Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20180103

Then we remember black lives matter activist erica garner who died saturday after falling into an asthmalowing induced heart attack. She was just 27 years old. Forhelped lead the struggle justice for her father erica garner, was killed when Police Officers in Staten Island put him in a fatal chokehold in 20 13. I still have not accepted my father is gone, even know i talk about my dad, i talk about him in a case that he like ive been studying his case and you can see i am constantly reading articles and doing the research on my dads case, but im not taking care of me. Amy in august, she gave birth to her second child, a son she named after her father. We will remember eric in her own words and speak with two people who are close to her, shuan king , and Kirsten Savali. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In north korea, leader kim jongil and has ordered and opening up a hotline bringing the biggest thaw in relations between the two koreas in years. It came as the south korean president said hes is open to talks next week the socalled truce village in the demilitarized zone. As President Trump took the social media to make a threat of nuclear war steeped in sexual bravado. Trump tweeted from the white house north Korean Leader kim jongil and just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that i too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger more powerful one than his, and my button works his street was among an torrent of 60 messages he posted to twitter on his first full day of work of the new year with attacks on many. Trump also tweeted his support for protests that have sprung up in cities and towns across iran over the past week, proclaiming time for change trumps tweets came as the Us Ambassador to the United Nations, nikki haley, called on the Security Council to convene emergency meetings to discuss iran. This is White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders. America longs for the day when iranians will take their rightful place alongside the free people of the world. As the president said in october, we stand in total solidarity with the arena and longest suffering, its people. The citizens of at data heavy price for the violent extremism of their leaders, and the iranian people long to reach claim their countries cooperation with its neighbors. Amy on tuesday, irans Supreme Leader accused the countrys enemies of fomenting unrest, as antigovernment demonstrations continued for a sixth day and spread to the northwestern city of tabriz. At least 20 people have been killed in the clashes so far the largest protests in the country since 2009. This is iranian Supreme Leader ayatollah ali khamenei. The enemy is poised for an opportunity, a breach to penetrate through. Look at the past few days. All of those who are against the Islamic Republic of iran, those with cash, politics, weapons, and intelligence apparatus joined hands so they may be able to create troubles for it ran. Amy the protests are largely targeting irans high unemployment, housing costs and wealth inequality. Theyre focused on both hardline clerics and reformers. Newly surfaced video from a new years day protest in tehran shows protesters chanting, down with the clerical regime. We will have more on iran after headlines. President trump threatened tuesday to cut off hundreds of millions of dollars of annual aid to the u. N. s Relief Agency for palestinian refugees, dealing another blow to the prospect of a peace deal between israel and the palestinians. Trump tweeted we pay the palestinians hundred of millions of dollars a year and get no appreciation or respect. They dont even want to negotiate a long overdue peace treaty with israel. We have taken jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but israel, for that, would have had to pay more. Trumps comment on jerusalem contradicts his statement made just a few weeks ago that his recognition of jerusalem as israels capital would not impact the final status of the city in peace talks. Trumps tweet came just after Israels Parliament passed a new law tuesday that would make it far more difficult for the government to divide jerusalem as part of any future negotiated settlement. Israeli seized control of East Jerusalem in 1967 and has occupied the territory ever since. Palestinians, however, have long seen East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and both the u. N. Security council and the General Assembly have passed dozens of resolutions calling for israel to end its occupation. A spokesperson for palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas declared, jerusalem is not for sale. And Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement we will not be blackmailed. President trump has sabotaged our search for peace, freedom and justice. Now he dares to blame the palestinians for the consequences of his own irresponsible actions hanan,our interview with you can go to democracynow. Org. At the United Nations in new york, u. S. Ambassador nikki haley said tuesday that President Trump will withhold 255 million in assistance to pakistan. The announcement came a day after President Trump took a swipe at pakistan on twitter, sparking widespread antiu. S. Protests across pakistan. This is pakistani politician imran khan speaking in islamabad. Trump has no understanding of the war in afghanistan and the destruction it is causing in pakistan. It seems like yes no background knowledge about it at all. Pakistan has made sacrifices. It is suffered losses in the process. Our tribal areas have been devastated. On top of all of this, were being humiliated. And american president who lack sense and does not understand much and is following the agenda of our enemies, he is insulting us in the end. Amy meanwhile, President Trump attacked Hillary Clinton in a long time eight on twitter calling for abedin to be gel. In climate news, a new report warns that without immediate, largescale action to limit global Greenhouse Gas emissions, as much as 30 of the earths land could fall into a state of perpetual drought, threatening the Food Supplies of billions of people. The report in the journal nature predicts the desertification would follow a global average temperature rise of 2 celsius, or about 3. 