Transcripts For RT Redacted Tonight 20240712

Been at some of them as have i but you were pepper sprayed and saw some harsh Police Action can you talk about that and how journalists have been treated so far in these protests. Yeah i think its an interesting thing that the folks kind of erupted in shock folks that arent already familiar with alternative journalists and and all of the things that we have to deal with but when c. N. N. Reporters were arrested during the minneapolis protests everyone lost their minds like this is so unamerican and when i went to the protest here in washington d. C. Roughly a week ago i remember connecting with a fellow journalist friend of mine and we both kind of chuckled at that like really thoughts on american because im pretty sure thats very american you know this is something that weve had to deal with both as activists but also journalists who try to report on these things from the front lines places that often times reporters from Corporate Media dont even go you know im thinking about like pipeline fights and things like that where journalists just like the activists that they were reporting on are routinely brutalized by the police and and other Law Enforcement agencies so the idea that this is somehow a new is really absurd its just because of the scale of these protests and because Corporate Media was actually paying attention and then got into the line of fire with other journalists this is suddenly coming to coming to the to the surface and folks are realizing that it is actually very american to target journalists in this way and its something that independent and alternative journalists have been dealing with for quite some time yeah youre absolutely right you know when c. N. N. Was arrested for those who dont know c. N. N. One of the reporters was arrested on camera live on air and the cops could clearly say he was a reporter and they arrested him anyway and then they walked back the governor apologize all this stuff but like youre saying independent journalist alternative journalists that have been generously their cattle theyre arrested theyre targeted with pepper balls and rubber bullets that cause can cause extreme injury nothing new theyre trying to talk about the protests in a broad a broader way weve seen. You know black lives matter protest before nothing seems to really change besides maybe a little tinkering around the edges in a city here or there but this time around especially the democrats have acted like theyre taking action this is different. Loud here in d. C. To paint black lives matter on the streets outside the white house nancy pelosi and the democrats just the other day they kneel down i think it was in the maybe the Senate Office building or the senate or something with kneel down with african garb around their necks does any of this mean something do you think this means changes around the corner because nancy pelosi took a knee. Yeah i believe that was monday june 8th that this happened in the a man so it was known as the emancipation hall and congress and i couldnt help myself i tweeted out that the next act will be nancy pelosi in blackface acting out scenes from the color purple i mean this is absolutely absurd and and it really speaks to the fact that congress isnt interested in acting any kind of policy changes they want these kind of performative these performative acts this theater of caring which has no parallel in actual policy or legislation that would make the lives of black and brown folks any better and you mentioned the the painting of the street here in washington d. C. If folks are familiar with 16th street that leads all the way up to the white house mayor browser commissioned black lives matter to be painted so you can see it from space on this on this bit of 16th street and renamed it lacked live matter plaza well in response black lives matter d. C. Went on went on to the street this past this past weekend and painted equals defunds the police and several folks several organizers with black lives matter in washington d. C. Have noted that mayor bowzer the mayor of washington d. C. Doesnt like black folks in d. C. And has routinely stood in the way of any sort of accountability with regards to Police Brutality and Police Violence and even things like access to health care for black and brown neighborhoods in the district so the idea that by painting these words on a street and washington d. C. Means that black lives actually matter is ridiculous and black organizers in the district are not buying it. Yeah i think we have to wait and see whether theres any action and keep the protests have to keep going the politicians have to fear for their jobs in order to actually create any change so i want to move on to your documentary hard road of hope its a beautiful and powerful film why did you feel the story of West Virginias past and present needed to be told. Well to to put it bluntly i guess West Virginia is a micro cause im of the United States West Virginia is considered to be the place where its just a bunch of trump voters its just a bunch of hillbillies and rednecks and its a throw away state with throwaway people right and and what i wanted to show was that its this is really a microcosm of the United States because 1st off a brew going to talk about places being throwaway places because theyve been destroyed by industry going to be in the direction of any place in the United States that hasnt been destroyed by industry any state that can claim that is there any people that can claim that they havent been misused and oppressed by industry and by the corporate state no just the West Virginia is kind of known for that and for a lot of a lot of reasons its the 2nd most rural state in the nation its the 3rd poorest it has the un coveted 1st place of the Opioid Epidemic and thats largely because of isolation and trauma and stress and because West Virginia was in fact founded as a resource colony for the union for the union in the civil war for cohen juber so you know since you bring that up to explain a little more of the founding of West Virginia because i hadnt realized yeah so there are a lot of like nice flowery stories about how West Virginia was founded to be a slave free state during the civil war an 863 but thats nonsense one as another example of this white washed u. S. History that were all taught in schools in reality a bram lincoln went to the people who owned the railroads that was coal industry that was industry in those days coal in timber and said look i need to keep these supply lines open or for the union army and if you do that for me i will give you a state i will basically take this chunk out of virginia and give it to you and thats basically what happened and so was written it was legitimately founded as a resource colony for the for the interests of the union union army during the civil war and so it had nothing to do slavery there were plenty of people in that part of what was then virginia that were happy to continue owning human beings so that really just speaks to that that white washed misrepresented history there. The film gets into some. Amazing historical. Historical events that have played but also just like currently the way peoples lives are destroyed in West Virginia by the Coal Companies by the Fracking Company it took me by surprise one thing that is that you get into is i mean they get so creative with how to screw people really and its truly just some sort of brilliance its like the einstein of people over to come up with the difference between the surface rights versus the minimal right mineral right now correct me if im wrong is basically like someone thinks they own their land own their farm own their whatever and theyve owned it for you know a 100 years and then. Coal company the Fracking Companies comes in and says oh you only own the surface your own own whats underneath we just bought that so now were just going to tear through your land and get whats ours underneath your house. Yeah and somebody that somebody mentioned it to me in this way says its as if the doctor said well when you own your skin your organs were just going to go ahead like root around in there and met you know maybe take a kidney you need both but its this is and for a country that is so obsessed with property right the pursuit of happiness being synonymous with the ability to own property you know this is this is everything from the libertarians to the liberals folks are really obsessed with this idea of owning your property but in reality you dont and we can talk about how Property Rights are just sort of a collision other colonialists manifestation but for those who are really proud of owning that property there is that and West Virginia is just one example this is something that happens across the United States the division of the land so basically surface rights are are what you could plant you know its what you its molding your lawn its planting some some. Agriculture and farming etc but the actual minerals the oil and gas the cold the you know anything that might be under there that you really have to dig for can be bought and sold d and is bought and sold very frequently to the highest bidder and these in these areas and so for instance in West Virginia with the fracking boom what were seeing is a continuation of these tactics that originated with the coal industry the idea of separating the land based on whats profitable and what you can grow some tomatoes on and so the the whats whats happening in West Virginia and other parts of the country as i noted is you have Horizontal Boring for instance where Fracking Companies will set up a. Well pad on the neighboring lands to yours and then use Directional Drilling and go under your property and basically steal those mineral rights minerals right out from under you and of course this isnt just about like taking that quietly and moving along not only is it a horrendous lee lab its horrendously polluted. And folks are experiencing not just in their own personal body and sicknesses and illness but also in terms of their crop dying because of course this this pushes all kinds of chemicals you know fracking chemicals methane gas to the surface trees are dying animals are dying without any explanation and then of course industry can turn around and say we didnt do it and believe once theyve extracted the the minerals from that land there are some connections between the current nationwide fight against our Police System against Police Brutality against. All of those things. And the connection between that and the corporate destruction of West Virginia which is seen in your film even though this film was was. Taped and filmed before these protests most recent ones have broken out you know the police are used as the fist of the fascist corporate state so when a corporation wants to destroy an area they use the police of that area to defend their violence to allow their violence to go forward against peoples lands and livelihood and against the Natural World and to fight back and use those police to fight back the actual citizens of that area we saw this in Standing Rock is probably the one people are most familiar with but its really every file a pipeline fight ever so can you talk about the connections you see between the current protests sweeping the nation and what we see in your film. Sure and you make a brilliant point you know people we cannot fight single issues because people do not live single issue lives and then there are definitely parallels i mean the people that are suffering in West Virginia which is where i focus my film. Have long histories of oppression and propagandize a nation in the resource colony and of course what folks are experiencing now and drawing these connections to a past. Of police that were founded as slaves patrol thats the history of the United States police force and a police force that never let go of its races foundation and so the parallels here are very very strong and its important that as you note that we recognize the role of police whether that be in protecting a coal mine or protecting a dirty Energy Project or indeed protecting a an increasingly fascist state from the people who are demanding change these parallels are necessary and and part of the film is also to to make note that we as organizers particularly as white organizers have a job to reach out to the poor White Communities particularly in the south that are right for for racist organizing and connects them to their own radical history which is one of organizing with black brown and indigenous folks against the oppression of the state well its a beautiful film congratulations on it people can watch the film right now and hard road of hope dot com and where can they find all your other work like your photo essay you just put out on the protester in d. C. That is up at art killing apathy dot com thank you so much ana thank you when you go short break but check out the weekly podcast i do with eleanor goldfield its called common sense or free you wherever you get your pod casts and check out my new book at least camp book dot com ill be right back with a lot more. The simple things workshops hymns and peters back up public spaces where adults with learning disabilities can engage on equal terms with creative activities like graphics soong ceramics. Cookery and joinery. Just giving you shit whats it you know what. You know what justice what did you give one case a couple of. The underlying idea of the workshop is a calendar of happiness which they feel thrilled to find joy in the Little Things of. God are sick i guess. At but. If the epidemic continues as a dizzying the economies will not work we will not have trade tourism. Investments we will have continuing very deep economic crisis. I know no crowd. No shots. Actually felt. No this. Point ch your thirst for action. Welcome back im still lee camp our police force here in America Police force is have gotten heavily militarized. Over the past 20 years weapons of war are regularly given to local Police Forces and it seems they dont hesitate to use them for more on this we go to redacted correspondent only care of one thankfully police are looking and acting more like soldiers on a combat mission to protect targets reasonably priced paper towels and Bluetooth Speakers and you might say that police look no different than an Occupying Army looking for Osama Bin Laden when theyre attacking protesters armed with construction paper but in fact your average Police Officer in some ways is more powerful than your average soldier or the police have Legal Protections that give them more freedom to do harm than an american soldier had fighting the taliban in afghanistan the rules of engagement sometimes were stricter than use of force rules for civilian police in america unlike the battlefield cops are encouraged to use force and sometimes punished when they show restraint one cop who didnt shoot unarmed black man was later fired for not shooting him turns out the good apples dont get spoiled they get thrown out the cops are going for more of an apple sauce anyways in 2016 and works in West Virginia officer steven mater arrived at the scene and he didnt know that r. J. Williams gun was unloaded and he was trying to commit suicide with the help of a Police Officer a major didnt perceive him as a threat because for one he was aiming the gun at the ground and also williams said just shoot me and not in the sarcastic way. In former officer majors words. Drum i want to. Drop the gun drop on me i want to do that just shoot me and i said mark and shoot your brother just put the gun to 2 other officers showed up later and fatally shot williams and soon learned that the gun was unloaded mater was fired 10 days later according to police due to negligence on his part during the incident jeopardizing the safety of the victim as well as the other officers on the scene neglecting he assess the situation correctly he got it right meters lawyer said its the Blue Lives Matter more theory of policing when in doubt shoot then the officer fired by local police joined the National Guard meaning he was unfit to carry out his duties as a Police Officer but not unfit to carry a weapon with the military unfortunately statistics show military trained cops are more likely to shoot a weapon even though they were trained to have more restraint in a war zone because when vets become cops theyre probably a leg. Wow i cant believe im getting away with this shooting like this in my old job this would have been a war crime while police roll up and tangs protestors armed with cardboard signs and receive billions worth in pentagon surplus gear theyre not given the same training and confronting threats with military gear in war zones and the required to use military hand me downs within the year or they lose it this Defense Department initiative known as the 1033 program will requires that Law Enforcement agencies make use of such military surplus equipment within a year of acquisition effectively mandating that police put it into practice in the public space police are probably happy that these mass protests are occurring there like out there like luck that i use the mine resistant ambush protected vehicle you gave me and when it comes to force police have no personal liability Public Officials can be held accountable only in so far as they violate rights that are clearly established in light of existing law the Legal Standard for suing a cop is so high so cops could not be sued for stealing a federal court said the alleged theft of 220000. 00 was deeply disturbing but they didnt dismiss the suit anyways because it said no precedent had ever established that officers cant steal on the job they can basically get away with stealing. Games of cops and robbers are going to be very confusing. Police have a license to be completely lawless its actually surprising that there arent more deaths of civilians at the hands of Police Officers part of reforming the police was never making them more liable or responsible for their actions so what will encourage me. For officers to behave like officer rader since there is no incentive not to shoot some Police Departments are coming up with ways to reward cops who save lives in dangerous situations present to you the los angeles Police Departments 2016 preservation of life order research. Ok so we have to give the Police Participation trophies for saving lives like bowling or learning jujitsu look at you you. Did well you were supposed to do and thats why people are talking about dismantling this whole system and i think while were at it can we also get rid of boeing reporting from washington i mean we care about him for redacted tonight and finally President Trump has threatened to use the 18 os 7 insurrection act to wage war against protesters yes he wants to go to war against the American People for more on the mind blowing history of the insurrection act lets go to redacted correspondent and his lead. In response to the wave of