Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20160412

Newkirk. And here in San Francisco, lee fang, tracking money in the 2016 race for the white house. Whether it is our tax policy, Climate Change, wall street policy, a lot of these issues, it has been very difficult to have reform when the incumbent industries that game from the status quo have a lot of politicians in the pocket and have a lot of control over the political process. Amy then, are you interested in a cream that would erase blemishes and soften your skin . Well, so is the cia. We will talk to lee fang about Beauty Secrets of the spies. How their funding Skin Care Products that collect dna. Death by gentrification. We turn to the Police Killing that shamed San Francisco, the death of alex nieto. Essentially a green light to fire 59 bullets in a residential and public heart setting parked setting and the result is someone dead. It is a sad day for this 80 a San Francisco. Amy we will look at the recent death of a homeless man named luis gongora, shot by San Francisco police within 30 seconds of them jumping out of their car. We will speak with author Rebecca Solnit and Adriana Camarena. All of that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. More than 400 people have been arrested in a massive sitin on the steps of the u. S. Capitol to protest the influence of big money and corporate lobbying in politics. Mondays protest, organized under the name democracy spring, brought together activists from about 140 organizations who marched from philadelphia to washington, d. C. , last week. Similar acts of civil disobedience are scheduled throughout the week in washington. Well have more on the protest after headlines. President ial candidates continue to campaign in new york one week ahead of the primary. Speaking in long island, democratic candidate Hillary Clinton attacked vermont senator Bernie Sanders on the issue of gun control. Most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in new york come from out of state. Has thestate that highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in new york come from vermont. Amy federal data shows of the nearly 4600 outofstate guns recovered in new york in 2014, just 55 came from vermont. Speaking in binghamton, new york, sanders proposed a national ban on the oil and gas drilling process known as fracking. Is proveou have done to the world that when people stand up and form a grassroots ,ovement of environmentalists Public Health advocates, farmers, working families, and religious leaders, there is nothing that we cannot accomplish. Amy Donald Trump Campaign and rochester, new york, monday ofer ted cruz won all colorados 34 delegates over the weekend. Trump said the system is rigged. We have got a corrupt system. It is not right. Were supposed to be a democracy. Were supposed to be were supposed to be you vote and the vote means something, all right . You vote and the vote means something because what theyre doing, and whether it is me or Bernie Sanders, when i look at it and i see all of these victories that i have come all of these victories that he has got, and then you look at the establishment and i want to tell you, it is a corrupt deal going on in this country, and it is not good. It is not good. Amy the United Nations Refugee Agency has condemned the use of tear gas by Macedonian Police against refugees stranded on the greek side of the border. More than 10,000 people have been stranded at the greek border outpost of idomeni since february after a series of border shutdowns across the balkans closed off their route to central and western europe. On dozens were wounded sunday sunday, when police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Among treated for the effects of tear gas was taha, an engineer from syria. We saved our children from death. If they had died in syria under the airstrikes, it would have been better than living in this you milley. We work we ran away from humiliation. We thought europe would open its arms for us and treat us with dignity. Instead, it has been humiliation. The refugees plight comes as amy u. S. State Department Spokesperson mark toner says the United States is concerned with escalating violence in syria ahead of peace talks planned for wednesday. We are very, very concerned about the recent increase in violence and that includes actions we believe are contravention to the cessation of hostilities and secretary kerry expressed this for mr. Minister lavrov and discussed how to make certain in the next days that every extra effort is made in order to sustain and solidify the cessation of hostilities. Amy these really israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged israel launched dozens of strikes in syria, targeting what he said were suspected arms transfers to the group hezbollah. Net now provided a few details about the strikes. Act, act when we need to including here across the border with dozens of strikes meant to prevent hezbollah from obtaining Game Changing weaponry. Amy in brazil, Congressional Committee has voted to recommend the impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff as part of what her supporters call an attempted coup by her rightwing opponents. Rousseff has been accused of manipulating government accounts. Her fate will ultimately be left to a full session of the lower house of congress with a final vote expected this sunday. Brazil faces a dire financial crisis and Corruption Scandal that spans political sides. Peru faces a president ial Runoff Election between two rightwing candidates after a leftist candidate was apparently eliminated in the first round of voting. The june runoff will pit wall streetbacked former World Bank Economist Pedro Kuczynski against keiko fujimori, the daughter of former president alberto fujimori, now in prison for crimes including ordering massacres by death squads. Activists from across the americas have converged on mexico city as part of a caravan calling for an end to the u. S. Backed war on drugs. The caravan for peace, life and justice departed honduras last month and has traveled through el salvador, guatemala and much of mexico, with the goal of reaching new york city ahead of a u. N. Special assembly on drugs next week. Among the activists is erika llanos, whose son went missing in mexico. It is children and women who are the main victims of this criminal war that has seen this become an armed conflict. Amy in canada, a small First Nations community has declared a state of emergency after 11 people attempted suicide in a single day. The attawapiskat first nation in ontario saw 28 suicide attempts last month within a population of 2000 people. 