6 fahrenheit, by 2050. Thats the upper limit set by the landmark 2015 paris climate accord, which has been embraced by every nation on earth, except the United States, under President Trump. Interior secretary ryan zinke is urging President Trump to radically shrink three marine monuments and to open them up to commercial fishing. The monuments, which were expanded under president barack obama, are vast covering an area about three times the size of california. Zinkes proposal comes after President Trump shrank National Monuments including bears ears in utah, opening up the protected federal lands to mining, logging, drilling and other forms of extraction. In honduras, president ial candidate Salvador Nasralla and other opposition leaders have called for an uprising against incumbent president juan orlando hernandez, saying the november 26 president ial election was stolen. Last month, an Election Tribunal controlled by hernandezs government declared hernandez the winner by a narrow margin after early counts put nasralla in the lead by five points. On tuesday, Salvador Nasralla said protests would continue right up to hernandezs scheduled inauguration date of january 27. The electoral officials have to respect my victory. If they dont want to respected, if they dont respect it, then the people will respect my victory. On january 27,s the popular will come to pass regardless of what the electoral officials want to say. Amy election observers and the organization of american states have called for a new election, saying the first vote was so filled with irregularities that in germany, police have asked a prosecutor to investigate a lawmaker with the farright afd party on charges of incitement to hatred after she posted an islamophobic and racist comment on social media. Beatrix von storch, a member of parliament with the antiimmigrant alternative for germany party, was criticizing a local Police Department for tweeting a new years greeting in arabic. Her tweet, translated from german, reads what the hell is going on in this country . Why is an official police site tweeting in arabic . Are they trying to appease the barbarian, muslim, gangraping male hordes . Von storchs account was later suspended. In september, her party won 94 out of 709 seats in germanys parliament. Back in the United States, the senates longestserving republican, utah republican orrin hatch, said tuesday he will not run for reelection to the senate in during his 42 2018. Years in the senate, hatch supported u. S. Wars in afghanistan and iraq, and played a prominent role in passing the usa patriot act in 2001. Hatch also backed the Childrens Health Insurance Program and the americans with disabilities act. Hatchs retirement will set up a likely primary battle in utah, a majorityrepublican state. Theres speculation that former Massachusetts Governor mitt romney will run for the seat. In georgia, Police Arrested more than 60 people in a house party after they found a small amount of marijuana at the scene. Those arrested ranged in age from 15 to 31 years old. They say police entered the home without permission, without a and arrested everyone inside when they could not determine the owner of the less than ounce of marijuana. The Aviation Safety Network reported monday there were no commercial passenger jet deaths anywhere in the world last year, making 2017 the safest year on record for commercial aviation. President trump quickly took credit, tweeting since taking office i have been very strict on commercial aviation. Good news. Trumps boast prompted astronaut mark kelly, the brotherinlaw of former congressmember gabby giffords, to respond on twitter if youre going to take credit for zero airline deaths in 2017 then you should take responsibility for the tens of thousands of gun deaths, too. Lawsmatter mark kelly tweeted. And in iceland, a new law that took effect with the new year will see companies that fail to ensure equal pay among male and female employees subjected to heavy fines. The icelandic womens Rights Association says the pay equity law is the worlds first of its kind. Under the law, companies employing 25 or more workers will have to prove to the government that theyre paying men and women equal salaries or face penalties. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and im juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show in iran where antigovernment demonstrations have continued for a six day. At least 20 people have been killed in the clashes so far, the largest protests in the country since 2009. On tuesday, iran Supreme Leader accused the leaders of fomenting unrest. Poised. Nemy is look at the incidents in the past two days. All of those were against the Islamic Republic of iran, those with cash, politics, weapons, and intelligent apparatus join hands so they may be able to create troubles for it ran, for the Islamic Republic. Juan ayatollah Ali Khameneis comments came after the u. S. Voiced strong support for the protests which began last week by opponents Hassan Rouhani and have since spread to other cities including the capital, tehran. Protesters say they are concerned about the countrys high unemployment and rising housing costs. The Iranian Regime has reportedly blocked some encrypted messaging apps in an effort to prevent protesters from communicating securely. During a press conference on tuesday, White