Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20160707

Over the killing of alton sterling, shot to death by police early Tuesday Morning after they penned him to the ground. Sterlings son began weeping uncontrollably on live tv wednesday while the boy mother addressed the media. Then to st. Paul, minnesota, where a woman broadcast live on facebook from the car moments after her boyfriend, Philando Castile, is shot to death by police. Stay with me. We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back and the police he is covered. They killed my boyfriend. My we will go to minnesota here in new york, we will speak with the author of nobody casualties of americas war on the vulnerable from ferguson to flint and beyond and mychal denzel smith. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Hundreds of protesters are gathered outside the governors house in minneapolis following the Fatal Police Shooting of africanamerican man Philando Castile during a traffic stop for a broken tail light. The immediate aftermath of the shooting was broadcast live on facebook by his girlfriend, lavish reynolds, who is speaking in the car next to her dying boyfriend as the Police Officer continues to point the gun into the car. A warning to our viewers, the footage is graphic. Stay with me. We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back and the police he is covered. They killed my boyfriend. He is licensed to carry. He was trying to get out his id and his wallet out his pocket and he let the officer know that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet. And the officer just shot him in his arm. You told him to get his id, sir. Please, do not tell me this, lord. Do not tell me he is gone. Please, do not tell me he is gone. Please come officer, dont tell me you just did this to him. You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir. Amy later, the video shows the Police Officer ordering lavish reynolds out of the car. She is ordered by multiple officers to walk backward. She is handcuffed and put in the back of the police car along with her fouryearold daughter who was in the car with her. This is more of the video. Lavish reynolds continues to narrate, now from the back of the police car. Dont be scared. My daughter just witnessed this. The police just shot him for no apparent reason. Its ok, i am right here with the littleop amy daughter comforting her mother lavish reynolds. Meanwhile, protests and vigils continue in baton rouge, louisiana for africanamerican father of five alton sterling who was shot dead by police while pinned to the ground early Tuesday Morning. More than 300 protesters held a vigil last night outside the Convenience Store where sterling was killed. Protests also spread to ferguson, missouri, and to philadelphia where protesters were arrested after blocking rushhour traffic by lying down across interstate 676. This comes as a second video showing the Fatal Police Shooting was released online. The video shows sterling pinned to the ground by two white Police Officers, one of the officers then shoots sterling at least twice. The audio then captures the sound of multiple additional gunshots. On wednesday, sandra sterling, altons aunt, spoke out. He passed out twice already. Thats because i saw the second video. I did not know he was alive after he was shot. I dont ever want to see that again. He saw the second video . Yeah. What does that second video tell you . They sat there and watched my child die. They watched him take his last breath. And i am mad and angry. Amy well go to baton rouge after headlines. In news from the campaign trail, the Presumptive Republican president ial nominee donald trump has defended his decision to tweet an antisemitic image, which showed Hillary Clinton, a pile of 100 bills, and a sixpointed star of david, along with the words most corrupt candidate ever the image originally appeared on a white supremacist message board. Trump later deleted the tweet and retweeted the same image, but with the star of david replaced by a circle. Speaking at a Campaign Event in cincinnati wednesday, trump said he wished that his team had never deleted the first tweet. It could of been a star for anything. To me, it was just a star. To me, it looked like a sheriffs star. Cnn started saying, it is the star of david. And because it is the star of david, donald trump has racist these people are sick, folks. I am telling you. They are sick. So you have the start, which is fine. We should have taken it down. They took the star down. I said, too bad, you should have left it up. Just leave it up. I would rather have defended it and said, it is not the star of david, it is just a star. Amy former fox news Gretchen Carlson has sued fox news chairman roger ailes for sexual harassment. Carlson says ailes repeatedly made advances toward her, calling her sexy and explicitly , asking for a sexual relationship during a meeting in his office. She says that when she rejected his advances, he retaliated against her by cutting her salary, curtailing her airtime and then refusing to renew her , contract. Roger ailes has denied the claims. Fbi director james comey is slated to testify before Congress Today over the agencys decision to recommend no charges be brought against democratic president ial candidate Hillary Clinton over her use of multiple private email servers while she was secretary of state. On tuesday, comey said clinton had been extremely careless in her handling of classified information, but that her actions did not merit charges. The decision sparked outrage from