11 attempts on saturday alone. Canadian First Nations people suffer from higher levels of poverty, addiction and , incarceration. Local Parliament Member Charlie Angus said indigenous communities need aid. If these were not aboriginal children, all of the resources would be in their schools. Youiginal children, hey, can take a number and stand in line. Amy Goldman Sachs has agreed to pay 5. 1 billion to settle state and federal probes into its sale of toxic mortgagebacked securities that helped cause the 2008 financial crisis. New York Attorney general Eric Schneiderman announced the deal on monday. This settlement will help thousands of families with principal forgiveness to obtain writedowns of the mortgage debt so they can avoid foreclosure and stay in our homes. It will help to finance multifamily Affordable Housing projects. It will find land banks and local Code Enforcement efforts. It is really another major step in the fight for justice for the families and communities that were devastated when a combination of reckless the regulation and abusive practices by relatively small number of Financial Firms brought the American Economy to its knees in 2008. Amy but the deal includes a generous package of tax credits and other incentives that could see goldman pay far less than the total announced. Any money goldman spends on consumer relief under the deal is tax deductible, meaning u. S. Taxpayers will foot the bill. The Advocacy Group better markets called the settlement more of the same nonpunishment, nonaccountability ritual that will do nothing to stop the wall street crime spree. Musician bryan adams has cancelled a thursday concert in biloxi, mississippi to protest , the states new law allowing some groups and businesses to deny service to lgbt people. Adams said in a statement i cannot in good conscience perform in a state where certain people are being denied their civil rights due to their sexual orientation. His move comes after Bruce Springsteen cancelled a sunday show in North Carolina to protest another new antilgbt law in that state. In chicago, alderman have approved nearly 6. 5 million to settle lawsuits involving Chicago Police and the deaths of two africanamerican men. The largest settlement goes to the family of philip coleman, who died after being repeatedly tased and dragged from his cell. Coleman had reportedly suffered a Mental Health crisis. When his parents pleaded with officers to take him to a hospital, instead of jail, a sergeant allegedly told them we dont do hospitals, we do jail. The second settlement goes to the family of justin cook, who was stopped for a traffic violation, suffered an asthma attack, and died after police refused to give him his inhaler. Witnesses said officers taunted cook and sprayed the inhaler into the air. During a debate monday, chicago Alderman Anthony beale said the officers involved in the two cases should no longer be on the force. They need to be fired here we are paying out millions of dollars in settlement, and nobody is being terminated. Amy chicago has spent more than half a billion dollars settling police cases since 2004, despite punishing few officers. And in south carolina, a white Police Officer has been sentenced to three years probation, avoiding any prison time after killing an africanamerican motorist in his own driveway. Officer Justin Craven shot Ernest Satterwhite after a 13minute car chase. Dashboard camera video which authorities refused to release until monday, after craven pleaded guilty to misdemeanor misconduct, shows craven sticking his gun through satterwhites open drivers side window. Satterwhites arm appears briefly before craven fires several shots. Craven claimed satterwhite tried to grab his gun. Prosecutors initially sought to charge craven with voluntary manslaughter, which carries up to 30 years in prison, but a grand jury refused to indict him. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Yes, this is democracy now 100 city tour, now in san to stanfordeaded university this afternoon and to santa clara tonight. But in washington, d. C. , more than 400 people were arrested monday in a massive sitin on the steps of the u. S. Capitol to protest the influence of big money and corporate lobbying in politics. The protest, organized under the name democracy spring, brought together activists from about 140 organizations who marched from philadelphia to washington last week. Similar acts of civil disobedience are scheduled throughout the week in washington. This is Democracy Spring Campaign organizer kai newkirk speaking during yesterdays action. The American People wont take this anymore. Thise going to end corruption. This is just the beginning. This is just the beginning join us. Join us join us join us amy the democracy spring action comes in a president ial election cycle in which Campaign Finance reform, super pacs and dark money command headlines. The Washington Post reports that through the end of january, 680 corporations had given nearly 68 million to super pacs in this election cycle 12 of the 549 million raised by such groups. This figure does not include the untold amounts of dark money contributions to other groups that are not disclosed by the donor or the recipient. For more we are joined by two , guests. Kai newkirk is the Campaign Director of democracy spring and cofounder and an organizer with 99rise. He was arrested yesterday in the action at the capitol. And lee fang is an investigative journalist at the intercept covering the intersection of money and politics. We welcome you both to democracy now lets go directly to d. C. Kai newkirk, you just recently got out of jail. Talk about this massive civil disobedience that took place yesterday, leading to the arrest of more than 400 people. Thank you, amy, it is great to be here and an honor to be on the show. We think that yesterday can be thiseginning of the end of corruption and inequality in our democracy. It was so inspiring to see people come together at the peoples house and say, we are going to take it back. People from across the political spectrum. Many of whom had walked all the way from philadelphia from the liberty bell to washington, d. C. , almost 150 people did that. We believe over 500 people who sat in and sent a message to congress that we will not accept in action to save our democracy. Send a message to anyone who is running for office in our country that you have to make a decision. Are you going to stand on the side of democracy and on the side of the people or on the side of big money and corruption . If you choose to defend the status quo of corruption, we believe theres going to be growing nonviolent resistance in the street, at the capitol, at your fundraisers, and in the polls to say, we will not take it anymore. We demand an equal voice in our democracy. Yes, it is just the beginning. We call on people to join us. We will be back at the capitol today and tomorrow and the next day. Amy kai newkirk, can you talk about you and who are the others who organized democracy spring . Sure. We had this vision well over a year ago. We had led a march in california ,rom los angeles to sacramento 99 Rise Organization that i cofounded. It was an inspiration to many. We thought, what if we could get people give people across the country opportunity to participate and bring together an incredible coalition of over 140 organizations from across the spectrum of the Progressive Movement and even beyond. Leaders from different parts of the movement set in yesterday. They marched with us and joined with us. When we were at the capitol today, you could fill the energy that this can be a moment that can really turn the tide around. It is because of the hard work of so many people who have built this coalition and brought people together and given them an opportunity to express what the vast majority of people in our country feel, which is that the political system is not representing us, that it is corrupt and because of that, we have a rigged economy. We want a government of, by, and for the people, not the 1 . We sent a message that we are going to win that one way or another yesterday. Amy kai newkirk, you also snuck a camera into the Supreme Court. Can you talk about what you did back in 2014 and why you were there . Yes, that was on me eve of the expected decision in the mccutchen versus fcc ruling, which was another ultimately, a wrecking ball to the wall of separation between wealth and state in our society. Citizens united 2. 0. We felt like we needed to call attention to this crisis and the Supreme Courts role in deepening it, and do so in a way that would inspire people to stand up. So myself and one other person, ryan clayton, from wolfpack, who sat in with us yesterday, we went into the court and i stood up and gave a short speech, was arrested we got it on video, the first video from ever inside the Supreme Court. E have done to similar actions i am proud because the goal in many ways of that was to inspire many people to step up and be willing to do something similar. Yesterday was a tremendous fulfillment of that to see hundreds of people, over 500 it took them hours to get people process and out. They had to get another bus because they were not prepared to were so many people. More will be joining today and tomorrow. We call on people wherever you are this country, if you agree with us, get in your car, get a ticket, get on the bus, do whatever you can to get to dcm part of dust be part of this moment. Are the newkirk, what bills before congress right now that addresses Campaign Finance . There are many steps that congress could take. Were calling on them to take immediate action to in the corruption of big money and ensure free and fair elections. There are four bills in particular that we have identified, two that deal with it money and politics and two that will protect and expand the right to vote and voter access. One would set of public finance, citizen funding of elections so anyone can run for Office Without raising money from billionaires. Another is an amendment with that would overturn citizens united. The third would restore the damage that was done to the Voting Rights act by the Supreme Court, the advancement act. The fourth is Voter Empowerment act would make it easier for people to get to the polls and toe able to vote. In the wake of Justice Scalias death, theres a fifth step we are asking for congress, to confirm and nominee to the Supreme Court who will vote to uphold the principle of political equality to end this corruption of big money and politics and assure that all have the right to vote. What were saying even though the conventional wisdom is that Congress Wont do anything with republican leadership, we dont accept that. We feel that conscious to means we ask what is right, what is just, what is consistent with our principles of the country. The vast majority of the American People, republican, democrat, independent, want change. We are saying to congress, you cannot just hide any resigned, just pretend we dont know that you could solve this problem right now. We are born to demand that you do so. If you dont, youre going to have this and hundreds of people to jail they after day and expose this problem and shine a spotlight on it. And force yourselves to take a stand and make a decision. And those who do not stand with the people and stand on the side of corruption, we believe there will be a growing political price to pay. Amy kai, have any candidates endorsed democracy spring . Fromhere weretwo tweets the Bernie Sanders account yesterday lifting up what we did. We want to be clear this is a nonpartisan, independent campaign. There are many bernie supporters who are part of it, but i have talked to many hillary supporters and even trump supporters. It is welcome to everyone. Were saying were not going to endorse candidates, but were calling on them to endorse movement. Running office you are for from president on down to city council, you need to let the American People know, those who you want to represent, if you will work and fight to solve this problem. If you will work to make sure we have a government that represents us all, not just the 1 . We were pleased to see those tweets from the Bernie Sanders campaign and we hope you clinton, trump, and Anyone Running for office in our country will stand with us in this call the save our democracy. Amy can you talk about how democracy spring fits into democracy awakening and what that is . Two like to think of it as wings of the same bird, one democracy mobilization is coming to d. C. This spring. All told, i think over 300 organizations are part of it. We kicked things off with his march from philadelphia to d. C. And are sitting in the capital this week, going at least through the week, we will Carry Forward until either congress does something or they send some many of us to jail, that it will be, we believe come the largest civil disobedience and our country in the 21st century. This weekend, we will be joined by many more with the democracy awakening on the 17th, a huge familyfriendly rally we call on everyone to come out into the streets to march, walk, to join with us then. On monday, congress of conscious, lobbing direct action point back to the capital will be there and we will be organizing. Were calling on people across the country, wherever you are, to be part of this moment. If enough of us come together, we can shine a spotlight on this issue like never before in our country and lived it up in the middle of this president ial election in a way that occupy wall street did for economic inequality. We can do that for this critical issue political inequality. Solving it is the key to making progress on so many other urgent issues in our country from catastrophic Climate Change to massive incarceration. We lit a spark yesterday, and we need to fan the flames and build this into something that changes the political weather in this country. Amy kai newkirk, thank you for being with us Campaign Director , of democracy spring and cofounder and an organizer with when we come back 99rise. When we come back, intercept reporter lee fang money in politics and also on skin care. Why would the cia be interested in a cream that takes away your blemishes and softens your skin . Stay with us. [music break] amy Willie Nelson singing on the road again. That is just where we are. This is democracy now democracy now, the war and peace report. I am amy goodman. We are on the road as part of the 100 city tour, now in San Francisco, california. Back in washington, d. C. , 400 people were arrested in a massive sit in on the steps of the was capital to protest the influence of big money and corporate lobbying in politics. We continue our coverage looking at the influence of dark money by speaking with Investigative Reporter lee fang. Hes a journalist at the intercept who focuses on the intersection of money and politics. His recent piece we will talk about in a moment, but i want to talk about the protests taking place and what you are finding as you sniff the money trail on the president ial campaign trail, lee. Welcome to San Francisco and thank you for having me. I thought the protest yesterday was interesting. They kind of connect to a broader movement, kind of return to civil disobedience that we have seen in recent years. Everything from occupy wall street to the black lives matter protests. In the waning years of the bush administration, we saw a lot of activist shifting their focus to electoral politics, focusing on electing democrats or left of center politicians like barack obama. But with some of the failures of obama, failure to achieve real universal health care, failure to really tackle Climate Change or growing income inequality, we are seeing this kind of return to civil disobedience, these tactics from the 1960s or even going back to the 1930s, that are returning to the mainstream in american politics. I think that is very interesting and very savvy, i should add, for all of these protesters to make corruption, money and politics, their focus. That is what kind of threads the needle. No matter what issue you care about, it is very difficult to see reform when big money, special interest, dominate the policy making process. Amy lee fang, you write about a significant number of superdelegates are also lobbyists . Yes, there is also i focus now on the way the Democratic Party nominates its candidate for the presidency. There are about 4000 pledged delegates of folks that are committed based on how each primary or caucus state