Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20240714

Security. Amy customs and Border Protection has opened an investigation into the posting of racist and xenophobic messages by current and former Border Patrol agents on a secret Facebook Group. We will speak to propublicas a. C. Thompson who broke the story that sparked nationwide outrage. Then tucson, arizona, where federal prosecutors have decided to retry the humanitarian aid volunteer scott warren for helping migrants. I do not know with the government has hoped to a couple share, but i do know what the effects of all of this has been and will continue to be. A raising of public consciousness, a greater awareness of humanitarian crisis in the b borderland, more volunteers who want to stand in solidarity with migrants. Amy we will hear scott warren in his own words and speak to one of his colleagues with the group no more deaths. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy n now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. A damning new report and shocking photos have been released by the department of Homeland Securitys internal watchdog, adding to the mounting outcry over detention conditions for asylumseekers along the u. S. Mexico border. Actiting inspector g general Jennifer Costello is urging dhs to take immediate steps to alleviate dangerous overcrowding and prolonged detention of children and adults in the rio grande valley. The report notes that migrants, note migrants are being held for prolonged periods of time without sufficient food or access to medical care. Some children had not received a hot meal since being locked up and begged not to be returned to their cells. Inspectors observed over 2500 children who had been held longer than the three days permitted under a key Court Settlement known as the flores agreement. Photos show extreme overcrowding, including people huddled in cells in standing room only conditions, some held for months. Some photos also show asylumseekers holding up signs for the inspectors, one of which reads help. Npr reports that dhs is currently on the hunt for new sites across several Southern States to detain migrant children. Meanwhile, lawmakers continue to make their own trips to immigrant jails, with florida Congressmember Frederica Wilson leading a delegation tuesday that included Congressmember John Lewis to visit the homestead facility in florida. Less than an hour from the first of a credit primary debate last week. In related news, another Central American migrant has died in u. S. Custody after becoming sick while locked up at a houston immigration jail. 30yearold honduran native yimi alexis balderramostorres was detained at the end of may before being handed over to ice in june. He died in a houston hospital sunday after being found unresponsive in his detention cell. The cause of death remains undetermined and an autopsy isis scheduled. A federal judge in Washington State has blockcked a trump admiministration plalan to lockp ylum seekers w while they wait for the outcomome of their case. The policy, which was set to take effect this month, would have denied Asylum Seekers bond hearings. The aclu, which brought the suit alongside other Rights Groups, welcomed the decision, saying in try as it may, the government cant circumvent the constitution in an effort to deter and punish asylumseekers applying for protection. This ruling will provide muchneeded relief for people being detained in cruel and inhumane conditions while going through the asylum process. In more immigration news, npr is reporting the department of Homeland Security has sent out fines to a number of immigrants for failing to depart the u. S. As previously agreed. The fines in some cases are as high as 500,000. Lizbeth mateo, an attorney for one of the recipients of a dhs fine, told npr the administration is issuing the fines to increase pressure on immigrant communities and may be laying the groundwork for further criminal penalties. She said i laughed, because there has to be someone in some basement in d. C. Thinking, oh, what else can i do to mess with immigrants . What else can i do to hurt them . earlier this week, trump said previously announced immigration raids will begin after the upcoming july 4 weekekend if Congress Fails to pass new restrictions on Asylum Seekers. Again, the trump said immigration raids will begin after the july 4 weekend. Nationwide protests were held tuesday under the banner close the camps, calling on lawmakers to shut down immigrant jails, defund detention and deportation, and reunite separated families. This is a demonstrator in new york city. I am here because i want to make sure that people know not all americans agree with this, americans we are a country of migrants and immigrants and when you just a church our history and welcome the generations that are coming to build our country. I am here because im against the child concentration camps are. Amy new jersey senator and 2020 democratic president ial candidate cory booker says, if elected, he will virtually eliminate immigrant detention through executive authority, as he unveiled his Immigration Reform plan tuesday. Bookers plan would phase out privatelyrun immigrant prisons and stop c criminalizing immigration. He is also vowing to restoring anand expanding daca and other protected status prorograms, reverse trumps zero tolerance family separation policy, expand legal pathways to citizensnship, and put in place accountability mechanisms for ice and cbp. Other 2020 candidates have also said they would effectively do away with immigrant detention, including former san antonio mayor and housing and urban Development Secretary julian castro. Last week, senator Bernie Sanders said his First Executive actions would undo all of trumps antiimmigrant policies. The Trump Administration has dropped its effort to include a Citizenship Question in the 2020 census. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled the contested question could not be added to next years form, saying the administrations justification for its inclusion appears to have been contrived. Trump had originally threatened to delay the constitutionally mandated census after the ruling but the Justice Department confirmed tuesday that they have given the green light to start printing the forms. The aclu and 17 states filed a lawsuit to prevent the Citizenship Question from being added. Census officials estimated 6. 5 Million People would not respond to the census, negatively impacting areas with large immigrant communities. The house ways and Means Committee has sued the Treasury Department and the irs o over their refusal to hand over President Trumps tax returns. Democrats issued subpoenas for trumps financial records in may. Trumps Legal Counsel dubbed the lawsuit president ial harassment and said they would fight it in court. In libibya, an overnrnight airse killed at least 40 people at a Migrant Detention Center near the capital tripoli. It injured nearly 80 others. The facility housed mostly african migrants. The u. N. Backed government of National Accord is blaming the opposition Libyan National army, led by the renegade general khalifa haftar. Violence around tripoli has been mounting since haftars forces launched an offensive to capture tripoli. Human Rights Groups say both sides may have committed war crimes by attacking heavily populated civilian areas. In israel, members of the Ethiopian Community took to the streets tuesday to protest racism and the Police Killing of teenager solomon teka in haifa on sunday. Major roads were blocked, 60 people were arrested as Police Clashed with protesters. The Israeli Police are not learning. There are criminals inside the police force and the Police Leadership is unable to condemn them. It creates totally damage, but deaths. In california, u. S. Navy seal special operations chief Edward Gallagher has been acquitted of murder after a jury found him not guilty of all charges, except for the least serious charge of taking a photo over the dead body of a captive teenage combatant in iraq. Gallagher was accused of multiple war crimes, including shooting two iraqi civilians and fatally stabbing the captive teenager in the neck. The verdict came despite several of his fellow navy seals testifying as witnesses to the alleged murder. During the trial, a Navy Seal Medic testified that he, not gallagher, was actually responsible for killing of the teenager, throwing the prosecutions case into disarray. The medic said he asphyxiated the victim as a mercy killing after gallagher stabbed him, though prosecutors say the claim was fabricated to protect gallagher. Gallagher is set to be sentenced today and faces up to four months behind babars, though his lawyer says he will not return to prison since has already spent more than four months in pretrial detention. In arizona, federal prosecutors announced tuesday they will retry humanitaririan activist ad no more deaths volunteer scott warren, after a jury refused to convict him last month for providing water, food, clean clothes, and beds to two undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert. Prosecutors have dropped the conspiracy charge against warren. Prosecutors will repeat their case against warren in front of a jury in november. If convicted, dr. Warren could face up to 10 years behind bars. This is scott warren responding the news tuesday in front of the federal courthouse in tucson. I do not know what the government has hoped to accomplish year. I do know what the effects of all of this has been and will continue to be. A raising of public consciousness, a greater awareness of humanitarian crisis in the borderlands, or volunteers who want to stand in solidarity with migrants, local residents defending the resistance to border roles in the militarization of our communities, and a flood of water to the desert at a time when it is most needed. Amy we will have more later on this and the broadcast with Catherine Gaffney of no more deaths. A black patient was arrested outside an illinois hospital last month. He is now speaking out about his experience. 24yearold shaquille e dukes, along with two others, was arrested for misdemeanor Disorderly Conduct while he was taking a walk near the hospital where he was being treated for pneumonia. This was despite the fact that he was wearing a hospital gown and hadad an iv drip at the tim. In a facebooook post, dukes sasa hospitalal Security Guard called the police and accused him of stealing the iv equipmenent to reell on ebabay. Dukes has since filed a complaint for unfair and biased conduct by responding officers. Nike has withdrawn a new Independence Day themed air max sneaker design, reportedly nixed after Colin Kaepernick raised concerns about the use of the betsy ross flag a symbol associated with the American Revolution and an era of slavery. The flag has since been used by white supremacist groups. Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who many believed was iced out of the nfl for taking the knee before games to protest police brutality, was featured in a nike ad Campaign Last year. In response to nike pulling the sneaker, arizonas republican governor doug ducey cancelled a 1 million grant for a new factory, while texas senator ted cruz tweeted that nike only wants to sell sneakers to people who hate the american flag. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell criticized nike, saying he would place the first order for the sneakers if not reverses its decision. Tanks are reportedly at the ady for trumps fourth of july celebrations and washington,n, d. C. , despite city o officials objectining to the parade becaue of concerns of physical damage to the mall did to the massive military harardware. Trump has ordered a flyover by military aircraft, including air force one. Republican operatives are reportedly handing out the upbeat tickets to republican donors, as well as general admission entry to attend the planned speech by trump at the lincoln memorial. The Washington Post reporting nearly 2. 5 millioion from the National Park service will be diverted to cover the cost of the fourth of july celebrations. Chubb became the first Major Insurance Company in the u. S. To announce it would no longer provide coverage for coal companies. Chubbs move this week came after mounting pressure from environmental groups and will extend its coverage ban to companies that produce more than 30 of their energy from coal. Mary anne hitt of the sierra clubs beyond coal campaign, applauded the move and said the Insurance Industry risks being on the hook for trillions of dollars in damages linked to Climate Change from rising seas to wildfires and storms. Insurers are well aware of that danger, and also well aware that the markets and the public are turning away from coal, which could leave them holding the bag for an obsolete industry. Last month was the hottest june on record, marked by a recordbreaking heatat wave acas europe which saw temperatures soar as high as 50 Degrees Higher than normal in parts of france, germany, spain, and italy. Meanwhile, back in the u. S. , recordbreaking heat has been gripped alaska, exacerbating some 350 different wildfires across the state in recent days and accelerating the melting of its glaciers. And in london, climate activists with Extinction Rebellion marched on five Major Oil Companies headquarters tuesday to call for an end to drilling during londons Climate Action week. This is organizer lola perrin. It is london Climate Action week. Other than network with people, we would rather go to the fossil fuel companies and say, you know what . Amy 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. U. S. Customs and Border Protection has opened an investigation into the posting of racist and xenophobic messages by current and former Border Patrol agents. On a private Facebook Group. More than 9500 people are part of the group, which was exposed by propublica on monday. The groups Facebook Page is filled with racist, homophobic, antiimmigrant, and misogynistic content about migrants, as well as some lawmakers and other highprofile people. One post contained a photoshopped image of congressmember alexandria ocasiocortez being sexually assaulted by President Trump. In another thread, members of the group made fun of a video of a man trying to carry a child through a rapid river in a plastic bag. Someone commented, at least its already in a trash bag. Asked by a reporter to respond to her depiction in the facebook post, congressmember ocasiocortez said it was indicative of the culture she observed inside the migrant prison she had just visited and said she did not feel safe around the Border Patrol officers. In that last facility, i was not safe from the officers in that facility. To have any comment about what was posted about you in the Facebook Group . Of thes just indicative violent culture. Amy on monday, members of the new york congressional delegation came together to condemn the postings in a private Facebook Group. This is congresswoman nydia velazquez. But here is the most chilling part, that people behind these posts are responsible for the wellbeing of the most vulnerable among us children, pregnant women, families. They are enduring desperate postsions, and these suggest there are literally in the hands of people who engage behavior. Cist online amy well, for more, we go now to berkeley, california, where were joined by a. C. Thompson, the man who broke the story. He is a propublica reporter who covers Border Patrol and policing on the southern border as well as hate crimes and racial extremism. His new keys is headlined inside the secret Border Patrol Facebook Group where agents joke about Migrant Deaths and post sexist memes. A. C. , welcome back to democracy now take us on the journey of first how you are alerted to this group that has, what, more than 9500 participants. I think it is important to note there are people within the Border Patrol and a broader cbp agency who do not like what is going on. They say, look, the culture has gotten toxic, has gotten dangerous. And there are people that were in that Facebook Group who said, i want to alert the media about this, what is going on is absolutely unconscionable. Ininterestinglgly, about 7000 pe have left the group since we first it are reporting. I think ththat says something tt people realize this is not a group they want to be associated with and what was happening there was absolutely incorrect. Amy the talk about exactly what you found in this