 Saturday as they attempted to rescue 00:49:54.790 --> 00:49:58.100 about 2,000 dogs from a facility 00:49:58.100 --> 00:50:00.960 that breeds beagles for medical experimentation. 00:50:01.530 --> 00:50:04.070 The crackdown by Dane County sheriff’s 00:50:04.070 --> 00:50:06.100 deputies left scores of people injured, 00:50:06.100 --> 00:50:09.890 including a protester who had two teeth knocked out. 00:50:10.450 --> 00:50:12.170 Twenty-five people were arrested. 00:50:12.170 --> 00:50:14.660 Protesters were attempting to enter a property 00:50:14.660 --> 00:50:17.710 owned by Ridglan Farms, which agreed last fall 00:50:17.710 --> 00:50:20.290 to surrender its state breeding license 00:50:20.290 --> 00:50:23.790 and stop selling dogs to other labs by July 00:50:23.790 --> 00:50:25.420 1st as part of a deal 00:50:25.420 --> 00:50:29.230 to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges. 00:50:29.230 --> 00:50:31.420 A state judge found Ridglan Farms 00:50:31.420 --> 00:50:34.870 likely broke Wisconsin animal cruelty laws 00:50:34.870 --> 00:50:37.110 by housing beagles in brutal conditions, 00:50:37.110 --> 00:50:39.930 performing surgeries without anesthesia, 00:50:39.930 --> 00:50:43.570 and leaving wounds untreated, along with other violations. 00:50:43.570 --> 00:50:48.210 Former workers say some beagles had their vocal cords 00:50:48.210 --> 00:50:53.230 surgically cut to silence them, a process known as debarking. 00:50:53.840 --> 00:50:57.570 Ridglan Farms still holds federal research credentials 00:50:57.570 --> 00:50:59.860 and plans to continue breeding beagles 00:50:59.860 --> 00:51:02.040 for its own experimentation. 00:51:02.560 --> 00:51:04.760 Last month, activists successfully 00:51:04.760 --> 00:51:07.980 entered the property and freed about two dozen beagles, 00:51:07.980 --> 00:51:10.440 who were subsequently adopted. 00:51:10.440 --> 00:51:12.310 For more, we go to Madison, Wisconsin, 00:51:12.310 --> 00:51:14.530 where we’re joined by Rebekah Robinson 00:51:14.530 --> 00:51:17.970 with the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs. 00:51:17.970 --> 00:51:20.600 She’s been involved in the animal protection movement 00:51:20.600 --> 00:51:23.710 for over a decade. She was one of those arrested 00:51:23.710 --> 00:51:26.660 at Saturday’s action at Ridglan Farms. 00:51:26.660 --> 00:51:28.730 Welcome to Democracy Now!, Rebekah. 00:51:28.730 --> 00:51:32.730 Can you describe exactly what happened on Saturday 00:51:32.730 --> 00:51:37.100 and why you were involved with this protest? 00:51:38.720 --> 00:51:39.940 REBEKAH ROBINSON: Yeah. 00:51:39.940 --> 00:51:42.770 So, we have been trying for over a decade 00:51:42.770 --> 00:51:45.340 to get the government to do something 00:51:45.340 --> 00:51:47.530 to help the Ridglan beagles. 00:51:47.530 --> 00:51:51.470 And so, on Saturday, nonviolent protesters 00:51:51.470 --> 00:51:53.770 attempted to rescue those beagles, 00:51:53.770 --> 00:51:55.790 who were in desperate need of help. 00:51:55.790 --> 00:51:59.260 These were teachers, veterinarians, 00:51:59.260 --> 00:52:03.760 students, software engineers. These were ordinary citizens 00:52:03.760 --> 00:52:06.260 who were trying to help these Ridglan dogs, 00:52:06.260 --> 00:52:09.400 to go in and take them to safety, 00:52:09.400 --> 00:52:11.610 get them the veterinary care that they needed. 00:52:11.610 --> 00:52:12.870 And what we were met with 00:52:12.870 --> 00:52:15.810 was overwhelming police brutality. 