votes, but there are also a little over 700 and pledged delegates known ds superdelegates unpledge delegates known as superdelegates. Significant number are party andders were lobbyists former politicians who now work in the lobbying industry. It is interesting to see this broader discussion really in both parties about the role of money in politics, at the same time you have actual lobbyists, folks who are registered to represent big banks, even in some cases Foreign Governments. They have incredible power over the nomination process. One potential scenario, we could have these lobbyists selecting the nominee if hillary and bernie have about the same number of pledged delegates going into the convention later this summer. Amy you have also written about Hillary Clintons ties to fracking internationally. What do you mean . This is an interesting subject. Candidates, hillary and bernie, discuss fracking. This is an important element of the story the Mainstream Media has not covered very closely. Hillary clinton, in her time at the state department, there is been a lot of focus on her role in libya and the arab spring, but a significant heart of her promotingreally of americanstyle fracking across the world. She, in fact, reorganized the state department to create a holding bureau, 60 plus staff bureau, focused on Energy Resources with a special focus on fracking. She traveled the world, partnering with American Companies like chevron, going to countries such as bangladesh, new guinea, bulgaria, and convincing these governments to take this american technology, this Directional Drilling of hydraulic fracturing known as fracking, and trying to convince these countries to adopt americanstyle fracking. This is a significant part of her legacy. As we talk about the role of also feel money in politics, or she stands on these important issues, i think her role in her legacy at the state department is important to scrutinize. Amy Bernie Sanders is proposing a national ban on fracking. Yes im a and that is a very clearcut issue. Hillary clinton has a less than clear position on this. Recent interview with new york daily news, she said she would defer to some states and municipal governments that might ban fracking and that in some cases, she would hope for fracking that is wellonmentally sound, is regulated. But we really have not seen a scenario where fracking is closely regulated. We still have not the federal government does not have a handle on how methane is leaked from these front gas well sites from these gas well sites. For Hillary Clinton to take a position that she would allow fracking in an environmentally sound way is troubling because we still dont have those regulations will stop amy lee fang, you have also written about protein keep the opeds, remarkably similar to dress by Foreign Government lobbyists. Yes, we have had this debate over the Transpacific Partnership agreement, this massive trade deal being negotiated now, of course, heart of the debate is in the product public realm. News programs, newspapers covering the debate try to explain it to reuters, but we found a number of octets in california newspapers that were lifted directly from lobbyists working for the japanese government who are retained by the japanese government to promote the tpp. As we talk about money in politics, it is important to realize, campaign contributions, citizens united, are only one small part of the puzzle here. If you are a special interest, or a Foreign Government in this case, you can buy out a think tank to produce reports, pay off Pr Consultants to place these type of oped in newspapers, you can control the policymaking process in some of the different ways that it is important to realize the media is part of the problem here. Amy this piece that you just wrote about the cias Venture Capital arm is funding Skin Care Products that collect dna. What is this all about . If you buy this cream that, oh, erases blemishes and softens your skin . We did a story on friday that revealed for the first time that the Venture Capital arm of the cia had invested or is investing in skin sciences. This is a comedy that developed as a shuttle had to technology that combines water, detergent, and a pen like device to rub against the skin and remove a thin upper layer of skin and a painless way. Purposes. Stic this could be used for medical purposes, Early Detection of melanoma, but also for collecting dna for potential identification purposes or other purposes. As this company progressed, they realized that this technology also had cosmetic value. So the publics side of this company has a product line called clearista. They market it very heavily on social media, in oprahs magazine and other places. This is an interesting product line. But what has been acknowledged or publicly reported is that this company also has a partnership with the cia. The cia is very interested in developing technology where they collectbiomarkers to dna. Amy so explain more how it works. It is kind of like a tide pen. Instead of rubbing this pen against her clothing to remove stains, this is a special pen used to rub against the5 in removing skin and removing a thin upper layer. Has cosmeticlso value because of folks have used it and it is then modified to be used to erase blemishes, to get rid of dark patches on the skin. At the cia is interested because , theyre interested in ways to collect dna, though they have not been more specific about their intent on how to use this technology. Amy so it is called skin Central Science . Yes. This company is one of hundreds of Companies Invested by incutel. Cias venture organized as a way for cia to forge partnerships with silicon and technology that can be used by the cia or other partnered intelligence agencies. We dont know much beyond that utel does not disclose all of its investments. Our disclosure of the relationship with skin Central Sciences was not new, not previously reported, and we dont know exactly how they use the technology that they gather through these Venture Capital partnerships. Very little is reported out. To the ciasts Inspector General andrew classified briefings to the Senate Select intelligence committee, but beyond that, theres very little revealed to the public. Amy so you interviewed the chief executive of skin Central Sciences . Thats right. We had a long interview. Russ leibovitz said he was very confident in the partnership with the cia. He called them great partners. But he said he did not know the exact intent of the cia and why theyre investing in this company. He suggested maybe that this technology could be used by law enforcement, perhaps at crime scene dna collection, for those purposes, or potentially for drug tests. Testing for drugs through the skin rather than perhaps through hair or blood test. He did not know beyond that why the cia is investing in his company. I found a very interesting post of amy described as a unique him a underutilized source for sample collection. Thats right. Has invested in several the cia has invested in several tech, is but a small amount of biotech companies. They publish some Research Showing their interested in harnessing the latest of elements in medical Type Technology for intelligence purposes. Amy david a tray is was his role as director of the cia patraeus, what was his role as draft of the cia . Even from folks who are sympathetic to the intelligence agency, saying, we really dont know if this taxpayerfunded effort to partner with Silicon Valley really provides useful intelligence technology, but David Petraeus was very supportive of incutel, giving a speech saying these Technological Breakthroughs are critical for the cia and other partnered intelligence agencies. So we could give ringing endorsements. And he goes on like people should beware of clearista. They may be revealing more than their concealing. Thank you very much, lee fang. Lee fang, investigative journalist at the intercept covering the intersection of money and politics. We willing to his piece cias , Venture Capital arm is funding Skin Care Products that collect dna. The headline Beauty Secrets of the spies. We will link to it at democracynow. Org. When we come back, we look at Police Killings here in california of a homeless man most recently, and we will talk about the story of alex nieto. Stay with us. [music break] amy the leader was a witness to the Police Killing of alex nieto. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are on the road in San Francisco. Death by gentrification the killing that shamed San Francisco. Thats the name of a recent article by the acclaimed writer Rebecca Solnit about the 2014 Police Killing of alex nieto. In the early evening of march 21, 2014, alex nieto was sitting in a San Francisco park eating a burrito. He was wearing a taser that he carried for his job as a bouncer at a nightclub. Someone called 911. Police soon arrived. Within minutes, nieto was killed in a hail of bullets. One officer shot 23 bullets, another fired 20 times. Police claimed nieto had pointed the taser at them which they , mistook for a pistol. Last month a jury found that the , police did not use excessive force. This is nieto family lawyer adante pointer speaking just after the decision. Was in clam a mans hand front of him, yet his wrist bone is in his pocket. They claim a taser was on and pointed at them and fired at them, but not a single officer says they saw it fired, nor did a single officer see the taser wires in terms of right there when it happened. So the issue is, when you have officers whose stories are not matching up and then youre able to demonstrate and children the physical evidence that it is just flatout fabricated lie, what would a jury need to accept more than that . Speculation is with much of the defense case is about, speculating after as to how a taser officers claimed were on to be photographed at the scene being awful stuff in the situation, you have essentially a green light to fire 59 bullets in a residential and public park setting and result in someone being dead. It is sad day for the city and county of San Francisco. Amy alex nieto died in the San Francisco neighborhood he grew up in, the rapidly gentrifying area of bernal hill. His death sparked protests against Police Racial profiling and gentrification. Many people asked, did alex nieto die because a few white newcomers saw the young latino man as a menacing outsider . Talk more about the case, were two joined now by two guests. Adriana camarena, writer and Community Advocate based in San Francisco. She attended alex nietos trial and is cofounder of the justice for alex nieto coalition. Were also joined by Rebecca Solnit, writer, historian, and activist. She is the author of over a dozen books including most recently, men explain things to me. Her recent piece, death by gentrification the killing that shamed San Francisco, appeared in the guardian. Shes lived in the bay area for 50 years, 36 of which in San Francisco. We welcome you both to democracy now before we talk about the decision by the jury, Rebecca Solnit, your piece is chilling. Go back in time, for people who dont know this case, to what marched to alex nieto 2014, march 21. Alex nieto was a young man with big hopes, a spine to be a probation officer. He was a buddhist, and a young friend of his said they wanted to be pure lotuses, to really serve the community and be great people. He worked as a security guard, bouncer, at a nightclub and really took care of his parents who were retired and was close sort of beloved by many people, participated in community campaigns, political campaigns