republican lawmakers, from donald trump, and from Green Party Nominee jill stein, who called for charges against clinton, saying Hillary Clintons failure to protect critical security information is not the only thing in her tenure as secretary that deserves the term reckless, including her decision to pursue catastrophic regime change in libya, and to support the overthrow of democratically elected governments in ukraine and honduras. Dr. Jill stein, the green Party President ial candidate wrote. British labor leader Jeremy Corbyn has apologized on behalf of the labor party for its role in pushing britain into the iraq war. Politicians and Political Parties can only grow stronger biotechnology when they get it wrong by acknowledging when they get it wrong and facing up to their mistakes. So now i apologize sincerely on behalf of my party for the decision to go to war in iraq. The apologies are first to the people of iraq hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost in the country still living with a devastating consequence of the war and the forces it unleashed. They have paid the greatest price for the most serious calamity in years. Amy that is Jeremy Corbyn who had been president of the stop the war coalition. This comes one day after the release of the longawaited chilcot report, which blames british Prime Minister tony blair for deliberately exaggerating the threat posed by Saddam Hussein in the leadup to the iraq war. Blair was the longest serving labour Prime Minister in british history. The chilcot report revealed blair had been warned multiple times by britains joint Intelligence Committee that the invasion of iraq would increase the threat of terrorism by al qaeda and other militant groups. Meanwhile, in news from the u. S. War in afghanistan, president obama has announced the u. S. Is once again delaying the withdrawal of troops. Pres. Obama im announcing an additional adjustment to our posture. Instead of going down to 5500 troops by the end of this year, the United States will maintain approximately 8400 troops in afghanistan and the next year through the end of my administration. Amy president obama had pledged to withdraw the majority of the thousands of u. S. Troops deployed to afghanistan by the end of 2015, but he has repeatedly changed this timeline. The war in afghanistan is the longest war in u. S. History. In bangladesh, two Police Another attack has occurred, this time at a prayer ground where more than 100,000 people had gathered to celebrate the end of ramadan. The attack comes less than a week after militants seized control of a trendy restaurant in dhaka, killing 20 people. Lawyers for imprisoned Army Whistleblower Chelsea Manning are demanding access to their client, after unconfirmed reports surfaced wednesday about a possible suicide attempt. Chelsea manning is currently in self in stable condition her cell in stable condition after being taken to the hospital Tuesday Morning. It is not yet known if she did in fact attempt to committee suicide. Mannings lawyers were scheduled to talk to on tuesday but the law call could not be connected. Mannings attorney Nancy Hollander said were shocked and outraged that an official at leavenworth contacted the press with private confidential medical information about Chelsea Manning yet no one at the army has given a shred of information to her legal team. Mannings legal team has been told they cannot talk to her until friday. The university of tennessee paid nearly 2. 5 million to settle a Sexual Assault lawsuit filed by eight women who argued the university condoned a hostile environment that led to Sexual Assaults by male athletes. The lawsuit argued ut football coach butch jones called one of his player a traitor and said hed betrayed the team after the man helped a woman who said shed been raped by two other football players. And in puerto rico, hundreds of people gathered in old san juan in opposition to a proposal for toxic aerial fumigations aimed at fighting the zika virus. The protest brought together activists, environmentalists, farmers, and students. Many were also protesting the recently signed promesa bill, which will establish a federally appointed control board with sweeping powers to run puerto ricos economy. Activist Melissa Vargas spoke in front of an ongoing protest camp in front of the u. S. Federal court, where activists have been protesting the promesa bill. Really, all of this, every one of these particular problems are technical of the big monster, which is the government. The government is not fulfilling its duty to protect its citizens. Amy and those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Hundreds of protesters are gathered outside the governors house in minneapolis following the Fatal Police Shooting of africanamerican man Philando Castile during a traffic stop for broken tail light. The immediate aftermath of the shooting was broadcast live on facebook by his girlfriend lavish reynolds, who was speaking in the car next to her dying boyfriend as the Police Officer continues to point the gun into the car. A warning to our tv viewers, the footage is graphic. Stay with me. We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back. And the police he is covered. They killed my boyfriend. He is licensed. He is licensed to carry. He was trying to get out his id in his wallet out his pocket and that hehe officer know had a firearm and it was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm. To get his id, sir, his drivers license. Please dont tell me this, lord. Do not tell me he is gone. Please, dont