House Spokesperson Sarah Sanders said the u. S. Stands with the iranian people. United states supports the iranian people and we call on the regime to respected citizens basic right to peacefully express their desire for change. Aerica longs for the day when radiance will take the rifle place alongside the free people of the world. Amy also on tuesday, u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations nikki haley similarly praised the protesters in iran. She said the United States is seeking emergency sessions on iran. Her comments came after President Trump began the new year by supporting this support for the protests in iran. Cnn reports that trump may use the protests as a pretense to slam the Iran Nuclear Deal ahead of key legal deadlines looming this month. In midjanuary, trump will once again have to decide whether to certify irans compliance with the deal. Trump will also have to decide whether to renew temporary waivers for u. S. Sanctions against iran. Its unclear if trumps condemnation of the Iranian Regimes response to the recent protests will factor into his decisions. On sunday, iranian president rouhani voiced skepticism that trump is genuinely concerned about the iranian people. Inthis man, donald trump america, who today was to sympathize with our people, has forgotten that just a few months ago he labeled the a rainy a nation at terrorist nation. This person who is against iranian nation to his court from he wants to feel sorry for iranian . There is a question here. It is open to suspicion. Amy for more, we are joined now by two guests. In washington, d. C. , were joined by trita parsi, the founder and president of the National Iranian American Council and author of losing an enemy obama, iran, and the legacy of diplomacy. And in los angeles, we are joined by reza sayah, a freelance journalist based in tehran, iran but in the u. S. For for the holidays. He covered iran for Cnn International for over 7 years. After his coverage of the 2009 antigovernment protests, iranian authorities denied him permission to work for two years. Sayah later returned to tehran to report on the Ongoing Nuclear talks, the 2013 president ial elections, the signing of the interim nuclear deal, and most recently, the 2017 iranian president elections. We welcome you both to democracy now reza sayah, youre just back from iran. Can you talk about what these protests are all about . Off, amy, i think it is important to point out that it is a difficult to verify and substantiate, and confirm what is happening all over iran, even if your inside iran at this hour, let alone if youre sitting where i am or a reporter in washington, d c i have been very skeptical of reporters and analysts who have been unequivocal in certain about what is happening in iran. Having said that, ive talked to a couple of sources today who tell me that these antigovernment protests are seemingly dying down. Tehran at this hour seems to be quiet, seems to be the case in other major cities. State media reporting today progovernment demonstrations in least 10 cities, including progovernment demonstrators who are coming out showing her support for the government and condemning the recent protests in the past several days. I think it is important to point out that despite the attention that these antigovernment protests have gotten the past week, there was still indication , to me, this was a repeat of 2009. I was there. You had hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people, coming out into the streets in what appeared to be a legitimate threat to the government of iran at that point. This time, the protests are citiesead in at least 60 according to reports. But they are small in number. According to reports, in the hundreds, in the thousands. Some are yelling antigovernment slogans against the Supreme Leader, against the president. These protests are being driven by the high cost of living, unemployment. These are grievances that the must address. What we saw today based on the limited information that i have, these are not the protests we saw in 2009. This was not a mass uprising. Even so, a lot of analysts and reporters describe it as such. I think most levelheaded and sober minded analyst and reporters had a sober analysis. These are significant protest, but it is unclear where they are headed. Information today is seemingly, seemingly they are losing a little steam. I think a lot of people will be anxious to see what happens today and the coming days, where this goes, and how the government, more important than anything else, addresses the economic grievances of the people protesting. I want to ask you a couple of things. One is your reaction to the response of president rouhani who seems to have, in some public statements, say there are legitimate concerns being expressed in the people have a right to protest. And secondly, the call by nikki haley for an emergency meeting of the United Nations to deal with this issue. I mean, i can imagine, for instance, in 1992 after the the riots and los angeles following the Court Decision on rodney king where 55 people were killed and 12,000 were arrested just in los angeles, that some other country would call for an emergency meeting of the United Nations to discuss the freedom struggle of the people of the United States. First off, president rouhani and the governments reaction, many people are arguing that the government is showing surprising restraint. The president of iran has come out and said these are legitimate grievances and the rainy people have the right to protest them although, he condemned the violence. You had a rainy and newspapers with headlines that are calling iranian newspapers with headlines calling on the government to listen to the people. In many ways, this is unprecedented. I think the iranian government understands the