00:52:15.810 --> 00:52:17.609 There’s no other way to describe it. 00:52:18.190 --> 00:52:21.650 People were tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed 00:52:21.650 --> 00:52:26.230 and pushed down, injured in horrible ways, 00:52:27.440 --> 00:52:29.650 after simply trying to help the dogs. 00:52:32.100 --> 00:52:34.650 JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And how many people were arrested? 00:52:34.650 --> 00:52:36.350 What were they charged with? 00:52:39.580 --> 00:52:42.840 REBEKAH ROBINSON: So, there are about 25 people arrested. 00:52:42.840 --> 00:52:44.150 I was one of them. 00:52:44.150 --> 00:52:46.890 I’m still not clear on what I was charged with. 00:52:46.890 --> 00:52:48.700 I was given no paperwork. 00:52:48.700 --> 00:52:50.680 I wasn’t told why I was being arrested. 00:52:50.680 --> 00:52:52.380 I wasn’t read my Miranda rights. 00:52:53.120 --> 00:52:54.900 When we asked why we were being arrested, 00:52:54.900 --> 00:52:56.600 the cops just kind of shrugged. 00:52:57.310 --> 00:53:00.280 And so, I’m still not clear on why I was arrested. 00:53:00.280 --> 00:53:02.450 The five who are still in custody 00:53:02.450 --> 00:53:04.349 are going to be arraigned later today. 00:53:06.360 --> 00:53:07.990 JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And could you talk about the broader 00:53:07.990 --> 00:53:11.230 crackdown against animal rights advocates nationwide, 00:53:11.230 --> 00:53:13.750 particularly under the so-called 00:53:13.750 --> 00:53:17.520 Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act of 2006? 00:53:19.390 --> 00:53:20.620 REBEKAH ROBINSON: Yeah. 00:53:20.620 --> 00:53:22.620 So, the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act 00:53:22.620 --> 00:53:25.110 basically protects any animal enterprise, 00:53:26.020 --> 00:53:28.740 but it does so in such an unjust way 00:53:28.740 --> 00:53:30.750 that it essentially limits 00:53:30.750 --> 00:53:33.200 our First Amendment rights to protest 00:53:33.200 --> 00:53:36.780 and to expose what’s happening at these corporations. 00:53:36.780 --> 00:53:39.800 Ridglan Farms is a multimillion-dollar business, 00:53:39.800 --> 00:53:43.330 but there is no visibility into what happens there. 00:53:43.330 --> 00:53:46.220 And if we were to try and go in and take footage 00:53:46.790 --> 00:53:49.330 or try and expose what’s happening there, 00:53:49.330 --> 00:53:51.090 the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act 00:53:51.090 --> 00:53:53.140 is designed to prevent that, 00:53:53.140 --> 00:53:57.490 to prevent even workers there from sharing their footage 00:53:57.490 --> 00:53:59.839 and what is going on inside of those buildings. 00:54:01.620 --> 00:54:02.990 JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And why is it continuing to — 00:54:02.990 --> 00:54:05.420 AMY GOODMAN: I want to turn to Democratic Congressman Mark 00:54:05.420 --> 00:54:09.560 Pocan of Wisconsin asking Health Secretary 00:54:09.560 --> 00:54:14.040 Robert F. Kennedy last week why the National Institute of Health 00:54:14.040 --> 00:54:18.560 continues to provide grants to groups that use beagles 00:54:18.560 --> 00:54:21.610 from Ridglan Farms for experimentation. 00:54:22.250 --> 00:54:23.740 REP. MARK POCAN: We have something called Ridglan 00:54:23.740 --> 00:54:27.700 Farms, that’s a beagle breeder for research. 00:54:27.700 --> 00:54:30.140 They’ve had 311 code violations, 00:54:30.140 --> 00:54:32.640 including very serious harm to the health of dogs. 00:54:33.350 --> 00:54:35.280 The head of NIH, which you can ask, 00:54:35.280 --> 00:54:36.680 I said some of the nicest things about — 00:54:36.680 --> 00:54:39.210 I really like your head of the NIH, that you have — 00:54:39.210 --> 00:54:41.620 said that there’s a policy about beagle 00:54:41.620 --> 00:54:44.540 testing that would not allow animals to be tortured. 