tell me he is gone. Please come officer, dont tell me that you just did this to him. You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir. Amy the video shows an officer ordering lavish reynolds out of the car. She is with her fouryearold daughter. She is then ordered by multiple officers to walk backwards. She is handcuffed and put in the back of the police car along with her daughter. This is more of the video as lavish reynolds continues to narrate from the back of that police car. Dont be scared. My daughter just witnessed this. The police just shot him for no apparent reason. Its ok, i am right here with you. Amy joining us now from st. Paul, minneapolis, is nekima levypounds, president of the naacp minneapolis. Can you explain exactly where you are and your reaction to this latest Police Killing . Right now there are several of us, dozens of us outside of the Governors Mansion here in st. Paul. We are outraged that this egregious incident happened. Many of us were focused on the killing of alton sterling at the hands of the Baton Rouge Police department. Little did we know that this type of tragic shooting would happen in our own backyard just months after joe mark kirk was clark wasw killed. Nermeen can you talk about the same Police Department, which has jurisdiction over falcon heights, where Philando Castile was killed . We dont know much about the same Anthony Police department. It is a rather small department. And there is a strip of land that is in a rather strange place, right outside the city limits of st. Paul, that the same anthony Main Police Department has jurisdiction over. They are actually a minneapolis Police Department. Mpd, not the same as the but theyre located in northeast any applets. So many of us were surprised to learn that that strip of land was their jurisdiction and that they actually were responsible for killing Philando Castile. Amy what are you demanding of the governor . Number one, were asking the governor to issue a statement saying that this type of egregious conduct on the part of the officers of minnesota will not be tolerated. We have a very poor track record in the state of holding officers accountable. We have not held one single officer accountable for shooting an unarmed civilian in the state of minnesota over the last decade or more. That is problematic. We do not have a public to othern unit similar jurisdictions around the country. So when an officer involved shooting happens, we rely upon Law Enforcement to investigate themselves. There is no independent body that insurers justice was served and investigation was carried out in a fair and impartial manner. The bureau of criminal apprehension, which is currently responsible for investigating the shooting death of Philando Castile, has not held a single officer accountable over the last several years. So we do not trust that particular system. We want the governor to use the to appoint a has body that is responsible, such as a special prosecutor and a citizen advisory board, that would look specifically at officer cases and hopefully, ensure accountability. Nermeen have the Police Responded in any way . Has a Police Department issued a statement or any official from the city . The same Anthony Police department held a press conference shortly after the shooting became public. As you may have seen in the video, the Police Actually took the phone from Philando Castiles girlfriend. The way in which we were able to get access of the video was because she used an app on facebook that cost, what i would say, is more like a live stream to take place. Had she not done that, the footage from her phone might not have ever been recovered. As a matter of fact, after many of us share the video, the video disappeared from facebook and her whole Facebook Page had disappeared for long period of time. Im not sure if it is even backed up yet. Some people have placed the video on youtube as a result. Amy this is some of the most astounding footage we have seen. Almost in realtime. It is livestreaming. She is protecting herself doing this with her boyfriend die next to her and her fouryearold daughter in the back of the car. When she is ordered out of the car, she also, a victim, having experienced she is ordered to walk backwards . And she is handcuffed . She is with her fouryearold daughter and put in the police car as her boyfriend is dying in the car . Yes. She was being treated like a criminal, which, unfortunately, is not unusual in these types of cases. If you look at what happened to tamir rices sister in cleveland, ohio, when he was killed a couple of years ago, his sister his 14yearold sister was tackled of the ground, place in handcuffs and placed in the back of a squad car as she ran to her dying brother. Jamarn minneapolis, after clarke was killed, the red dozens of africanamerican witnesses on the scene. When police arrived, they sprayed them with mace and pepper spray. They pulled guns on them and physically pushed them. It is not an, to treat black victims and witnesses uncommon to treat black victims and witnesses as criminals in these types of cases. Amy nekima levypounds, thank you for being with us. We will continue to follow the story. We go to baton rouge to find out what is happening there. Then we will be joined by two people who sadly, their books have just come out on this very issue. I say sadly because this does not stop. We will be joined by marc lamont. Ill and mychal denzel smith , thank you sounds much for being with us, president of the naacp in minneapolis and st. Paul right now in front of the Governors Mansion where hundreds have gathered. His is democracy now when we come back, we will be an baton rouge, louisiana. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen vigils are continuing in baton rouge, louisiana, to remember alton sterling who was fatally shot by police early Tuesday Morning. Sterling was a 37yearold africanamerican. The two officers involved are both white. Bystander video shows sterling was pinned to the ground when he was fatally shot. Sterling is at least the 38th person killed by Louisiana Police since 2015. The Justice Department has announced it would investigate the killing which has sparked , two days of protests. At least two bystanders filmed the shooting on their cell phones. New video posted online wednesday was filmed by Abdullah Muflahi who owns the Convenience Store where sterling was killed. A warning to our tv audience, the footage you are about to see is very graphic. Amy the officers involved, Blane Salamoni and howie lake have been placed on paid , administrative leave. In 2014, lake was placed on paid leave after being involved in the shooting of another africanamerican man, kevin knight. On wednesday, Alton Sterlings family addressed the media. This is quinyetta mcmillan, the mother of sterlings son, cameron. At the beginning of the press conference, 15yearold cameron consoles his mother as she spoke. But after a few minutes he broke , down into the arms of supporters standing behind the two of them. , he isou knew him or not not what the mass media is making him out to be. The image of a man who is simply trying to earn a living. Children. Re of his with that being said, the individuals involved in his murder took away a man with theiren who depended upon daddy on a daily basis. My son is not the youngest. He is the oldest of his siblings. He is 15 years old. He had to watch this as this was put all over the outlet. And everything that was possible. O be shown alton sold cds, and was doing just that. Not bothering anyone. And then the event recorded the two officers, that this event would not go and justice unjustice. It would not go unnoticed, especially for the future. Peace. Ustice, no rest andone will not not allow him to be swept in the dirt. That is the mother of Alton Sterlings 15yearold boy cameron, who broke down and was held and supported by the people at the News Conference. As we go to baton rouge where were joined by two guests. Edward ted james is a Louisiana State representative whose district includes part of east baton rouge parish. And donney rose is a poet, activist Youth Development , worker with forward arts, a nonprofit youth spoken word program in baton rouge. We welcome you both. Ted james, your reaction to what has taken place and to what the police and the governor has said since . First, talk about what you understand happened to alton sterling. To my understanding, i mean, both videos speak for themselves that was was a man well respected, wellknown in the community. He was there with the consent of the store owner selling cds as he has done many days and many nights on that same street, the street on which i grew up and spent many, many years. Was shot andton killed, he was tackled against the car. Sed several times, many was murdered as you see depicted in the two videos. I cannot even watch the second one. Just sitting here listening to the audio, it frightens me to even hear it. The community, i will tell you, has shown an outpouring of support from the family. I am extremely proud of the work that we have been able to do through our governor here. The federal government has responded in record time. You had not seen that across the country, and is extremely level of i guess the sad part is, it has happened so many times of the federal government and states know what to do when Police Officers murder black man in their community. So the Governors Office reached out. There was a lot of coordination between our congressional representative richmond and those local leaders on the ground stop the federal government is here now taking over the investigation, which many of us called that was the first thing we asked for, an independent investigation. That is only one small step. We do not want the federal government to just investigate. We want them to do a thorough investigation. We do not want any stone unturned. As the family has continued to pray with us, they want justice and we want to see justice for sterling as well. Nermeen arthur silky slim reed , can you talk about the Blue Lives Matter bill that was signed into law in may . My reaction was one of devastation. It was traumatic to watch the videos. I initially saw the first video i watched it with apprehension and that i watched the second video and it was even more horrifying. There areely, precedents that had taken place prior to this killing that almost set the stage for it. A few months back, a young man was been by Police Officers at an earth day festival. In reference to the Blue Lives Matter bill, which essentially makes killing a First Responder or Police Officer a hate crime, the president over the lives of it puts the president of the lives over officers over those regular civilians. There is almost a level of lawlessness that is at play that goes unchecked. It is devastating that our community is now presentday baltimore, new york city, and in st. Paul with what is going on there. And ago i want to go to the timeline. Were talking about, what, 12 35 Tuesday Morning, so this is monday night into Tuesday Morning. The police said they get a call from an anonymous person