power of the iranian people. Six months ago, the recess 70 rouhanito vote for after the elections. I was there. There was hundreds of thousands of people in the streets demonstrating. I think the iranian government understands that if there is a severe crackdown, these people can come out and there could be a repeat of 2009. I think they showed relative restraint. When it comes to reaction from the u. S. Government, i think many people in iran believe that the u. S. Governments intention is regime change. I think there is a lot of indications that this movement in washington, led by the Trump Administration, that has altered iranian foreignpolicy that was cautious engagement under president obama, the confrontation are pushing for these demonstrations, to grow. And i think in the coming days, you will see more of that. Iran areany people in very skeptical of the u. S. Expressing their concern about the a rainy of people and alleged Human Rights Violations and reactions to the protest. Amy lets play with the White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders said yesterday. I think the ultimate end game would be the citizens and the people of iran are actually given basic human rights. He was suddenly like to see them stop being a state sponsor of terror. I think that is something the whole world would like to see. Amy in this is was Sarah Huckabee sanders said, responding to a question about whether the recent protests in iran will influence trumps decision to reimpose sanctions on iran. I think the president has been there what his position is in support of the iranian people. In terms of what decision he will make on that waiver, he is not made a final one yet but he will keep with regard to that. Amy reza sayah, can you respond to what that would mean . I think iranians are very aware. Theyre very much political that a lot of political savvy. They know that these statements are familiar. These were the statements made in syria, in libya, and i think, and partially, a lot of iranians have seen that the current policy in washington is having towards a heading movement that is not going to support this Nuclear Agreement, this Nuclear Agreement that many people were hopeful with change things for the iranian economy. Again, once donald trump command office, the policy changed t hoe nuclear deal would lead to International Trade with the europeans. A lot of europeans are eager to make some deals with the iranian government. But i think a lot of people are aware that the Global Economy still is controlled by the u. S. Dollar, the u. S. Government. Washington has shown they dont support this nuclear deal, and that is why a lot of europeans, a lot of European Countries have held back in making deals with iran. Amy lets bring trita parsi into the conversation of the National Iranian American Council, author of losing an enemy obama, iran, and the legacy of diplomacy. Among the first weeks of President Trump in the new year was attacking president obama. Trita parsi, this month, once again, President Trump will be deciding whether to certify the korean deal. Deal. Iran talk about this and if you think these protests will continue. What is coming up as a deadline in which the u. S. Is onigated to renew waivers the sanctions as long as iran is living up to its end of the bargain. All of the root or its from the iaea show the radians are complying with the agreement and as a result, the u. S. Is theseted to renew waivers. Otherwise, the u. S. Will be out of compliance with the deal. The deadline is coming up sometime around january 12. With these protests, i believe donald trump has found a new pretext to do what he had planned to do all along. To not renew the waivers. As a result, essentially walk away from this deal. The question is whether this deal could survive without the United States. On, he isrotest going a new pretext and will probably easier way to make this decision and sell in washington compared if you done it three or four month ago. Juan you said you believe these were initiative by conservative elements within iranian society, but have an effect, a backfire to some degree. The do talk about that . Also, the impact of the new confrontations now between the United States government, the Trump Administration, and iran, on the Economic Situation in iran. I spoke to his person i spoke to a person who observed the first protest, believing was last thursday. These were organized by hardliners who were hoping to put pressure, embarrassed the rouhani government. Theres a tremendous amount of economic frustration. Hopes the high economy would move in the right direction. It has not, at least not lived up to the expectation. The hardliners were trying to capitalize on that. And things got out of control because rather quickly, more people joined these protests. They were not from the conservative ranks. There were just champion slogans against hunts government, now targeting the regime as a whole, including the establishment. We had some conservative figures come out and express some regret. Saying this is not the weight was supposed to turn out. These were not the slogans that were supposed to be said. But now we are where we are and it has grown and gotten completely out of their hands. When it cost of the confrontation between the u. S. And iran, or the Trump Administration, i think reza got it right. It is not just the message. Some will it greet with the messages from donald some will agree with the message from donald trump, but the messenger carries no credibility mindful of all of the measures that the Trump Administration has done that has targeted the iranian people, including people very much against the arabian government, such a some muslim ban that is affected iranian nationals and more than any other nationality. Juan and in terms of the efforts to restrict