00:54:44.540 --> 00:54:46.980 And that’s part of what’s happening with this facility. 00:54:46.980 --> 00:54:49.590 So, grants are still, in the last month, 00:54:49.590 --> 00:54:53.020 going to groups that are getting beagles from Ridglan Farms. 00:54:53.020 --> 00:54:55.930 Could you please take a look at this? 00:54:55.930 --> 00:54:58.670 Because they are under, right now, not a court order, 00:54:58.670 --> 00:55:00.500 a settlement to close down 00:55:00.500 --> 00:55:02.880 part of their breeding facility by July 1st, 00:55:02.880 --> 00:55:05.370 but they’re not getting rid of the 2,000 beagles they have. 00:55:05.370 --> 00:55:07.300 And if they don’t, we know what’s going to happen. 00:55:07.300 --> 00:55:08.720 They’re going to get euthanized. 00:55:08.720 --> 00:55:11.530 And I just want to make sure that for that commitment, 00:55:11.530 --> 00:55:14.140 which is a good commitment, not to harm the beagles, 00:55:14.810 --> 00:55:18.500 right now you’re still giving money to groups through the NIH 00:55:18.500 --> 00:55:21.200 that are using beagles from this highly questionable farm. 00:55:21.200 --> 00:55:22.420 HEALTH SECRETARY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: I have a 00:55:22.420 --> 00:55:23.650 hard time — 00:55:23.650 --> 00:55:26.190 I believe you, but I have a hard time believing that. 00:55:26.190 --> 00:55:27.460 I need to look into this — 00:55:27.460 --> 00:55:28.680 REP. MARK POCAN: I would appreciate it. 00:55:28.680 --> 00:55:29.960 HEALTH SECRETARY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: — and talk 00:55:29.960 --> 00:55:31.450 to the office, because we’re trying to end — 00:55:31.450 --> 00:55:33.640 we’ve done more than any other administration in history 00:55:33.640 --> 00:55:35.340 to end animal testing. 00:55:36.900 --> 00:55:39.980 AMY GOODMAN: So, that was Wisconsin Congressman Mark 00:55:39.980 --> 00:55:43.880 Pocan questioning the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy. 00:55:45.380 --> 00:55:47.820 If you can say, Rebekah Robinson, 00:55:47.820 --> 00:55:49.600 why does Ridglan Farms 00:55:49.600 --> 00:55:53.350 still hold federal research credentials, 00:55:53.350 --> 00:55:57.590 and why is it still operating in Wisconsin? 00:56:00.220 --> 00:56:02.460 REBEKAH ROBINSON: So, the USDA is responsible 00:56:02.460 --> 00:56:05.440 at the federal level for inspecting Ridglan Farms. 00:56:05.440 --> 00:56:08.000 And the USDA has sent the same inspector 00:56:08.000 --> 00:56:10.650 for over a decade to inspect Ridglan Farms, 00:56:10.650 --> 00:56:14.320 and he has just been rubber- stamping their operations there. 00:56:14.320 --> 00:56:17.260 His inspection reports are two to three sentences 00:56:17.260 --> 00:56:20.170 that basically say, "Yep, everything’s great here." 00:56:20.170 --> 00:56:22.610 He’s clearly got a relationship with them. 00:56:22.610 --> 00:56:27.210 And so, we haven’t been able to get the USDA to step up 00:56:28.020 --> 00:56:29.600 and actually take a look 00:56:29.600 --> 00:56:32.400 at what’s going on inside Ridglan Farms. 00:56:32.400 --> 00:56:34.480 And that’s not just related to Ridglan Farms. 00:56:34.480 --> 00:56:38.140 The USDA, overall, the inspector general put out a report 00:56:38.140 --> 00:56:41.900 saying that USDA inspections of puppy mills nationwide 00:56:41.900 --> 00:56:43.600 has been a problem. 