that someone has brandished a gun. Now, the police move up. What do you understand happened at this point . We hear this differently in new york that people here and around the country because you have open carry laws. You can carry guns and louisiana. When we hear it, it is a totally different since we have of what is going on when a civilian is holding a gun. Carry inhave open louisiana. Louisiana, a lot of my colleagues, you know, probably proclaim we are the most progun state in the country. But when a black man is carrying a gun, he is always perceived as a criminal. We still dont know who made that call to 911. We still have not heard a name. But we do know the Police Officers who have not been on the force neither one of them have been on the force for five years. Both of them are perceived as royalty in our Police Department tenure of the long their parents. Theyre in a specialized unit that most of our officers have to go through many, many years before their placed in his unit. Those are the folks we rely on to serve and protect us, that have rushed to judgment. Their rush to judgment, they killed an innocent man for doing what he does legally every single day and standing outside minding his own business. We still have not heard anything about this person who made the call. The store owner, he was the first eyewitness to come to us. Everything he said happened was depicted on the video. We are relying on the eyewitness testimony. You know, im excited that he was brave enough to share that video. He was under a lot of stress and scrutiny. The Police Officers had him in the back of a police car while they took his Surveillance Video no warrant, did not ask him, just took the video. We still have not seen that. That is the next big push for us. We want to see that video. We want to see what is depicted there. Nermeen i want to go to a clip of the store owner of the food mart, the Convenience Store in baton rouge, louisiana, where alton sterling was fatally shot by police Tuesday Morning. Muflahi told reporters he witnessed the shooting. I was shocked. I thought it was like a nightmare. It was crazy to see your friend get shot in front of you. It is horrifying. Scary. By the time i get outside, they are throwing him on top of the car. From there they tasered him. In other cop and the other cop tackled him and then they threw him on the ground where both of them got on top of him. Was screaming like, gun, gun and shot him three times. Then theyre telling them to get on the floor. He is already on the floor. They have shot him three times already. Then they shot him three times more. He was a nice guy. I never seen him get into fights with anybody. Never seen him get into any kind of even arguments out there with people. Was abdullah mufl ahi. I wednesday, on wednesday, the u. S. Justice department announced it will lead an investigation into the Fatal Police Shooting of alton sterling. Baton rouge mayor Melvin Holden responded by telling reporters the city can be trusted to determine the facts of the shooting death. Beit is not like we need to handheld and spoonfed when it comes down to doing what is right. So when we tell you these things and what is going on is very, very important that you understand we are doing our best to make sure we get all of the answers. Amy police chief carl dabadie, also addressed reporters. At this point, like you, i am demanding answers. Prayers are, my with this community and especially with the family and loved ones of mr. Sterling. And all of the members of the Baton Rouge Police department who are working hard every single day. Amy the naacp baton rouge had Mike Mclanahan has called for fired. Ice chief to be on wednesday, committed to members held a News Conference to demand justice for alton sterling. This is the president of the baton rouge plus naacp. We are here today to speak to the coulter of the Baton Rouge Police department. This incident is only one incident in many. What were going to do today, root out the 1 of bad Police Officers the gore around becoming the judge, jury, and executioner of innocent people, period. More specifically, innocent like lives. Amy were now joined by arthur ailky slim reed, founder of Youth Mentoring Program based in baton rouge. His organization provided the cell phone video of the Police Shooting of alton sterling. Can you explain how this happened, arthur reed . Can you explain this horrifying video . How did you come to have this, to film this, your group . Percent when years, we have been gathering information for documentaries that we do on urban violence. We have several people that work with our organization that filmed things in the community. This is something we knew we had to get out as soon as possible. It is horrifying to look at the video. Like ted said, the first video is lookable, still disturbing, but the second video is definitely heartbreaking and wrenching. Nermeen can you talk about previous incidents of Police Violence and baton rouge . A few months ago, we had an individual that was actually tased to death by the Baton Rouge Police department. That has just been put under a lawsuit. They were justified in that. What we have is ask of violence by the Police Department that is being passed down and all of them are being justified. That is not just in baton rouge, that is in america period. You look at the tamir rice case and others, we cannot even get these individuals indicted, let alone brought to justice. It is our belief here that were dealing with some type of secret society that is imposing themselves as Juan