or mosul social media. During the green revolution back in 2009, only about a million iranians had smartphones. Today, 48 million have smartphones so theres a lot more social Media Communication going on. Your sense of what is happening with that crackdown . Some of these apps were cold down. Around that. D ways i lost contact with some people for about two or three days precisely because of the closing down of telegraph but it reopen again because people find different ways to get around it, other apps, etc. Ultimately, does it cat and mouse game that i dont think the government can when precisely because there are some ingenious ways of getting around these different locks. Amy resurprised by these protests . I was in most were. I spoke to organizers of the green movement. They had no expectation of this happening. There were taking a calculated distance from this precisely because they dont fully understand where this came from and where it is heading. Part of the reason why think of to people by surprise, including myself, because it is a very different demographic that is out there protesting now. A demographic that is not been at the center of irans Political Development for the last two decades. People were not necessarily paying attention to their needs and to their demand as a result. I think is important understand this. What is happening the last month in iran, a new Budget Proposal has been made in the parliament, which cut a lot of cash handouts to the poor that would raise fuel prices 50 things that would really affect poor people in iran very negatively. It appears that was the straw that broke the camels back. A lot of pentup frustration and a lot of disappointment that the Economic Situation would get better. Then they saw this budget that would make the situation much worse. That is part of the reason why you have the outpouring in the streets. What about the involvement of perhaps the cia, u. S. Government, other western government . U. S. Reckless right now to saudi arabia, an enemy of iran. And the reasons to raise the issue of the cia in peoples minds and a ram, much more than the United States, is going back to the history of 1953 and the cia overthrow, the u. S. Government overthrow of the democratically elected arabian leader. This is a sensitive point precisely because of the history mentioned. We have to be frank. We dont know. What we do does the people have legitimate grievances because of both political, social, and economic injustices in iran. That does not mean, however, they may not be either a thames by outsiders to influence this or try to hijack it. But i think it is also interesting to see how the rouhani government handled it. Hardliners were quick to blame the whole thing on outside interference and saying the protesters are in collusion with foreign agents. But the rouhani government said that most people that are protesting are protesting because they are angry because their legitimate frustrations. Some may be doing so because theyre under the influence of foreign agents. I think they did so because they understand they will be inciting more protest if they were to insult the protesters by essentially dismissing the grievances. Instead, they accepted they have legitimate remixes in an effort to try to calm down the situation. Juan human chen president rouhani. Your assessment of president rouhani . Is unusual that as a clerical hierarchy. Yet the people often dont go along with the clerical hierarchy. See thoseresting to those hardliners have been endorsing is almost always lost in these elections. These elections are not fully democratic because theres a etsrdian council that v candidate and a rather undemocratic way. As reza pointed out, but her participation is quite high. There is a civil rights move meant. There is a very Strong Civil Society in iran that has really internalized democratic values. But what were seeing right now is actually protesters from a different demographic who seem to believe they have nothing to lose, dont seem to buy into the idea that the system can be changed from within, but are so frustrated that they are now calling for the system to be overthrown altogether. Amy reza sayah, as you head back to iran. As you cover it for many years, President Trump congratulating the protesters, challenging the establishment. Youre in los angeles right now. Do you think it could have in a reverse effect, inspiring people in the United States as well . You know what . I doubt it. But what is interesting to me, what i observed, whenever you have protests in iran, the smallest indication there is antigovernment protests, there is a convergence of interest. One is the u. S. Policy led by the neoconservatives that is one of hegemony that says you dont negotiate with iran, you dont compromise with iran, that any state that doesnt cement to the interest of the u. S. Cannot be negotiated with, and then you have the iranian diaspora in the u. S. , very Large Community that still sees a rep from their prison of the 1979 revolution. They despise the circle establishment. They despise the mullas. Video journalists who want their stories view to. They want to the news media here in the u. S. , they want fewer ships. And all of these interests converge oftentimes to create an impression that these demonstrations are it this time, that the government is going to be tall old. No one knows what is going to happen in the coming days. But again, a lot of people are eager to see this government the overthrown. But this is a government this is a system that has lasted for 40 years. It is not because they have made radical steps. I think a lot of people will be eager to see if theyre going to be addressing the very real grievances of the protesters in the coming days and the coming months. You fora sayah, thank being with us, independent journalist usually based in tehran. The nationalf iranian American Council. Author of losing an enemy obama, iran, and the legacy of diplomacy. We remember back, remembe erica garner. Erica, at the age of 27, has died. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman wtih juan gonzalez. We turn now to the tragic death of black lives matter activist erica garner, who died saturday after she fell into a coma following an asthmainduced heart attack. Erica garner was the eldest daughter of eric garner, a 43yearold father of six, who was killed in when police 2014 officers in Staten Island, new york, wrestled him to the ground, pinned him down and applied a fatal chokehold. His death was recorded by a bystander named ramsey orta on his cell phone. In the video, officer Daniel Pantaleo can be seen placing garner, who was unarmed, in a chokehold. As officers held him down, garner cried out at least 11 times, i cant breathe those were his final words, and his daughter erica made sure they were not forgotten, calling for justice and leading protests breath chant i cant it was at one of these early protests that democracy now first met erica. Amy how old are you . 24. My father was a loving man, a knife man. He was very nice. A nice man. He was very nice. He did anything for anybody who came around him. Anybody who came around him was touched by his greatness. I wasdeotape traumatized. It was horrible to see my father die on national tv. It was horrible. I got to live with us forever. Amy what is it me to see more than 1000 people out today . My fathers voice is being heard. We are standing as one. Everybody is coming together for the right cause. Juan a medical examiner ruled eric garners death a homicide, citing compression of his neck, compression of his chest and prone positioning during physical restraint by police. But in december of 2014 a grand jury decided not to indict officer pantaleo, setting off protests that shut down parts of new york city, including the brooklyn bridge. At least 83 people were arrested. This is erica garner speaking after the grand jurys decision, at the site of her fathers death in Staten Island. This is the spot that ems workers and Police Officers failed as new yorkers because they let an innocent man die, beck for his life, fight for his last breath and now i have to come here every time i feel sad i have to come here and be his voice because he did not speak any more. He kept saying i cant breathe he could not breathe. They continue to take my father away from me. Took mythe man who fathers life wants to apologize to my family. I dont even know how to respond to that. I am not even going to respond to that. Amy that was erica garners erica garner speaking in 2014 at the site of her father eric garners death from a Police Chokehold in Staten Island. During the 2016 democratic president ial primaries, erica garner endorsed senator Bernie Sanders of vermont for president and appeared in an ad for his campaign. Last july, president obama spoke to her directly after she protested she had been railroaded when she was not called on to ask him a question during a town hall taping by abc that she was invited to attend. Erica spoke about her own political aspirations on democracy now just last year. I went to organize the black and brown folk on Staten Island. I want to knock on doors. I would ask the people of Staten Island about their issues firsthand because no one is talking about what is going on on Staten Island. If i do decide to run for the one of those elected officials that get into office and dont turn their backs on people. I want to be one who holds people accountable and get the corrected out. I want to be able to treat the same way how they treat whistleblowers. I want to be able to point out the corrupted elected officials and get them out. Amy that was erica garner one year ago in january of 2017. In august, she gave birth to her second child boy named after her , a late father. Doctors say the pregnancy strained her heart. Her twitter account, run by her family and friends, says she went into cardiac arrest last week and suffered major brain damage from a lack of oxygen. When she died saturday, she was 27 years old. True member her life, we are joined by two people who were her friends. Shuan king is columnist for the intercept and writerinresidence at harvard law schools fair punishment project, and was previously the senior justice writer at the new york daily news. And via democracy now video stream from houston, Kirsten West Savali is a journalist and associate editor at the root. Her recent piece is headlined erica garner im in this fight forever. Welcome both of you to democracy now kirsten, how did you meet erica . I met her in 2016 a Drug Policy Alliance partner gathering at columbia university. She was there making the connection between it was really a modernday lynching of her father by the nypd and the drug war, the war on drugs and the occupation of black and brown communities. We did not meet as journalism activist. It was about two women missing their fathers. My father passed away in 2011. Just making sure their legacies did not die. I saw her and we connected over that. Amy talk about the conversations you had then and what she meant to you in her activism and why you wrote this piece in the root. I wrote it because erica was very resilient. She did not let her grief stop her. She did not let the rage maker immobile. She used it to lift her voice for a community of people. She wasy, very not afraid to stand alone. We saw that when she went day in and day out and she went back to the spot where her father was killed. She was not afraid to stand alone. She was not afraid and not follow the trend of particularly black women who were supporting Hillary Clinton during the election. That was something that was not very popular to do. She did not get a lot of support in that. She was very clear about she was in the struggle for justice for her father. She was in it for other communities. I dont know if she was unafraid, but she was very, very brave. You you should people said people should not whitewash her legacy. What do you mean . When we saw mayor de blasio sending his condolences on twitter. She was highly critical of him. He was one of the ones who said it was an archaic law and disciplinary records to 90 to be released. He has multiple strikes against him. We read about that. We know about that now. When we see someone dies and the revolutionary dies, someone who does not believe in political monopoly, he does not follow a political party, who does not pull a line that is well behaved or someone who says what theyre supposed to say, we see their legacies whitewashed. We saw that with Martin Luther king, how certain politicians judged by theo be content of my character, but the color of my skin. They dont talk about him and say white people in particular, they think theyre special because theyre white. They dont talk about how you said the problem of persona say this is how we feel about Racial Justice and this is how we should all come together. Erica garner was not about coming together for peace if there is no justice. That needs to be very clear. Juan shuan king, could you talk about your relationship with erica, how you first got to meet her and her importance . First off, the piece that kirsten wrote was beautiful. There was a lot of inaccurate stuff said about her and kirstens piece, a really echoed my sentiments and heart. Im thankful she wrote it. We started talking all the way back in 2014 just through twitter direct message. It is funny that you get to know people through text message and direct message, sometimes without seeing them for months or years. I did not actually see eric of facetoface until we both started campaigning for Bernie Sanders. Maybe myrobably greatest defender and friend. I felt like we owed her to put ourselves out there to defend her. There were many times when she came to my defense. I miss her already. There was just a fierce nature that she had. Kirsten says something that i said as well. She was unbought and unbossed. And anyway she was our family name or. I even compared to Hosea Williams and as someone who spoke truth to power. When she loved you, you did not have to guess about how she felt about you, good, that come or ugly. She was an art an artist voice. There are a lot of people her right now. Amy we are going to break. Only come back, we will hear more from erica garner herself. We will be back in a minute as we remember erica garner. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman wtih juan gonzalez. We are remembering black lives matter activist erica garner. This is erica speaking on democracy now in january 2016. Well, and you deal with grief, when he talked about grief and you talk about family and our regular families deal with it, you know, families have problems. Family has trouble coping with it. But it makes it so different because now we are part of this National Scale like everything we do is in the paper. We got people coming from the left field giving us bad advice. People coming in with their own agendas. Are brushed into the spotlight. We dont have union reps and people to represent us and tell us, you need to do this or you need to do that. Dealingy has been just with that, trying to stay organized and also deal with the fact that my father is gone and nothing is being done about it. Very important. You hear bill de blasio say, it is very important and we need to do something about it. It is like, a family put in my position, black families on public assistance that doesnt have the income to get there be is 300 an hour. I dont think that is fair. It is not made for the black population because how are we supposed to cope with this if we dont have someone to talk to, someone professionally to talk to . Now my family is trying to figure out, well, me personally, im trying to figure out how can i get past that barrier and find someone to talk to to do with this . This is trauma. Bashed ayearold niece boy in the head with a book at school and said im angry the cops killed my grandfather. She was not mad at the kid. She is so young. For her to say that, it hurts my heart. She got to talk to someone at her daycare or whatever, and it is just not fair. Placed whatever put into for Mental Health to take care of our Mental Health, because it is very important. It is very important dealing with grief. I still have not accepted my father is gone, even though i talk about my dad. I talk about him in a case study. Like i have been studying this case for the latest updates you can go to my website or to and you can see i am constantly reading articles and doing the research on my dads case, but im not taking care of may. Amy so that is erica garner two years ago. It was january 2016. Were continuing to remember erica who died this weekend at the age of 27. She died after giving birth to her second child, a son she named eric after her dad eric garner who died in a Police Chokehold in 2014. She went into a coma after an asthma induced heart attack. Andguests are shuan king Kirsten Savali. Erica, talkn to about what has been and what has not been accomplished and her fathers case. So much of it pushed for by erica. She was both critical and supportive of bill de blasio, but right to the end, fighting for the disciplinary records of officer pantaleo to be released. To the issue of the federal civil rights indictments that have not come down. Failedt of people fea erica and her family. Im rather new to new york. There was a view of the city that i had that it was a progressive haven. I think that irritated erica that people saw the city is incredibly progressive, yet she could not get the most basic form of justice for her family. They never fired officer Daniel Pantaleo. I even confronted the police of chief of police about this. They talk about rules and regulations that here we are over three years later and he clearly violated nypd policy. They did not fire him. The city, including the mayor, five family over and over again for the release of his disciplinary records. Just ridiculous. I think mayor de blasio will look back on this with deep regret. It was a missed opportunity to do right by a family. I really dont even think it is something he can make right. Erica was the most fierce defender of her father. I dont think there is a way that mayor could fix this at this point. Even the Obama Administration and the Justice Department really seem to make a commitment to erica, even donald trump made a commitment to the Garner Family that they would do something about this is that people continue to just kick the can or continue to put it off. Here we are now with ericas loss. It just shows justice delayed is justice denied in so many ways. And erica was furious. I think im angrier now that ive ever been to see a family denied justice like this. Juan back in march, think progress published until a all caps visibly display records and it showed yet 14 complaint filed against them with the disciplinary review but four were substantiated including a vehicle stop in 2011 and abusive stop and frisk in 2012. Do you think that would have made it any different if it would have come out or does earlier . It wouldve made a huge difference but that was leaked by the citizen complete review board and had it come out haveially, it even could been used in the civil suit or in a criminal case. But the city, to this day, continues to fight for the defense of the secrecy of those documents, which continue to infuriate erica and the family. At every turn, it is been difficult for erica does he wear mayor de blasio stood. Even though the family received a civil settlement, which they actually just received a few months ago. People think that is something they received years ago. They just dont received back. Other than that double settlement, it is hard to point to anything the city is done to make this right, including how they address the legality of the chokehold. There been dozens and dozens of other cases of officers using the chokehold even though it violated nypd policy. I like to say like this. Cops often say, hey, theyre only a few bad apples. It new york city and the nypd dont even hold a bad apples accountable. They protect even them. Daniel pantaleo was one of them. If he is 14 complaint, those are 14 people who had the nerve and the courage to follow complaint. You can legitimately assume he had dozens of other issues that just never made it there. Having four upheld is surprising. Uphold any ofever the complaints. When i saw yet four, that is a significant number. Amy and he is still on the payroll, so getting pay raises. Of the huge injustice family that at any moment may bump into him of the city. This is the man who murdered their father. Amy i want to turn to Kirsten Savali and ask about erica garners endorsement of Bernie Sanders as president. I want to play a clip from her ad. Im behind anyone who is going to listen and speak up for us. I think we need to believe in Bernie Sanders. Is unacceptable to me that we have seen young black men walk down streets in this country be beaten and be killed unjustly. Theres no other person that is speaking about this. People are dying. This is real. This is not tv. We need a president that is going to talk about it. The Africanamerican Community knows that on any given day, some innocent person like sandra bland can get into a car and three days later, she could end up dead in jail. I believe Bernie Sanders is a protesters. Were a Police Officer to break the law, that officer join amy i want to ask Kirsten Savali about ericas decision to endorse Bernie Sanders for president. Important to very make very clear that this was something that she did during a political moment were supporting Hillary Clinton was something needed to bemed done. Like women in particular really rallied around her. She stood alone. There was a lot of this is an. ,heres a lot of framing supporting Bernie Sanders as a white kid in it, framing it as not being politically mature or being from a privileged position. I invite anyone to say how erica garner was speaking from a position. This is not to litigate what happened with the election, but she stood alone in a very real way. She believed in Bernie Sanders. When he was no longer in the race, she spoke of political duopoly in a good not put all of your faith in either the democratic or republican party. I think that is important. Amy Kirsten Savali, thank you so much for being with us, texasng us from katy, journalist and associate editor , at the root. And shawn king. We will link to both of your pieces. Go to democracynow. Org are we have our interviews with erica garner. This week erica garner passed away at the age of 27. That does it for our broadcast. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] lidia i am lidia bastiananich, and teaching you about italian food has always been my passion. I want to always make it prettier and better and tastier. But this doesnt need a single thing. Now its time to learn the basics of the italian kitchen. So join me and master all things italian. Tutti a tavola a mangiare the culinary heritage of authentic italian foods by offering over 100 specialty italian products for the american kitchen. Cento. Trust your family with our family. Helps bring authentic flavor to meals. Grana padano. Italian excellence. Its all about the layering of simple, bold flavors. 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