and things like that. He has been born and raised on bernal hill. Hes been his whole life there. I think he felt really at home there. He went up there one evening to eat a burrito. As was his habit. A series of unfortunate things happen. First, he got attacked and outofcontrol dog owned by a newcomer techie in the neighborhood. The dog sort of howling and lunging at him. That turned into an altercation with the owner, who called him a racial slur and then texted a friend that he wished it was florida so he could do what George Zimmerman did to trayvon martin, more or less. There is just this sense that he was sort of in peril by people who are going to see him as dangerous because he was wearing a 49ers jacket, which is red, and also a gang that wears red, so, you know, even though lots of guys in the bay area love the 49ers and where these red jackets, if youre latino, you might get profiled for it. Some other man saw him. He had his taser on. He decided he was potentially they decided he was potentially dangerous and called 911. Police arrived and it with the police should have done, which was to create a secure perimeter and were preparing to move prudently, so far as we can tell, but they were sort of overrun by a rookie cop driving a car with a senior officer in it who went through the perimeter, went a lot closer to alex nieto as he walked down the hill, unaware 911 had been called, unaware that people had sought him as a menace in a place he had been since he was a baby. Nobody has ever given a good why he i can believe, as would pull out his taser, pointed at them, turned on, etc. He stuttered studied criminal justice and interned as a probation officer. He understood how things work. But the police claim he did that and they were in fear for their life, and that is why they fired 59 bullets at him. Those two officers who fired 43 and two officers who pulled up shortly afterward. Within two minutes of the police arriving, alex nieto had 14 bullets in his body and was fatally wounded. Amy and what happened next . Well, at the police started to gather evidence. Police do it they often do with victims of Police Killings, as happens with rape victims as well, to discredit and sort of dishonor the victim and to look around for things to suggest that what they did was justified. The story we are supposed to buy is, why did he point his taser at them because he was mentally ill . How do we know he was mentally ill . Because he pointed his taser at them. At one eyewitness says that alex never pointed his taser at them. Amy antonio is with afrolicious. Talk about this. He is the only eyewitness to the shooting. He was on the hill above. He said alex nieto never pointed his taser at the officers. Amy he was just walking his dog . Yes, he was also living in the neighborhood, taking an evening walk. It was a beautiful march evening of 2014. Amy and what does he say he saw . Handssays alex nietos were in his pockets the whole time. Yes no motive to lie. He is afraid of the police. He did not even come forward for several months. That is the story he told when adante pointer examined him in court. The lawyer for the alex nieto family. Amy what is this jury trial . It was not actually a trial brought by a prosecutor against the Police Officers. Know, a criminal trial for shooting 72 that for the Police Shooting the police to death is too much to hope for in San Francisco. This was a civil trial bought brought by the family for wrongful death and excessive use of force in violation of civil rights. Amy Adriana Camarena, use that with the family throughout the trial will stop you also would serve as an interpreter for them. They dont speak english, they speak spanish. They speak spanish and i have accompanied them since shortly after alex died. I am one of the members of the coalition who have been close to the family, so i was not an official interpreter, but i have them because they faced it was clear to me since the beginning, they faced a very big barriers to even understanding the legal case, let alone because it is all in english, but also because theres technical and which involved. It was just a very traumatic moment for them. Fortunately, the community gathered around them. I was one of the Community Members that had accompanied them throughout the whole process for the last two years. Amy talk about being in the courtroom every day and then your reaction, the reaction of the nietos, of his parents and his brother, when the jury came down with a not guilty verdict saying the police had not used excessive force. It was, to say the least, very emotional. Even though we got a jury verdict that was not that was against the nietos, it was the trial itself was a victory for us because rarely do Police Shootings end up in the public trial. And for the first time, we were able to hear information that for two years we had been wanting to hear, like the 911 call. So to be there with the nietos joint amy this is the 911 call, a person who just moved into the area, whose dog first one after alex. No, there is an earlier incident that happened we dont know exactly when, 30 to 40 minutes before alex is actually shot. The variations of what the witnesses have said. But then there is another moment where two young men walking their dogs it is the time of day where everybody is walking their dogs in bernal hill. They walked by and they call the police because one of them sees what they think is a weapon on alexs hip. That was the only reason they called police. They did not interact with him or talk with them. They just saw him. Veryne of them became nervous about it. So he had his partner 11. Justin fritz actually never saw nine nothing. His friend was telling him what he saw. So that is the 911 call. Amy i want to go to that 911 call. Justin fritz is the man who set the wheels in motion the night of alex nietos death by calling 911. In 2014, fritz testified in San Francisco federal court that he and his partner were walking their dogs when they spotted a seemingly suspicious person and so they made up police call. The operator asked for a description. Lets listen to part of that 911 call. A red jacket. 200 pounds. What race is he . Busy hispanic . It looks like he may be hispanic. Amy fritz then stated without equivocation that the man had a gun. The gun is visible . Yeah. What type of gun . Handgun . I was a black handgun. Amy however, fritz reportedly never saw alex nieto with any kind of weapon. He was apparently just repeating what his partner had said. Fritzs partner apparently mistook nietos taser for a gun, despite it having bright yellow stripes. Nieto used the taser for his job as nightclub bouncer, where he was headed to next after eating his burrito. On the stand, fritz testified he saw Police Arrive and open fire. In the 911 call, you hear the Police Gunshots and then fritz crying for help. They are firing at me. Theyre firing at me. Help help former middle School Teachers from horace mann spoke to cbs San Francisco. Teacher barbara duhl remembered nieto as a goodnatured kid. Boys at that age, they want to show their growing up, but he just could not help himself, he would just break out into a big old smile whenever he tried to act tough. Go backiana camarena, to the 911 call, the call that made that set this whole thing in motion. You hear basically the whole thing. In the end, you hear the gunshots. This put not only well, itd up in the death of nieto, booklet bystanders at risk everywhere. Clearly, fritz thought he was going to be shot. It is one of the most remarkable things of this trial is to realize how scared even the witnesses were. There were 59 shots fired and what the witnesses is saying at that moment, shots were flying over his head. If you are in the park, you understand this is even off the was. Of fire where alex if police say they were shooting at alex here, they would have had to be shooting in this direction into the trees below which justin fritz was running. It was just reckless sticks disregard for the safety of people in this part by shooting those 59 bullets in the manner that it was done. Amy Rebecca Solnit, you wrote the piece death by justification. What are the linkages you are making . There a bunch of different pieces. One is a larger picture. In of the Homeless People San Francisco were previously housed and lost their housing and there is been a number of cases of elderly people convicted who died during or medially after the eviction process because you dont start your life over again when you are in your 90s. And then gentrification in the bay area has brought a lot of white people who are not comfortable around people of color into historically nonwhite neighborhoods, leading to a lot of racial profiling, calls to police, harassment, etc. I documented in the article people using the website nextdoor. Com, in oakland, for example, to talk about, oh, theres a black man in the neighborhood or theres a black man in his car. Maybe he has lived there for 40 years. Maybe he is visiting his grandmother who has lived there for 60 years. Different lot of kinds of tension, a lot of different ways that death by gentrification happens now and the sort of housing crisis, economic crisis and cultural crisis that is the bay area. Amy Adriana Camarena, i would ask about the most recent killing of a homeless man in San Francisco named luis gongora. It happened last thursday. What happened . From what we know, Police Arrived they say they were called in. We have not even heard whether there was a 911 call. It is unclear how they arrived. But we do know even now with the Surveillance Video camera, they within 30 seconds of their arrival, you cant see what luis is doing, but you can see what the police are doing. Within 30 seconds, they shoot rounds of beanbags being backgrounds and a medially shooed him to death with seven shots. But what eyewitnesses say, this was a homeless encampment on the street, what used to be an industrial part of the region. You have several eyewitnesses three eyewitnesses who are residents of this homeless encampment and you also have neighbors who saw the incident. You have four eyewitnesses saying that luis was not doing anything. He was approached by police where they were asking, where is the nice . Where is the nice . He does not speak english. He is of mine dissent. Mayan descent. He may be new with the word knife was. He huddled against the wall, he got up and was running because he was being hurt by the beanbags, and that was sufficient provocation or the cops to kill him. But there is no sense that he had a knife in his hands. One of the witnesses told me that what he picked up for a moment, thinking trying to comply, was a cake spatula. Amy a cake spatula . That is what one of the witnesses, he picked up, tried to show, comply with police. Amy how are you organizing . Coalitionsseveral have been asking for a federal investigation. Amy we will continue this conversation and post it at democracynow. Org. Thank you for being with us, Adriana Camarena and Rebecca Solnit. We are on the road here in San Francisco for speaking at Stanford University tonight or this afternoon at 3 30 and tonight at Santa Clara Convention center. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to mail them to democr music playing on this episode of secrets of a chef, Hubert Keller recreates beloved dishes from his hometown region of alsace, france. First its salad vigneronne, a robust salad made with sausage, cheese and potatoes. Then its authentic alsatian flatbread, the famous tarte flambe, an incomparable mouthwatering treat. Its all on this episode starting now