anti police uprising sweeping the United States President Trump has threatened to invoke the insurrection act of 1807 and deployed federal troops to put down the protests this feeds right into his reelection slogan of make america afghanistan the 213 year old law is often cited by historians for its noble nondrug be in use in enforcing desegregation during the Civil Rights Movement but its had many other invocations throughout American History usually for racist antilabor purposes that would be right up on the drum sound signed into law by president Thomas Jefferson the act was originally intended to thwart an attempted spin off United States in the west plotted by aaron burr the former Vice President who famously destroyed Alexander Hamilton in a rap battle low you lawyer says you keep better troubling you w. Joyce im with you but the situation is rotten youve got to be carefully taught if you talk youve done it gets. Combat really was different in the 19th century jefferson didnt end up needing the act to stop but he did use it a year later to punish american merchants who violated a national in bargo to trade with britain thats right the 1st time the insurrection act was invoked was to stop americans from selling racoon pelts to the british thats how much we hated them back then. I guess a cab originally meant all kings are basterds. The 2nd invocation of the act was a lot more historically consequential in august of 831 slave preacher by the name of nat turner led a rebellion of his fellow slaves against their masters for 2 days his small force travelled from farm to farm slaughtering whites and freeing blacks at most stops the rebel force grew at one point reaching around 40 recruits over 2 days they killed at least 55. 00 whites wow thats more than hydroxide chloroquine before they could reach an armory to stock up on weapons the insurrection act was called and troops quickly intervened to end the rebellion for decades to come nat turner would be blamed for weakening the Abolitionist Movement by newly squandering its prospects with violence if only he had tried to emancipate himself through peaceful means like voting but the historian eric foner disagrees according to him far from killing the debate now turner opened many whites arguing mainly from the fear and insecurity of the term revolt had created called for the gradual emancipation of the slaves that ters rebellion helped heighten tensions that exploded when the civil war broke out some modern day thinkers though have suggested that enter jackson the president who invokes the insurrection act to put down turn his rebellion would have avoided the civil war had he still been in power at least one great historical mind has claimed this and then gesture that a little bit later he would have said this is. Leaving aside the fact that jackson died nearly 20 years before the war began its actually not that outlandish to suggest he would have avoided the civil war considering he owned slaves themself and had a long history of vehement racism jackson probably wouldnt have bothered to fight it. Im sorry as it is to imagine a present United States refusing to stand up to White Supremacists engaging in insurrectionary activity. Since 831. 00 the act has been used over a dozen times including several that have involved putting down labor uprise there was Andrew Jackson 2nd invocation and 834. 00 to settle a dispute in maryland Grover Clevelands and 894. 00 in the poll and strike which nearly shut down the nations mail supply imagine having to wait an extra year to get your lovers straight and most bloody of all there was Woodrow Wilson in 1914 who sent troops to fight striking miners in the Colorado Coal from the war in all of these instances as well as the many black clad uprisings of the 20th century the ruling class has been on the verge of losing control of the people they rule if the oligarchs are so scared of these protests that theyre threatening to use the military and the protesters must be on the right track for mind blowing old news i manders only with redacted tonight and that is the show but watch out for a brand new episode of redacted tonight tomorrow night and to get full episodes of redacted anytime you want to grab the free app portable t. V. Also you can check out my free standup comedy special tape to live in los angeles and lee camp american dot com good night and good friday. In the troubled 19 seventies a group of killers rampage 3 parts of Northern Ireland that was coordinated loyalist attacks protect the only population in belfast tens of thousands are forced to flee their homes a mobile strike can put these attacks was a p. R. You see the Police Actually took part in the attacks so instead of preventing it they were active participants in the burning of coal streets in belfast at the time more than a 100 innocent civilians were. As the review can seniors and we found out more i was surprised about the extent and of the currents which the collusion was involved in some of those cases the killers would lead to be named glenn and the gang i think it went to the very very top i think it the cross the water where politicians you thought was going on and give the go ahead. Speaking to west point graduates trying stage were ending the era of endless wars 4 years ago on the campaign trail he said tensely the same thing why is it so difficult but this president to make good on this promise why make the promise again it cant be kept. If the epidemic continues as a disease the economies will not work we will not have trade tourism. The investments we will have continuing very deep economic crisis. You think yeah you like. Hello there im an electron youre watching it in question broadcasting from our to Americas National news headquarters in washington d. C. I want to welcome our viewers from across the nation and all around the world here are tonights top stories 1st tensions escalated over International Waters near alaska that is where military jets from both the u. S. And russia are flying a little too close for comfort a full report coming out then a new report shows colombias cocaine production has reached an all time high even though theres been less land for the cultivation of coca so what does this mean for the socalled war on drugs were going to discuss that. And last but not least in kentucky out of work