Facebook Group, what people were saying. I i have been reporting on lw enforcement for more than 20 years, and i am never seen anything like this. I have spentnt time with corrupt cops, cops who would to prison. I have not seen people who would post meme joking about sexual assault, apparently celebrating sexual assault. I had not seen people sort of posting these things, referring to the folks they are supposed to interact with, with the migrants, as essentially trash or subhuman. Like i said, i met a lot of bad cops. This is s way outside of the nos of normal behavior, whether in the civilian world or the Law Enforcement t world. There were memes about homophobia, about mocking Anderson Cooper sexuality, memes questioning whether migrants who had died trying to cross the river between the United States and mexico were actually if that actually happened, referring to them as floaters and saying maybe it was ali scheme concocted by the democrats and liberals. The levels of antipathy for women, for migrants, and just for people in general, very, very high. Juan you noted that cbp agents who posted this kind of vitriol online in the past have also been found to have been involved in violence or ilillegal activitities against migrants. Could you talk about that as a . To me, one of the things that is interesting and concerning is we knoww that by y the agencysn repoporting, they get hundreds of allegations of Excessive Force every year. We know by y their owown report, they discipline a handful of the agents and officers accused in his allegations of Excessive Force. We know that just recently, in california, two guatemalan teenage girls settled a suit with the agency alleging they were sexually groped by an agent in a Border Patrol station in texas. The agency paid out about 125,000 to settle that case, suggesting it was not a case they wanted to take to trial. And what we know what i can tell you, it appears the agent in question has not been disciplined and is still on the force. And further, cbp did not seem willing to disclose his name to the lawyers who relitigating that case. Cbp isere talking about a federal lawenforcement agency that has already is bigger than the fbi or the dea. It is the largest federal lawenforcement agency and also has an extremely high record of agents being arrested, doesnt it . That is pretty stunning. This is the nations largest Law Enforcement agency. When you combine customs officers with Border Patrol agents, youre talking around 40,000 Law Enforcement agents. Bigger than any other Law Enforcement agency in the country. What we know is for years now, about 250 employees of cbp have been arrested every year. That is a really high number. The charges range from the minor traffic stop to serious allegations of drug trafficking, human smuggling, domestic viviolence, etc. Amy were going to go to break and then come back to our discussion with a. C. Thompson, the reporter who broke the story of this private, secret, 9500member Facebook Group where well, we will talk about some of the issues that they talk about. The epitaphsabout they grow. His new piece is titled inside the secret Border Patrol Facebook Group where agents joke about Migrant Deaths and post sexist memes. Stay with usus. [music break] amy running featuring Gregory Porter and common. This is democracy now , im amy goodman, with jujuan gonzalalez. Juan members of new yorks congressional delelegation gathered near Federal Building and new york. I and extremely appalled by what has been uncovered by propublica as a Facebook Page that is gathering posts by over 9000 current and former cbp officers. This has to come to an end. Those individuals must be resignied, either immediately, or be removed from their post. For that typecuse of behavior amongst the officers that protect us as a nation. That are responsible for giving refugees. D care to i have heard a lot of language about who these people are on our southern border. Lets make it clear they are seeking refuge in the United States of america. We send funding around the world to refugee camps, and nations that are wartorn. And here we have on her own border, the most horrific detention of humankind in this generation in the United States of america. We cannot abide with this. We will not abide with this. And as my colleagues have said, we have heard from donald trump that he sees these refugees as an infestation. Let me say this. The infestation that we are witnessing is within the department of Homeland Security. Is among those cbp agents who have determined that they are going to see these individuals. S less than human and that they will challenge members of congress who are only doing their job in seeking out the truth about what is taking place on the border and bringing light to what must be done to recapture our humanity as a nation. And so let me just say this. I will not sleep, i will not will be focused like a laser on those in the department of homeland sick you do, whether they are in customs and Border Protection or they are in ice. Those who would prey upon defenseless individuals women and children who are seeking refuge in our nation, must be purged from our federal service so that we can recapture who we are as a nation, which is a nation who has welcomed refugees, a nation that has welcomed immigrants, and a nation above all nations that is great because of its immigrant tradition. Juan that was new York Democratic congresswoman yvette clark speaking at a News Conference on monday. Still with us is a. C. Thompson. His piece is titled inside the secret Border Patrol Facebook Group where agents joke about Migrant Deaths and post sexist memes. In terms of some of the particulars around, for instance, Congress Woman alexandria ocasiocortez that these facebook posts, can you talk about that as well . There is betrayal directed at iol congresswoman vititro directed at the congresswoman. There was a post talked about a lot of her being sexually assaulted by the president. There were posts about hurl burritos at her anding frolic escobar as they visited detention facilities in clint, texas. Slursere were derogatory used against her and other congresswomen. I think that is one of the key issues here, the hyper male a basically t toxic masculinity comedies that cliche, that is going on at the agency. Amy on monday, alexandria ocasiocortez tweeted there are 20,000 total customs and Border Patrol agents in the u. S. 9500 almost half that number are in a racist and sexually violent secret cbp Facebook Group. Theyre threatening violence on members of congress. How do you think theyre treating caged children and families . Later, aoc tweeted just left the first cbp facility. I see why cbp officers were being so physically and sexually threatening towards me. Officers were keeping women in cells with no water and had told them to drink out of the toilets. This was them on their Good Behavior in front of members of congress. Congressmember alexandria ocasiocortez said. A. C. Thompson, if you could take this further and talk about this group, this private, secret Facebook Group, how people came to be a part of it and as you release one story afafter anoth, i mean, to say the least, you got to the Trump Administration now, as cbp says theyre launching an investigation among other things if you can talk about our people coming forward more and more to you . Absolutely. That is important to note. There are people within Border Patrol, within cbp for who think this is awful. Who say, look, we have a tough job to do. It is very difficult. But we also have a need to behave decently. And that is what lawenforcement does. Even under tough conditions, they behave admirably. And that is not happening right now. People are blowing the whistle. I encourage anyone else who wants to come forward to reach out to me. I think therere are people withn the agency whwho say, look, t ts and it is happening not acceptable. I think that is what you see prope saying security, the conditions were seeing in detention or inappropriate come the discipline and misconduct patterns of cbp are inappropriate, and this is something were going to report on. Juan we have seen in recent months exposures of other types of social media groups by Law Enforcement officers in philadelphia and other cities where there was rampant racism and homophobia. Those Police Departments have begun to take action. But as you have written, the customs and Border Protections discipline system, which was investigated by congress a few years ago during the obama administration, has not substantially changed much. Now theyre going to be new hearings coming up next week over this latest report of yours. But what about t this whole situation of the discipline future within the agency . I think there have been major changes in the last several years. What we used to see was a high come oftenhootings crossborder shootings, aa mexican nanationals. Anand that has dropped automatically because of new policies that were implemented during the obama administration. There have been big improvements. I think whwhat you see is you se a fragmented discipline system, where a lot of issues are handled of the local level by station supervisors and block supervisors. Cbpstuff is handled by internal affairs. Other cases s are handled byy s Inspector General. Others may be handled by the fbi. And finally, the department of justice. Oh, yeses, dhs civil rights office. D different m many oversight bodies, think sometimes wh h happens is yoyou dont really have effective oversight, that t there are turf battles, things fall between the and theres to unify disciplinary system. I think that is what were seeing in general at the agency. Amy a. C. Thompson for you right inyour piece in propublica, 2018, federal investigators found a raft of racist Text Messages in a by agents in Southern Arizona after searching the fun of matthew boeing, an agent charged with running down a guatemalan migrant with a ford f1 50 pickup truck. The text revealed in court described migrants as wild of human. Repeated discussions about burning the migrants up. Ago. Is from over a year if you can talk about how you think these what has been going on over this time, the xenophobicof the racist, misogynistic language with violence, and talk about what is coming of this. Do you think this is a system that should simply be reformed or abolished . I think what you have seen over recent decades at Border Patrol and a broader cbp is there has been issues, there is been a troubled history. But i think if you look back to the bush administration, george w. Bush, you look back to the obama administration, the tone from the top was very different than what youre getting now. I think what you get in the Trump Administration is a very tone, a divisive tone. I think that is affecting the actions on the ground by the frontline agents and officers at cbp. I think that is a huge part of the problem that were seeing now. I think that is how things have changed. Juan would you like to see some of the White House Press corps asked President Trump about his reaction to these posts, especially to those of him sex resulting Congress Woman ocasiocortez . Absolutely would. Asked of himstion about this yesterday, i believe. He seemed to think it wasnt a particularly important thing, from what i could tell. Amy so your piece is coming out at the same time that the department of Homeland Securitys office of the Inspector General has come out with this damning report, saying the situation is at a critical crisis level. And you have the series of photographs that were released. Im not talking about Joaquin Castro inside with the hispanic congressional delegation actually using figuring out a way to get video out of what was going on inside, which was also horrific. It these are pictures taken by the department of Homeland Security itself, or the office seven specter general, that overcrowding,us the children, the people putting up signs that say help reminded me of Hurricane Katrina with people on t their roofs saying help. These are the pictures from inside the department. Can you talk about the significance of this report coming out at t the same time tt your report has come out . I think the conditions that we have seen in detention along the border absolutely are horrifying. I think one of the things that is concerning about this is we have seen these surges in immigration across the border at different times. This is not a new thing. We went through this phenomenon during the last a administration. So this is something that an agency that is as wellfunded as cbp should be prepared for. This is something that we know is going to happen from time to time on the border, so you could be prepared and could be ready to deal with this in a much more humane way than stuffing people in cages by the hundreds. Amy we want to turn to the head of the house judiciary committee, new york congressmember jerrold nadler, who also spoke on tuesday here in new york, along with other members of the new york delegation. The images we have seen in the last few days from the Detention Centers in texas are obviously disgusting. The conditions under which women and children are being held are disgusting and im out to nothing short of child abuse and degradation. The fact that immigrants, that migrants within the United States can be subjected to such conditions come to such torture come to such deliberate torture, is a symptom and a consequence of the culture of contempt started at the top by the president. When a president refers to human beings as infestation as if they were rodents, not human beings, this sets the tone and sets the permission for people to be brutal and to be dehumanizing. All of the people who are in most attention facilities are migrants. Hey all claim asylum some of them are entitled under our law to asylum. Some are not. All are entitled to humanity, to decent treatment, to decent judicial adjudication, and not to be tortured were regarded as refuse. All of the people in the administration who have done this, who have committed it, are guilty of child abuse which is a crime. We ought to prosecute. The people the agents on facebook who expressed such contemptuous and racist attitudes ought not to be there. They ought to be fired. But again, they are not entirely to blame because they are reflecting the racism from the white house. They are reflecting the racism right down the line. We have to put a stop to this. Juan that was congressmember jerrold nadler, the chair of the house judiciary committee. A. C. Thompson, the United States would not keep murderers were prisoners of war in conditions like this, yet theyre keeping right now our government is giving people seeking asylum coming across the border and seeking asylum in these conditions. What do you think needs to be done by congress and by the American People over this situation right now . I think youre exactly right. We assume one court case after another involving conventional prisons that say you need to hold people in humane conditions. I think that is rereally what were going to expect from the public, from policy makers come is that you simply cannot hold human beings in these sorts of absolutely awful, deplorable conditions, that that is not what americas about, not whahat we e expect from institutions tt the Taxpayers Fund is to keep these people in these conditions. Up withill not put that. Amy before we move on, i want to ask about another story. In virginia, james fields, selfdescribed neonazi who killed activist Heather Heyer at a rally in 2017, was sentenced toprison. He plowed his car into protesters at a counter protester of the white supremacist unite the right rally. Following the rally and the killing, President Trump claimed there were fine people on both sides. You were in charlottesville in 2017 and to the awardwinning documentary documenting hate. Can you talk about the significance of the sentencing of james fields and also the work you did identifying the ku klux klan, white supremacists, who were marching, perhaps scarier than if they were marching under white sheets is they felt comfortable to march with their faces completely exposed. Haveou steadfastly identified a number of these people. The sentencing of fields and the work you did there and if you see connections to what youre doing right now, exposing this private Facebook Group of nearly 10,000 Border Agents . A i think the fields case is really important case, a victory for prosecutors. And in some of these other cases that weve seen come out of unite the right and the white supremacist violence of that year, prosecutors have had mixed results. Some of these cases have been tossed out by judges and this is one of those that is been really successful for prosecutors. I think it is a key message being sent. The thing that i see that is really disturbing is when you go inside the white supremacist chats, there is this misogyny, there is this almost there is this anger at everyone. And this discussion of these different groups of people as subhuman. When you go inside the Border Patrol Facebook Group, the secret Facebook Group, a lot of these guys navy most of these canos, are chia mexicanamericans. There is also this misogyny and dehumanizing language and a sense that one group of people, migrants, are the other and so different from us that they cannot really be human. I see that definite parallel between the two different sorts of groups, the white s supremact grououps and what theyre talkig about a line and then these Border Patrol Facebook Groups and what theyre talking about online, even a lot of the people in the Border Patrol group are not white. Amy are you going to be testifying before congress . I dont know. I hope not, but we will sesee. Amy did you have any evidence of cbp, customs borderer protection, or other agencies of the u. S. Governmnment, knowing about this private what youou call secret Facebook Page . Yeah. I call it secret because that is what it is labeled as on facebook. Difference e explain the difference between private and secret. People say, how to find the group . P . The answers you dont find it unless you have been invited to join it. It is labeled on the front page of the secret group. It is not visible to outsiders at all. I dont know that this has been reported to any of those many different oversight bodies for cbcbp before this. I have to think it probably was at some point, and i think that will be a key thing to ask policymakers and agency officicials like, hey, did anyoe tell youou about this . Because there was a lot of people in it and it seems like somebody had to have reported this in the past. And if so, what happened in that report . . Did you act on it . Amy a. C. Thompson, thank you for being with us, of propublica. His new piece is titled inside the secret Border Patrol Facebook Group where agents joke about Migrant Deaths and post sexistst memes. We will have a link on democracynow. Org. When we come back, we go to tucson, arizona, where federal prosecutors have decided to retry humanitarian aid volunteer scott warren for trying to ensure that migrants get water, get food, getet clothing as they make their way in to this country. Stay with us. [music break] amy you can go to their performance at democracy now and her interview with them at democracynow. Org. This is democracy now , im amy goododman, with juan gonzalez. Juan we turn now to tucson, arizona wherere federal prosecutors said tuesday they will retetry humanitarian activt scott warren on two charges related to aiding migrants along the u. S. Mexico border. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison. This comes just a few weeks after a jury refused to convict warren for providing water, food, clean clothes, and beds to two undocumented migrants crossing the Sonoran Desert in Southern Arizona. Eight jurors found warren not guilty, four said he was. Federal prosecutors will make their case against warren again in an eightday jury trial in november. They have dropped a conspiracy charge against him. Amy scott warren is an activist with ajo samaritans and no more deaths, which has helped refugees and migrants survive the deadly journey across the u. S. Border by leaving water and food in the harsh Sonoran Desert, where the temperature often reaches three digits during the summer months. Warren responded to tuesdays announcement by pledging that work to assist migrant popupulations would continue. He was speaking outside the federal courthouse in tucson. To my friends, and family and loved ones, but all of us all of you, we have done our best and we really should take a moment to celebrate that as we prepare for this future. While i do not know with the government has hoped to accomplish year, i do know what the effects of all of this has be, and will continue to raising of public consciousness, greater awareness of humanitarianan crisis in the borderland, more volunteers who want to stand in solididarity wh migrants, local residents stiffen in the resistance to border walls and the militarization of our communities, and a flood of water into the desert at a time when it is most needed. Thank you for all of your support. I love you all very, very much. Amy that is s scott wararren. He has drawn support from elected officials, human rights defenders, and faith leaders across the world. In a letter last week, 15 u. S. Senators urged the department of justice to drop charges against him saying, providing humanitarian aid should never be a crime. We go now to tucson, arizona, to speak with Catherine Gaffney, an activist who has volunteered with no more deaths for 10 years. She drops off water almost every day in the Sonoran Desert in arizona. Welcome back to democracy now we spoke with you alongside scott warren as he was right about to go into this trial. Jurors found him not guilty. So many people thought the government would stop. Yesterday, just as the photos from the department of Homeland Security were released by the office of the Inspector General within dhs, the horrific conditions in the migrant centers, we get this word that the u. S. Government, the Trump Administration, will retry scott. Can you talk about the significance of this . Sure. Thank you, amy. It is really unconscionable that the department of justice would continue to prosecute dr. Warren along these charges as you mentioned. The prosecutors failed to convince the jury to send dr. Warned her prison in june. The fact that under the direction of trump appointing michael bailey, the Us Attorneys Office in arizona has , dropping retry scott the conspiracy charge but still pursuing the two counts of harboring which shows extreme measures that theyre attempting to go to criminalize humanitarian relief in the context of not only a National Conversation around the humanitarian crisis on the border and supposed to , seeking toesponse bring humanitarian aid to the border in a moment where there is a lot of attention being paid to these abuses and where we know that people are continuing to die crossing the desert. Juan i am wondering also on tuesday, if you could talk about the Amnesty International report that came out saving lives is done it crime and talking about the politically motivated harassment. Here is the director erika guevararosas wrote the Trump Administrations targeting of human rights defenders through discriminatory misuse of the criminal Justice System sets it on a slippery slope toward authoritarianism. Your comments . Thats right. Amnesty has documented cases of targeted prosecutions, surveillance, harassment of human rights defenders, immigrant rights defenders up and down the border from california to texas, including in the ajo area where dr. Warren and his unitary groups work. We of seen it as an escalation of a longstanding tactic, tragic criminalize basic thistion and really cause crisis of deaths and disappearances along the border. The longstanding border strategy has been prevention through deterrence, which deliberately seeks to make the Border Crossing a deadly experience. And so what we have seen in the last two years is really an expansion of that to become also an attack on those who would seek to r respond to that crisis as humanitarians. Amy theres a section on scott warrens case saying if dr. Warren were convicted and imprisoned on these absurd charges, Amnesty International would recognize him as a prisoner of conscience detained for his volunteer activities motivated by humanitarian principles and his religious beliefs. That was what amnesty said. I want to turn to scott warren talking about finding the remains of migrants who have died while crossing into the United States. This is a clip from the intercepts documentary titled let tm m have water. We wentrorom finng human remains every heher mth to finding five sets of human trip, hikingsingle througththe valley. And then going back a ek later and ndining two more sets of remain and on a single day of searchg,g, finding a sets of remas s and bodies of peoplwho had diedn a adjantnt are off the bombing ran. Th scale othis cris of a human a during crisis and missing persons crisis just blew wide open. Amy that is scott warren in let them have water. I could not help but notice yesterdays when the federal prosecutors came out to say they were going to retry scott warren. This code the same time the photos came out that are motivating people all over the country, protests all over the country. In this is a message from the Trump Administration to say, dont you do or do this because this guy is going to trial once again. And the fact that when scott warren was first arrested, it was also just hours after no more deaths had released a video takingborder agegents water that you and others had put in the harsh Sonoran Desert, gallons and gallonons of water,. Nd dumping that water so back then, scott is arrested right after the video comes out of the Border Agents dumping the water, now the office of Inspector General within the dhs releases all of these horrific photos of the scacaalous conditions inside the migrant jails and the federal prosecutors come out and try to make scott warren the story again, saying if you didnt try to deal with this, this is what were going to duty. Thats right. It really is no surprise or secret that Border Patrol conditions are inhumane and abusive. As early as 2011, no more deaths put out a report that documented overcrowding, denial of medical treatment, denial of food and water to migrants being held in Border Patrol custody. There is no surprise. This is an agency that has shown that culture of cruelty and abusive practices not only under the Trump Administration, but for decades now. , lives in the ajo same desert where the day after s sixyearrolda girl from india a was found that died f from heat exposure while her mother went t out in searchf water. He, along with not only other huhuman a tree me volunteers, helping. He gave them od a andater. He made sure they had medical care and he did not ask for their documentation before doing that. Amy Catherine Gaffney, thank you for being with us, activist and volunteer with no more deaths for 10 years. 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 ] welcome to nhk newsline. It is 9 00 a. M. On thursday in tokyo. Im kyoko tashiro. We begin in southwest japan whether weather officia where weather Officials Say extremely heavy rain is expected to continue on the island of kyushu on thursday. Stay alert as part of the region are facing a high risk of mudslides and flooding