00:56:45.220 --> 00:56:47.010 JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And what do you expect to happen 00:56:47.010 --> 00:56:51.380 July 1 now with the deadline for Ridglan Farms 00:56:51.380 --> 00:56:55.110 to shut down these particular projects? 00:56:57.660 --> 00:57:00.080 REBEKAH ROBINSON: So, on July 1st, Ridglan Farms 00:57:00.080 --> 00:57:02.680 will no longer be able to sell those beagles. 00:57:02.680 --> 00:57:06.130 But because of work that we’ve done to let their buyers 00:57:06.130 --> 00:57:07.880 know about the conditions at Ridglan 00:57:07.880 --> 00:57:10.970 Farms, those buyers have stopped buying from Ridglan Farms, 00:57:10.970 --> 00:57:12.510 so they have, essentially, 00:57:12.510 --> 00:57:15.540 a lot of beagles that they’ve been unable to sell, 00:57:15.540 --> 00:57:17.960 and those beagles are at risk of euthanasia. 00:57:17.960 --> 00:57:20.550 We are very concerned that those beagles 00:57:20.550 --> 00:57:23.140 are simply going to be euthanized en masse, 00:57:23.140 --> 00:57:26.150 because they can’t be sold and they can’t be used. 00:57:26.150 --> 00:57:28.010 And so, we’re very concerned 00:57:28.010 --> 00:57:29.300 about the safety of those beagles. 00:57:29.300 --> 00:57:30.900 And that’s why we went in, 00:57:30.900 --> 00:57:32.860 to try to get those beagles to safety. 00:57:34.970 --> 00:57:36.840 AMY GOODMAN: We just have 20 seconds, Rebekah. 00:57:36.840 --> 00:57:39.350 Explain what debarking is. 00:57:42.400 --> 00:57:44.020 REBEKAH ROBINSON: So, the way it was conducted 00:57:44.020 --> 00:57:45.550 at Ridglan Farms, 00:57:45.550 --> 00:57:48.370 the workers would go to the kennel, 00:57:48.370 --> 00:57:51.750 and they would essentially hold the dog 00:57:51.750 --> 00:57:54.150 while another worker would reach down the dog’s throat 00:57:54.150 --> 00:57:56.840 with, like, scissors or forceps. 00:57:56.840 --> 00:57:59.550 And then they would rip out the dog’s vocal cords 00:57:59.550 --> 00:58:02.270 and throw them on the ground in these barns. 00:58:02.270 --> 00:58:04.800 This is what former employees have told us 00:58:04.800 --> 00:58:08.290 was happening there. It’s a really horrific practice, 00:58:08.290 --> 00:58:10.920 because the dogs are barking in distress. 00:58:11.430 --> 00:58:14.750 These are dogs living on wire flooring for their whole lives, 00:58:14.750 --> 00:58:17.730 never getting outside, never seeing sunlight. 00:58:17.730 --> 00:58:19.250 And then, so, when they’re distressed 00:58:19.250 --> 00:58:23.560 and they are barking like that, the workers don’t like it, 00:58:23.560 --> 00:58:27.270 so they devocalize them, according to the employees. 00:58:27.270 --> 00:58:28.800 AMY GOODMAN: Rebekah Robinson, 00:58:28.800 --> 00:58:30.420 I want to thank you for being with us, 00:58:30.420 --> 00:58:32.760 member of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan 00:58:32.760 --> 00:58:36.310 Dogs, arrested at the action this weekend in Wisconsin. 00:58:36.840 --> 00:58:38.110 That does it for our show. 00:58:38.110 --> 00:58:40.580 Tonight, I’ll be at the Tower Theatre in Sacramento 00:58:40.580 --> 00:58:44.200 for a Q&A after the screening of Steal This Story, 00:58:44.200 --> 00:58:46.290 Please! Tomorrow, Thursday, 00:58:46.290 --> 00:58:48.990 I’ll be introducing the film at the Roxie in San Francisco 00:58:48.990 --> 00:58:51.120 and the Rialto Elmwood in Berkeley, 00:58:51.120 --> 00:58:53.050 then at the Seattle International Film 00:58:53.050 --> 00:58:56.880 Festival, Uptown Cinema in Seattle. 00:58:56.880 --> 00:58:59.360 I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.