Forstmann and are definitely killing africanamericans. Amy can you talk about how you came upon the police went alton sterling . Well, were not talking about how the video came into effect because you have to realize this, if you have two Police Officers that just killed a man for doing what hed do, what do you think they will do if they find out who actually shot the video . They would murder them. We are not dealing with ordinary people here. Were dealing with murderers who have badges that have turned into a license to kill. Amy but can you explain the evening, your group stop the killing, the video that you are gathering . Well, the video was gathered because individuals were aware there were some type of disturbance at the store. When they got there, they started recording what they feel would be police brutality. It escalated into a murder. The video, like ted said, the video speaks for itself. What a soap be funneling is how you can watch this video and then still look at this as being justified. I think it is sickening. When you look at it, the issue is what everyone is trying to point out, he had a gun in his pocket. His hands were on his chest. He was begging, please, dont kill me. All of that is on the tape. A policeying to murder officer or anybody, im not going to be hollering, please, dont kill me im going to be hollering i am going to kill you. Execution. This was an assassination. This is murder at the fullest and we dont want to deal with that because we always try to overlook these issues, especially when it comes down to the africanamerican community. What you see right here is these communities are fed up with this. They are sick and tired of seeing this happen to their loved ones. At the end of the day, we look at the backlash because we look at the violence taking place in our community. Stop the killing has been an organization as has black lives matter, but we let them know that black lives have to matter to black people first. We are pushing that agenda as well. We are dealing with everything. We are putting it all out on the table. Here in baton rouge, we have elected officials who dont want to rock the boat. You have to rock the boat. We cannot continue to let this happen and give them a license to kill us and dont say anything. Amy we want to thank you for being with us, arthur silky slim reed, his organization provided the cell phone video of the Police Shooting of alton sterling. And thank you to ted james Louisiana State representative , whose district includes part of east baton rouge parish. As well as donney rose poet, activist and Youth Development worker with forward arts, a before we go to break, the man who filmed the chokehold death of eric garner, ramsey or do, is headed to prison today for four years. The daily news is reporting. Was in Manhattan Criminal Court to collect paperwork on wednesday. Said he is pleading guilty to a weapons and drug charge and is preparing to head of state as part of that plea deal. The only person in the eric garner case who has been jailed. This is democracy now when we come back, two authors join us to talk about killers with a badge. Stay with us. [music break] amy strange fruit. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen according to the washington post, 505 people have been killed by Police Across the United States so far this year. Africanamericans, especially young black men, are disproportionately the target of poce violence. Amy to talk more about the federal Police Shootings in baton rouge, louisiana, and in falcon heights, minnesota, were joined by two guests. Marc lamont hill is a journalist and distinguished professor of African American studies at morehouse college. He is author of the new book, nobody casualties of americas war on the vulnerable, from ferguson to flint and beyond. ,nd mychal denzel smith contributing writer for the nation magazine. His new book is called, invisible man, got the whole world watching a young black men plus education. Im so sorry your book is so relevant today. That is the disappointing, stunning thing. Whenever you read a book like this, it will be relevant because state violence against black bodies is something that is consistently occurred since black people have been in america. What were seeing is a reenactment of a very, very common and tradition of not only killing black bodies, but also than going out and justifying the debt by criminalizing the victim, by demonizing the victim, marginalizing the victim and by constructing narratives about how i want they deserve what they got. It is a stunning thing and it never stops hurting. Amy how do you hear that does how do you see that happening here, the demonization of victims . The first thing we heard or us on social media was mentioning this guys criminal record. Alton sterling, oh, get a criminal record. Even if her were legitimate, it has nothing to do with what happens on that street with the cds. Ultimately amy and it wasnt known by the police. Even if it were, selling cds is not a capital offense. Neither is having a criminal record. The only question that should have and ask is, did the police behaved properly. Based on what we see on the video, they have not. Nermeen your said in cases like alton sterling and Philando Castile now as well, it is often true Police Officers are afraid, but not of the weapons, if there is one him a but a black man. That is part of the problem. We dont need always have a demon. We dont always need a villainous cop. There are instances like with walter scott or his running away get shot in the back, that is somewhat of an out where. The more ordinary outliers when the officer see the black audie and is afraid or a citizen like George Zimmerman sees Trayvon Martin and is afraid. I dont doubt that George Zimmerman. That Trayvon Martin was dangerous, but there was no reason to. When we see one it is either dangerous or see someone with cds in their hand and we decide theyre dangerous, we simply reinforce the idea that black bodies themselves are inherently dangerous. We ultimately normalize and codify irrational why supremacist fear of lack people. Nermeen mychal denzel smith, your book is called invisible man. Twod you respond to these most recent killings of africanamerican men and put it in the context of your book . The concept of invisible man grab your whole world watching. These people are literally invisible before they are shot and killed. Weve there have video or we have walltowall News Coverage in which they become visible to us. We have the entire world watching and dissecting their lives. What happens is what mark is talking about, the nuances of their lives it dismissed. Cause. E avatars for a in a way, the justification of the killing and continued integration of black peoples humanity denigration of black peoples humanity. The thing we have to get to, were left to, to humanity as never in question. The humanity of the people who killed them is. The idea that you can be a humane person and take the life of an innocent person in this way. How do we shift the conversation to that . How do we shift is so we understand these lives that are inherent with value him a but we have designated people to bear the brunt of this violence to up hold the system of inequality . Amy as were doing this broadcast, dozens of protesters are gathering outside the governors house in minneapolis, st. Paul, following the Fatal Shooting of an africanamerican man named Philando Castile during a traffic stop for a broken tail light. In the car, his girlfriend and her daughter. The immediate aftermath was broadcast live on face book by his girlfriend lavish reynolds, who is speaking in the car next to her dying boyfriend as the Police Officer continues to point the gun into the car. We have played some of this and we want to play more of this. It is so horrifying to see as she narrates her partners bone death own death. Stay with me. We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back and the police he is covered. They killed my boyfriend. He is licensed. He is licensed to carry. He was trying to get out his id and his wallet out his pocket, and he let the officer know that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet. And the officer just shot him in his arm. Were waiting i will, sir. No worries. He just shot his arm off. We got pulled over. I told him to get his head you told him to get his id, his drivers license. Please dont tell me he is dead. Please dont tell me my boyfriend just went like that. Keep your hands where they are. Yes, i will. , lord. Dont tell me this dont tell me he is gone. Please dont tell me he is gone. Please come of us are, dont tell me you just did this to him. You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir. [inaudible] get the female passenger out. Get out of the car with your hands up. Now. Keep them up. Keep them up. Is that my daughter . Face away from me and walk backward. Me. Backward toward keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking. Get on your knees. Get on your knees. [crying] maam, youre just been detained until we get this sorted out, ok . They threw my phone, facebook. Please, dont, lord jesus. Please dont tell me my boyfriend please, dont tell me he is gone. Jesus, no. Please, no. Amy that was lavish reynolds. She was she is 24 years old. While her phone was taken, she broadcast this live on facebook. And that is where the video comes from. She was told by police to walk backwards. They handcuffed her. She is begging to see her daughter, who is four years old, is being taking care of who was in the car where her partner was killed by a Police Officer. Mychal denzel smith, your response to this and also in your writing of invisible man got the whole world watching, you say you did not be prepared for being 25 because you did not think you would make it. I think to me what is so disturbing about that pentagon often whens that so we hear it, if you listen to the police, if you follow the directives, than ever thing will be fine. Here is the man who is doing that. He is told to get his id and registration. He is doing that. But the perception of him as a threat, the perception of his blackness as inherently violent, means even when he is following directions, the perception that he is going to reach for a gun, is going to react violently for this Police Officer, and the idea then that there is something that can save us that is the problem. There is nothing that is going to prevent this from happening to us a site from a shift in policing. Amy marc lamont hill, the reason the Police Officer knew he had a gun is he told a Police Officer. When he said he wanted his license, that he had a gun. He wanted to warn him. He said, and i have a license to carry. Which is what youre supposed to do. When you look at the data and talk anecdotally to Police Officers, and ive done both, people have license to carry very rarely use the weapon in a violent crime. He also told the officer, im going to reach for my license. According to the witness, that is what the officer told him to do and we have no other reason to think otherwise. All accounts say he was a good guy. