Transcripts For KGO ABC7 News 400PM 20240713

Months that have led and culminated in this tension boiling over. And we saw what happened in minnesota, in minneapolis. Unfortunate unrest. But today were seeing what appears to be a largely peaceful statement and demonstration playing out right now on 101 in san jose. My partner dan ashley joins me here now for abc7 news at 4 00. Dan . Kristen, good to be with you. Remarkable to see whats happening on 101, southbound 101. We can only hope that it will continue to end as peacefully as it looks like it has begun, to end, but with some of the protesters leaving the freeway, we dont know to where they have proceeded, but there are probably still a good 100 on the freeway. And you mentioned something interesting, kristen, that id like to chime in on with the charges now facing dee inderek youve seen on video choking george floyd, charged with thirddegree murder. A lot of people are wondering what charge. We hear so often about manslaughter, firstdegree murder, seconddegree murder. What is thirddegree murder . Thats a category defined in the laws of three states, florida, pennsylvania, and minnesota. So that explains why that charge in minnesota is one of three states that has a thirddegree murder charge in that state that that Police Officer is now facing after being arrested today. But as we watch these protests live from sky 7, its been mostly peaceful for the past hour or so. A few broken windows on at least a couple of cars, maybe three. And knowing more violent than that. A little bit of shouting, but for the most part very peaceful. You see at some point a digit advertised area on your screen, which we blocked out because someone scrawled an obscenity on the freeway, and we dont want to show that to you if we can avoid it. But again, kristen, looks like probably 100 or so protesters still in the middle of southbound 101. This is in the alum rock road area. The backup significant, although far less than it would normally be if we were not in a shelterinplace order. That is correct. Just to remind our viewers, of course, they have probably seen the video because it went viral. Police officer, four officers that were involved in the incident, one in particular seen on the video putting his knee the whole time on george floyd, and floyd was later killed. Derek shoefs you mentioned was the first one and only one charged so far with thirddegree murder and manslaughter, although prosecutors made clear that more charges may be coming. There are a lot of people who are calling for the other three officers who have all since been fired to be charged with the same. So well see what happens there. But this is one of many protests that have erupted around the country. This one in san jose thats been going on since about 3 00, just past 3 00 this afternoon, blocking traffic, bringing it to a stand still at alum rock. So if youre headed south, that is where the protesters are making their stand, although you can see police have also closed off the northbound lanes at the moment as they negotiate the exit of the protesters. And dan, as you mentioned just in the last ten minutes or so, weve seen about two third of them leave the scene. We did. Which is interesting. Well be interested to know why they were convinced or decided on their own to move elsewhere. Perhaps theyre going to rally at a different location. Perhaps they had made their point and wanted to move on. There you see that digit advertised area were blocking out a swear word. So we dont know where those folks have left. Adds you said, kristen, about twothirds of the original gathering. And over the past hour, that number did grow until it seemed to sort of peak the last 15 minutes or so in terms of the numbers. And two third of them left the freeway just a few minutes ago. And you mentioned the officer charged today with thirddegree murder and three other officers may face charges as well. Prosecutors acting fairly rapidly in terms of the Justice System tends to work in the last couple of days to charge Derek Chauvin. That was probably a more easier arrest and charge to make because he was the one seen on video with his knee on george floyd for eight minutes as he begged for help and pleaded that he could not breathe. The investigation into the other officers actions or nonactions probably more complex and will take more time as they try to piece together what they did and what they did not do during that unfortunate awful incident that we all saw on video. This again one of the protests around the country today. They protested peacefully in oakland yesterday and a protest in oakland is planned for tonight at i believe about 8 00 this evening. With any luck, that will also remain peaceful. But of course, all of this reflects the great and growing frustration of not just the African American community. Largely, of course, the African American community, but of all people of conference who have reached a boiling point and are tired of seeing incidents like we saw in minneapolis the other day on video. It just reflects a sense of injustice and enough is enough. Back in february, there was the death of ahmaud arbery, a black man who was jogging, a 25yearold jogging through a georgia neighborhood when he was also shot to death. And three white men, a father and a son and also a neighbor now charged in that case. That one, of course, getting a lot of attention. And then earlier this week, of course, no death that resulted, but we saw a video coming out of central park in new york in which a white woman was heard and seen calling the police repeatedly emphasizing to the police and saying she was being threatened, her life was being threatened by an African American man who was peacefully just letting her know that she should leash up her dog. That was on video. She has since been fired there have been a lot of incidents coupled with the fact that people have been sheltering in place for three months during the coronavirus, and many people losing their livelihoods and their jobs, it is ripe, if you will, all the ingredients are in place for the kind of tension to build and for people to explode in a way with raw emotions and frustrations coming out. Yeah. Very well said, kristen. And i think its so heart rending in some respects in the last couple of months. We as a nation seem so united in resolve to beat the coronavirus. And suddenly here we are, a reminder that there are great divides and great divisions in the country. On the phone with us now, Adrian Monroy who is in one of the cars behind the protesters stuck in traffic on 101. Adrian, can you hear me . Yes, i can. Thank you for coming on. Dan ashley, kristen sze with you. Tell me how close you are to the protesters, first, adrian. How close . Yeah, how close are you . Can you repeat that . How close to the protesters is your car . Okay, adrian, well try to come back to you. No, i can hear you. How close . Youre in traffic, correct . Yes, im right here, right off of 680. I cant really see the protesters, to be honest. There is a lot of cars in the way. Okay. How long have you been there . Ive been there like since 3 40. So about half an hour. What are your thoughts . Youve probably seen the video that is sparking the protest that you are now in the middle of . What are your thoughts as you sit in traffic in terms of what is happening in the country and what is happening where you are now with the protesters . What is going through your mind . Yeah, i just im getting tired of it as well. Killing minorities, and yeah, people are arguing people have been arguing. Minneapolis, peacefully and police still dont listen. Maybe this way they will listen more. And right now i dont care what the protests do, as totally fine, i just need to use the rest room as soon as possible. But im okay with protesting. Adrian is saying he understands the frustration. He is okay with the protests. He understands why theyre happening and hopes that they stay peaceful, but he is okay with whats going on here and around the country. He just hopes he can get to a rest room soon because he has been stuck on the freeway. Youre probably not alone in that wish. Adrian, thanks very much for coming on. Stay safe. We appreciate it very much. Again, kristen, as we look now, we have some live pictures on the left, ground level shots of the protest. And on the right, we have obviously a fire that is burning. Were going get you more information on that. But with regard to Public Comments and sentiments on this, what adrian said im seeing echoed in a lot of the Facebook Comments as we stream this live on facebook. A lot of people saying that this is a small inconvenience, and they respect their right to make the statements. And, you know, we were talking about unit. And i just saw earlier there was a flag of mexico out there, and i saw under the mask, you can see there are people of all races out there as well. So there is a sense of unity amongst the protesters. There you can see the flag. And there are signs that say black lives matter. But lets be clear. Black, brown, yellow, white, there are all types of people out there making the statement against what happened in minnesota and the death of george floyd when a Police Officer who has now been charged has his knee on his neck for over eight minutes as he pleaded and said i cant breathe. So most people are, dan, very understanding in saying this is peaceful. Just be safe. But there are a few that are saying some unkind things that suggest, you know, they were in a car stuck there, they might not just sit there and wait. They might just drive on through. There is always somebody talking tough when theyre not there, i suppose. Always somebody mouthing off. But i think most people can understand the frustration and appreciate this public display of outrage. When it tends to turn, as weve seen many, many times, kristen, is when things become unnecessarily violent and there is a lot of vandalism or people and property getting hurt. Thats when you tend to lose a lot of people in terms of support for civil disobediencdi. But these peaceful protests that weve seen here, and in many other parts of the country that have not gotten out of control in any way have certainly raised awareness once again of a very serious divide and a very serious issue in this country. And to your point, kristen, very interesting. Very really uplifting and encouraging in many respects to see a quite diverse crowd there on the street, as you point out. Plenty of white people, African Americans, people of hispanic descent. All groups being represented standing there on highway 101 at the moment. Yes. I would like to think that it is the bay area, although i know that might be a bit simplistic. But the unity is encouraging to see. Joining us by phone right now is wi tran. And he is someone stuck in this for a while. Thanks for calling. In. Hi. I appreciate the chance to share my perspective. Yeah, please give us your perspective. How close are you to this . Are you near the protesters . That line they formed, that blockade . I was there for a while, but i kept a distance because im close to people who have compromised immune systems and i wanted to minimize any risk of exposure. But i was in the march from the start. You know, i mean, seeing the diversity of the people here, i wanted to show my support for the black community. And everybody coming together in this way i think showed the impact of the death of george floyd along with Breonna Taylor and all the others. Yes. It seems like this is a turning point right now. Hey, so are you now past that area . Yeah. I took a step back just because at some point i was trying to continue to a live feed, but the signal died. So trying to get away to a place where i can actually hear and see better. Kristen, we have proernts the move now, as you can see live. It looks like exiting the freeway en masse again. This is about the third, about the final third of the group that was there originally about 20 minutes ago. It looks like they are leaving the freeway, most of them now. They have jumped across the Center Divide and crossed to the northbound side, and it does appear to be that they are exiting the freeway and southbound traffic looks to be resuming there, dan. Finally on cars are able to move again. The chp said out to get the protesters to leave in a safe manner, and it appears they have successfully done so. Thus far, which is wonderful to see. We dont know, really, how they persuaded them to do that, but well find that out. Or if the protesters decided they made their point and it was time to move on, because we dont see Significant Police presence there at all. They are keeping their distance, of course, as most Police Departments around the country face these protests with the heat focused squarely on the actions of police in minneapolis. Law enforcement very cautious not to throw gas lean on the fire and provoke an already very tense situation. Yep. And you see the folks walking in a big group, maybe 100 people there. And theyre still carrying their signs, but they do appear to feel that they made their statement, that their blockade of traffic on 101 appears to be over, and of course that offramp that theyre currently on, you can still see cars, that white car driving very slowly to make sure that they dont hit anybody as they exit the freeway there. And they have to go down this offramp. There is no way. They have to get down to surface streets to get out of the way completely. It will be interesting to sow when they get to the exit here exactly what they do, if they block traffic there or move on. So, you know, dan, because weve been watching this for the past hour, we can say for the most part what we saw was unity. You saw people even waving, some of them. There you see the large police. Thats right. You saw a lot of that. But there were one or two window that we saw that were broken. I saw at least two, maybe a third. I couldnt quite tell. There you see where police have sort of staged and to deal with this crowd, trying to take the next steps to keep deescalating the situation and let everyone have their say and make their point. And one hopes move on without causing any further problem. Yes. But oh, and you can see the protesters forming a line there, standing, some of them with arms locked, and others carrying signs. But officers clearly still not feeling like the situation has completely deescalated. Just look at the semicircle formation they have there, dan. That is sort of the ready position, if you will in these types of situations in which you are ready for anything that may come your way. So it is still tense out there, even though so far what were seeing is a fairly peaceful statement being made by taking over shutting down highway 101, but expressing their strong feelings in the death of george floyd in minnesota. And remember, they are exercising that Great American right of free speech and the right to assemble and to make your point. And so far doing so peacefully. It may be inconvenient for those drivers, maybe even a little intimidating as they watch crowds of people stand around or come by their cars. But with only a couple of exceptions weve seen, no one has been bothered. A couple of windows, rear windows of vehicles smashed out. We dont know the circumstance to that. But thats all that weve seen thus far. And from everything weve seen here, these protesters came out to protest, make their point, and did not come to cause chaos. Their behaviors that been one of protest. Yes. And dan, we are looking at sort of the overpass now, if you will, where some of the protesters are after exiting the freeway. But throughout this event, there were people on the overpass also with signs and being very visible to drivers and of course choppers overhead, making their statement. It is a powerful statement. The death of george floyd bringing out such strong emotions for people across the country, and at least hundreds of people out to san jose this afternoon on a friday afternoon. We saw people taking a knee, dan. We saw people, you know, showing signs of solidarity by locking arms. There were drivers who drove past that honked in a gesture of support to the protesters, but there were those isolated individual incidents, maybe two or three in which windows were smashed. And then they drove on by after that. And they did allow the protesters, i dont know what the drivers said to let them know hey, ive really got to get going if i can. They let a number of cars through, maybe they had something, an emergency or something. But the protesters showed some compassion to a handful of drivers to let them proceed. Whats interesting here is theyre gathered around these police cars. Clearly looks like some folks are chanting. Theyre trying to get some kind of a rallying cry going. But the police, it doesnt look overly tense. No one is threatening or menacing the police cars at this point. The police arent moving in on them. Theyre letting them be among them and around them. And so far nothing has happened to the police cars. It doesnt look like its about to explode with violence at least at this point. It doesnt. And we hope it stays that way. But with these types of situations, there is always the possibility. So the tension will remain high until the very end, until, you know, everybody is walking away feeling like their point has been made. But it is quite interesting to see all of those protesters just around the police cars, around them. Yeah. But dan, i have to say, when you see whats happening here versus whats happening in some other cities across the country, you do feel that this point was made with an emphasis on unity and with an emphasis on looking forward and fixing whatever is wrong. And if that is the message that they can demonstrate to the country, perhaps the bay area can once again lead the way. Well, its a great point, kristen. We have a long history in this community of standing up for causes and for people and protesting. Not all those protests have been peaceful. Many have not. But we have a really rich tradition of civil d disobedien and protest and expressing your view, and perhaps this will be something that the rest of the country will look to as an example of how to make your point, but not do it in a way that is destructive. I was thinking the other day, yesterday, actually, as we watch the protests and some vandalism and which often happens. And one can understand the frustration that sometimes bills over. But at the end of the day, after so many of these merchants and businesses and Business Owners have been devastated already by a shutdown thats lasted two months. And then to be have have vandals and thieves destroy some of their property. And here is a car being vandalized. Its a double blow for some of these businesses that have been affected. Yes. And, dan, we did get video as sky 7 has been up almost this whole time of a few of the incidents. But they were very isolated. And for a crowd of this size, its been mostly peaceful. A lot of young people. I see teenagers. I see girls, boys, young people of all shades. Dan, were seeing some reports as well that there may be protesters in front of the white house as well chanting George Floyds name right now outside the white house. So this is just one of many points of action across the country today. So many cities. So many city. Yeah. And im not surprise d from the white house, wanting the president to hear what they say. And dan, there have also been protests in front of the Oakland Police department, and oakland is expecting nor protesting tonight. It remains to be seen the size of that particular crowd. But it is a day of expression in cities all across america, different places, including highway 101 here in san jose. Yes. And its worth pointing out that the arrest of that minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin charged with thirddegree murder in George Floyds death today in charges filed did not diffuse or diffuse may not be the right word, did not dissuade protesters from still coming out here and around the country and making their point. Yes. There are a lot of people who are calling for a swift charging of the other three officers seen on video. Equal charges, if you will. So there are still a lot of people who feel like the wheels of justice are not turning quickly enough and perhaps not extensively enough. And even if this particular case resolved in a way that satisfied, you know, a lot of people, lets not forget we are talking about the culmination of months of several high profile incidents. Sure. But each incidet is in terms of how these officers are tried and treated is an individual case. And legal observers would probably say, tell you that charging the officer with thirddegree murder a couple of days later, a few days later is not slow. Theyre moving fairly rapidly. And the biggest mistake prosecutors can make is acting in haste and making mistakes, mabe mischarges, overcharges, undercharging anyone because the problem is they end up with a bad case that when they get to court, they could potentially lose because theyve rushed it and made mistakes. So they do want to be extremely thorough and extremely deliberate, because it may feel good at the moment for people who want to see these officers charged. But if they dont do it correctly, the outcome could be not what they are opening to see in their eyes as justice in this case. So i think prosecutors are understandably being very deliberate, moving quickly but cautiously to make sure they get it right. That is a great point. And one that i think the prosecutor, the head prosecutor made himself. He pointed out this was really a record speed, if you will in terms of a case reaching this point of charging an officer so quickly, four days after the video went viral. You are looking live now at some of the cars that had been stuck for about an hour on 101 south, finally getting the chance to exit. They made their way off the offramp now after protesters demonstrating in the death of george floyd took over and blocked highway 101 around alum rock avenue in san jose for about an hour before we saw chp officers actually managing to convince them to just walk away and walk off the freeway safely. And it appears theyre gathered now, you know, on city streets right off the freeway. So their protest is not over yet by any means. Just the part thats on southbound 101 for the past hour and a half or so. Abc7 News Reporter amanda del castillo is live from our bureau in san jose. Amanda, you can give us a little bit of a breakdown on how things started there where you are. Yeah, so dan, kristen, we know that the protest here in san jose has both been active and live for the last two and a half hours. It started at 2 00 this afternoon, and weve been following developments from sky 7, just as you have. Now what we saw at the start of the protest was a peaceful march through downtown san jose to and past city hall. Of course, a Diverse Group of people echoing the message no justice, no peace. Then shortly after 3 00, a little more than an hour and a half ago, protesters entered an onramp, stopping traffic on southbound 101 at santa clara street. That was the exit. I should note that for the most part, it has been a peaceful march, what we have been noticing and witnessing in that time, we have witnessed instances of aggression, though, frustration between drivers who have been stopped and protesters, at least two cars damaged. One man seemed to have pulled out what looked like a crowbar to smash the back of one mans car. Another protester used a skateboard. But, again, just those two instances of damage that weve witnessed. Incredible for a crowd this size. Weve also been following Facebook Live of those on the ground. Protesters are responding to criticism from people. People asking why cause such an inconvenience on our roadways. Those protesters answering that their efforts previously have all fallen on deaf ears. So they are taking this measure as weve seen in the last two and a half hours. Now a Huge Development in just the last ten minutes. That crowd was moved off of highway 101 southbound. They are still convening. Were still following on sky 7. And you can still see crowds. Thats something that were following. Were going to be following development as this protest continues. For now reporting live in the south bay bureau, amanda del castil castillo, abc7 news. Thank you so very much for that update. The situation in san jose. We take you live back there near the freeway onramp, which had been closed due to the fact that protesters protesting the death of george floyd in minnesota have taken over 101, shutting it down in both directions near alum rock for about an hour, dan. Indeed. And they have moved off the freeway, but theyre gathered on surface streets. A the height of it, there were about, kristen, 300 protesters. At first about twothirds of them left. And then the final third within the last 20 minutes or so moved off the freeway, allowing traffic on southbound 101 to start inching along again, although a number had gathered on an overpass on the highway. So its been i wouldnt stri describe it as a tense situation, just an intense situation. Everyone seemed to stay relatively calm and peaceful. Drivers kept their distance, did not get impatient, and a few cars were let through by protesters. Those circumstances we dont know, but presumably they said something to convince the protesters that they really shouldnt be held any longer. And now of course we wait to see what happens as the afternoon and evening continues, because there will be protests a protest scheduled in oakland tonight. There will be protests in other cities around the country today and this evening as well. And we can show you some video from earlier, a george floyd protest in downtown san jose. That is where they started. They gathered there and marched through the streets, again peacefully, carrying signs, remembering george floyd, black lives matter, all lives matter, walking on to the freeway, 101, and eventually taking over and shutting down the freeway. A situation that has now ended. The chp having succeeded in getting the protesters to walk away peacefully after making their point with apparently from what we could see nobody injured. Just a few broken windows. But for the most part, it was a feeling of solidarity. It was. And as weve commented, kristen, and you made the observation, which i thought was extremely astute, what a Diverse Group of people we saw on highway 101. You saw African Americans, white people, men, women, hispanic protesters. It was really interesting. It reflects the bay area. A very Diverse Group of protesters who came out. People of conscience to express their outrage and disgust at what happened in minneapolis, yes, but also what has happened many, many times around the country for far too long. And once again, it has bubbled over to a point where people are saying enough is enough. This is live sky 7 pictures now of protesters moving through surface streets. You see 24th street there, the cross street as they make their way in Different Directions on these surface streets after a little nervous watching it because now that people are walking in between vehicles, just on city streets, i do think there is still a little element of danger there for some of the pedestrians, people on foot. So i do hope all the cars are taking it slow and being very careful and the pedestrians are being extra aware of vehicles that, you know, may not be aware of whats happening and might zoom on by a little too quickly. So we are still watching this. There is a heavy chp and Police Presence in some of the key intersections where people are exiting the freeways. Just to ensure that things stay as safe as they can be, both for drivers and pedestrians. But, again, so far we have not seen anyone seemingly injured in any way, or direct peopletopeople confrontations. There were a couple of incidents where windshields were smashed. But for the most part, i even saw some drivers wave and honk in support of the protest. We dont know why those particular windows were smashed out. Maybe somebody said something. But the good news here is so far police have kind of kept a distance, trying to keep order, trying to let protesters and motorists know that were here. Were watching it. But theyre clearly trying not to escalate it in any way. And kristen, to your point, what i always worry about with certainly with protesters and cars in close proximity, you always worry about that. And then you also worry a protester says something or a motorist says something, and next thing you know, things ignite a little bit in an unfortunate way. And its always there is always a chance of that. I always worry that cooler heads will not prevail and somebody will mouth off and say something. And then it sparks some kind of violence. This is earlier, obviously as the protesters move through san jose. Really several hundred of them, carrying signs. And again, if you look at the crowd, this is an extremely diverse crowd. Not just in terms of the ethnicity, but in terms of age and gender. Absolutely. And, dan, this is video from earlier of where things i think got the most intense. And you can see there is clearly confrontation going on there. Again, somebody says something and they start shouting at each other. Yeah. But that car did drive off. And, you know, the people involved did disperse. Hey, a lot of you have been asking us on social whats happening with that fire in san jose. We referred to that. There was smoke. I want to let you know that the San Jose Fire Department is putting out word that this is a vegetation fire near the intersection of collman avenue and university avenue. So as of a few minutes ago, they said it was about three to four acres. There were people wondering if that was connected to this incident. Theres no indication of that. Its a vegetation fire at coleman and university avenue, and we are showing you some video from that from earlier, recorded about an hour ago of that fire. And you know, dan, the hills are tinder, tinder dry right now at this time of year in just about june, having had very little rain. They are indeed. And today a good bit cooler than it was yesterday, thank goodness. So that helped a little bit. And we may get some rain coming in here this weekend. Which will be nice this late in the season. Get a little bit more moisture on those hills. Tamp it down a little bit. Sky 7 is, as you see, winging its way become to it had to go refuel. So its almost back over the protest area at 101, southbound 101. You can still now you see a lot of police cars on that overpass. A handful of protesters, maybe a couple of looky loos there. But you see probably 20 police cars or so. Thats clearly an area where they have staged. And then there are some, as you look at the lower third of your screen on surface streets, another area where there is a large Police Presence. And theyre clearly as is their strategy in moments like this show great presence, but try not to escalate the situation, try to be on the sidelines with Significant Police presence to let everyone know that we are here in numbers, but were going to allow you to continue to do what youre doing as long as you dont cause problems. Strong feelings across the nation manifestsing in different ways across the nation in the killing of george floyd by minneapolis police. One of the officers, the one seen on video with his knee on floyds neck has been charged with thirddegree murder. That announcement coming today from prosecutors there who said that more charges could be coming. There were three more officers involved in that incident. And no doubt more charges are very likely to come involving those three officer, other officers. Probably a good bit easier for prosecutors to charge Derrick Chauvin because he was the one seen on video physically choking and kneeling on the neck of george floyd. An interesting charge, as i said a little while ago. Thirddegree murder. A lot of people wonder what in the world is thirddegree murder. Its a category of murder defined in thelies of three states in the country, florida, papadopoulos, and minnesota, which happened in minneapolis so there is a thirddegree option in minneapolis and the state of minnesota. So that is why. Well get details exactly why prosecutors believe thirddegree murder was the correct charge there. The other three officers will quite likely, most people would say will face charges of some sort as the investigation continues. If youre just joining us, weve been in breaking News Coverage since about 3 00, 3 15, 3 20 this afternoon since protesters took over highway 101 in san jose. Protesting George Floyds death in minneapolis, and after a blockade in which they blocked traffic for about an hour, chp did manage to have the protesters just walk peacefully off the freeway, allowing traffic to resume. Right now what you can see down below, thats in the horizontal direction there with traffic flowing once again. And you see some slowing on the overpass above it, and certainly slowing you can see on the city street, the onramps and offramps there, and police have been, you know, in that area trying to keep people away. And you still see a huge pretty heavy Police Presence there, dan. You do. And you also see a lot of cars that are stuck in very slowmoving traffic on the surface street, backed up considerably. Again, this would be far worse in terms of the traffic impact just a couple of months ago, but because of the shutdown, we are still at reduced commute volume significantly. So there are not as many people as there ordinarily would be out and about stuck in traffic and backing things up. But there you see protester news in the middle of the street, marching along, again, quite peacefully. But making their presence and their point very clear. And, again, you know, in this case, in the case of george floyd, sometimes you see Police Officers or agencies not immediately jumping to make a statement on the actions or events unfolding in other Police Departments, but in this case, San Francisco poa, san jose poa and oakland poa immediately issued a joint statement saying what they saw in that video was inconsistent and contrary to everything theyve been taught, not just as academy recruit or Police Officers but as human beings. A strong statement even from Police Officers in this particular incident and of course you can see it elicited strong emotions and really rage and outrage by citizens across the country, including here in san jose. Yeah, rage, outrage, disgust, and another emotion i think, kristen, that weve seen is sadness that this has happened and continues to happen. In addition to Police Officers associations, we heard yesterday from bill scott of San Francisco police, the interim police chief in oakland also coming out, and Police Chiefs around the country coming out. And as you say, its often seldom to they all come out so quickly and make statements. But what was seen by everyone on video was so profoundly disturbing. And, again, a man lying defenseless on the street with an officers knee in his neck for eight minutes, or even more than eight minutes as he repeatedly told them for as listening as he could that he could not breathe, and you could hear and see that he could not breathe. And yet the officer, even after he became still and motionless, kept his knee on his throat, and the man was unresponsive when paramedics finally arrived and was pronounced dead a short time later. He may have died right there on the street. But he was taken away and was not they were not able tory vooif him. And its sickening video to watch. Weve both seen it. And you can understand and appreciate the growing outrage once again at an act that seems so inexplicable, so unjustified, and so targeted against African Americans. Dan, for the early part of this coverage, i was working with producer eric shackelford. If we get a chance in a few minutes to pull up his tweet posted three or four minutes ago, i think thats really a moment worth seeing. He pulled up that video. He clipped it and tweeted it. It was interesting. It was a moment i know it sounds weird to say a favorite moment in a freeway takeover protest. But if i could have a favorite moment, that would have been it, where you saw a driver stopped by protesters in san jose and were getting a little nervous watching it. But he gets out of his car to face a masked man, and guess what, dan . They shake hands. They shake hands. He getting back in the car. He drives away. What a powerful statement that is. Yes. The solidarity. And we pull it up just now, dan. Watch that. Isnt that powerful . Yep. And the man in the red shirt, after shaking the hands of one of the protesters gets back in his vehicle. I think it took him a little while before he managed to drive away. But just when you get worried that the tension was going to result in something perhaps ugly, you see something kind of beautiful. It looked like they were trying to open the hood and maybe help him out or do something. And like you said, this man was obviously sympathetic, empathetic to the cause and to what these protesters were there to do, and he didnt want any trouble. And said the right things and hes willing to accept the inconvenience. And wait until he is able to Marthas Vineyard on his way. And youre right, kristen. Those kinds of situations can easily turn as protesters get restless and drivers get frustrated that they cant get where they need to go. And many of them need to get places. And may be entirely sympathetic, but that doesnt change the fact that they have to pick up child or go to a doctor, or who knows. Dan, this is my favorite moment. Again, i apologize if it sounds weird to say you have a favorite moment in a protest game. Would be my second favorite, where you see those dozen or so folks locking arms, taking a knee there on the offramp, just holding their signs and making a statement of unity together. In front of the police who seem to be just watching it unfold because they recognize that is what it is, the exercise of freedom of speech in a peaceful way which, you know, it gets trite to say this is america, dan, but its these moments where you say this is america. Yeah, you know, its not trite. Its actually very powerful, and were much stronger when we stand together even when we have great divisions between us or great issues to resolve. And weve seen that, as i mentioned earlier. Weve seen that in the last couple of months as so many people in the country did the right thing and rallied around this very painful lockdown and coronavirus pandemic. It brought us together. And sometimes, even in moments like this, people can come together in a very powerful way. Hey, lets bring in abc7 news anchor larry beil who would normally be on the air here this moment. But he is watching as well. Larry, what are your observations as you watch this play out . Well, you guys made some great points. I want to jump in on something you had mentioned earlier with respect to the timeline of the charging of the Police Officer Derek Chauvin. One of the things that inflamed the situation, youre right given the context that three or four days generally speaking is pretty swift, especially when your talking about something involving the police being charged, but i think one of the things that really agitated people was the d. A. Mike freeman initially coming out in minneapolis saying theres not enough evidence to charge the four officers. And so that got people agitated. And then im looking at the autopsy of george floyd, and the official autopsy, and im quoting now, no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation. So you see a couple of items in the news that make protesters feel like injustice is taking place here, that the system is not going to allow for the prosecution of what we all saw on video. And i think obviously the video was key in what took place and why were seeing the process that were seeing. But those items added fuel to the fire, and i think some have made the case that are closer to the scene in minneapolis that had the charges come more quickly perhaps we would not see what were seeing today. I dont know if you have any thoughts on that. I think thats a great point. Of course, in these situation, people always want charges to come very quickly. And sometimes they do and they can. But in so many instances, the district the prosecutors want to make sure, the District Attorney wants to make sure they gt it right. And file the correct charges and dont violate procedures that would then get the defense, and there would be a vigorous legal defense. Sure. Give the defense loopholes and opportunities to beat those charges. And thats that i think is knowing a lot of lawyers as we all do, thats their big concern is to make sure we dont blow it right out of the get. And that would cause even bigger problems, you know, the case is dismissed. That would cause even bigger problems if they make a mistake. Dan, larry . Pardon me. I just want to point out, you guys, that we were looking at san joses city hall there. Apparently the large group that began their protest earlier this afternoon in front of San Jose City hall after going over to the freeway, now they have made their way back towards san joses city hall that is where the majority of the group is now, back to the starting point after having taken over 101 and deciding that they made their point, being asked to leave, and having done so, gotten off the freeway, walked through city street, and now the protests, most of them, are apparently back outside San Jose City hall, continuing to protest the death of george floyd. Earlier out there in front of the city hall we heard chants of no justice, no peace. And there were a lot of people with signs. And they continue their protest out there with gentlemen of course were expecting similar action again in oakland tonight as well. Thats right. I think the protest is planned for about 8 00 tonight. There were smaller protests tonight. We dont know how large the one in oakland will be tonight. We can all hope its very peaceful and people make their point as loudly as vigorously as they wish. But there is boarding up going on i know in oakland, and i know there is some concern about it. You know, i think one of the other points to be made when you look at this situation is unfortunately, this is the perfect storm that we have right now of rage for a lot of people. Because of the coronavirus we have high unemployment. We have people of color who are disproportionately affected by that and impacted by that. And then you see something happen on video. And unfortunately, its like a powder keg ready to go up. Im looking at a tweet from Michelle Obama earlier in the day where she said she was pained by these tragedies and exhausted because it never seems to stop, and reading her tweet, right now its george, breonna and ahmaud. It guess on and on and on. You can see the frustration. Its understandable. The question if we take the view from 30,000 feet is where does this go from here and what are the ramifications of this case in particular. And were seeing protests all over the country. And its not, as you guys pointed out, its not just black people in the streets. I was looking at some of the protests in minneapolis. Its young white americans that are outstanding with African Americans and marching. And im wondering if were at a Tipping Point in this country where something actually positive might come out of all of these horrible situations. Well we can hope, larry. And wouldnt that be wonderful if we are at a Tipping Point. History as our guide, who knows. Because it seems weve been with so many incidents around the country incidents against African Americans. Weve seemed to have been at many Tipping Points. Perhaps each time we incrementally improve, but one can hope this is a Tipping Point that will bring about real change. But weve had a number of incidents recently, and im not sure whats happened as what happened in minneapolis. Go ahead, larry. Did you guys happen to see the Instagram Video of george floyd that was reposted today . The situation occurred a few days ago. Hes friends with former golden state warrior, like they call each other twins, Steven Jackson, who played for the warriors and Steven Jackson had been saying that george floyd was a guy who was trying to do the right thing and help people. And so when you see a video like that, its not a guy who seemed to be out to try to do anything bad. And he ended up unfortunately losing his life. So when i saw that, as i said, it just took my breath away because it seemed like although he might have had some difficulties in the past that he was on a path to try to help, and thats why youre seeing a lot of prominent athletes and nba players who feel connected to Steven Jackson and the injustices that have taken place that we talked about a few minutes ago coming together and people like lebron james, steph curry in the past has been vocal in terms of talking about rights for everybody and so like i said, youre absolutely right, dan, when you say weve had a number of these flareups in the past, and maybe its a Tipping Point, and maybe its not. But here we are especially when were six months away from an election where it just feels like there is a lot of energy there is a lot of force all around this country, and well see what comes of it, hopefully something positive. Lets hope. One more observation i make as you look at these folks gathered here outside city hall, i believe, these folks arent causing problems other than inconveniencing drivers and some people in traffic, which is not to be minimalized. But theyre not vandalizing. Theyre not hurting people. Theyre out there because they care. They are out there and in great numbers around the country because theyve had mu and one of the great things about this country is the freedom to assemble and the freedom to express yourself. And at least one can say they care enough to go out and spend an afternoon making their voices and their point heard very loudly. And somebody who was out there making that point, spending her afternoon protests is maya, and she joins us now by phone. Maya, if i if youre the maya that i think you are, then ive been following your tweets. Were you the one who said we apologize for the minor inconvenience of the temporary disruption to your commute . Was that you . Maya, are you with us . Yeah, can you hear me . Yes, i can. Ma maya, were you the one who posted on twitter about the apologies for the inconvenience of shutting down traffic, but were talking about hundreds of years of oppression and racism and inequality . Was that your tweet, something to that effect . Yeah, that was my tweet. Okay. So talk to me, then. You must be one of the key organizers, or youve been there from the beginning today. Walk us through how you felt, if you felt like you accomplished what you needed to. Yeah, so i would like to say i wasnt a key organizer. I heard about this event yesterday from an instagram story. I got there around 2 00 p. M. Today, around city hall, and we sort of kind of like marched west towards south Market Street and made a loop around until we got back to city hall. And then we took our march to highway 101 south. The purpose of that i guess, i know a lot of people are talking about why taking to it the highway and so on and so forth. Well, we are were tired of the injustice to our system. And we want to have our voices heard. And one way to do that is to get on the news. And if thats what it takes to get on the news is to minorly inconvenience people on the streets, then thats what were going to have to do in order to help communities of color seek justice that they deserve. And, yeah, actually im not there anymore. I was there earlier. But i believe that i accomplished at least what i wanted to do, which was to exercise my First Amendment right against the injustice thats been going around in the united states. Around people of color. Yeah. All right, maya, thank you so much for coming on. We appreciate it. Lets go now to sam liccardo, the mayor of san jose. Sam, you there . Hey. Thank you for coming on. We really appreciate it. Youre kind to take the time. Give us your sense of whats happening in the city, how police are responding, whats gone well, whats not gone well, what is your concern about for the evening . Give us a rundown. Well, i have a pretty clear whats happening down here on santa clara street. Its a pretty peaceful protest, although theyve blocked traffic out in santa clara. But it seems to be in control. And anger and peaceful protests will always be protest responses to injustice, but violence will never be. And were going ensure that its not violent. Well said. And there really there has not been any violence other than a couple of car windows smashed out. Your thoughts, sam, as the mayor of san jose and a public figure as you watched that video from minneapolis of george floyd begging them and telling the officer he couldnt breathe. You know, as someone who oversees a police department, what are your thoughts as you watch that video . It was horrific. I actually couldnt finish watching the video. And i know many of our residents feel the same way. United in outrage over the atrocious crime that happened in minneapolis. And united in our sadness over George Floyds horrible death. And, you know, weve got a lot of work to do in this country, no question about that. Well, what is the role mayor liccardo, this is kristen sze, of elected officials, from you as mayor of a big city right on up to the white house in terms of leading the coming together of people and the change that will prevent this type of thing from happening in the future. Certainly we have control over our own actions, and what happens in our own city. And we can demand accountability and transparency, and yesterday pd released a report on use of force in our own city, as weve been subjecting ourselves to a lot of scrutiny from outside experts who are looking at the data and trying to understand using force more or less. And it seems to be although were resting more, were using force, serious force less than we were a couple of years ago. And, you know, im grateful for the leadership of chief eddie garcia. I think theyre making a lot of positive steps forward. But i think as he would admit, weve got more work to do. What is the key to using less force . How are officers trained . Whats the marching orders to make sure that those numbers go down . Well, certainly there is a lot of training, and more and more its around making it explicit from the early days in the academy to make sure youre creating a culture and a department where people, every officer understands their responsibilities to serve a residents and to stand up for the constitution. And it also really has to do with how the rank and file know that those kinds any slipup, any step over the line is going to be treated by the brass. And, you know, in our department, i think its fair to say there is just no tolerance for overreach. Its creating that culture that is critical, and certainly that starts in the leadership to the department. Were fortunate to have good leadership here. But we know this is a struggle in cities throughout the country. Mayor liccardo, are you at city hall right now . Im sorry, i couldnt hear the question. Are you at city hall right now . I am, yes. Im asking because i know thats where most of the protesters are right now. Yes. In fact, they started there today before moving on over to the freeway. How is the security situation and the general feeling there . I know, you know, there are protest actions going on in front of the white house right now, and the white house is on lockdown. But here at city hall, how would you characterize the general feeling and mood . Circumstances well, its certainly there is a lot outrage being expressed here, and thats appropriate. But it is peaceful. We havent seen down here at city hall any damage to the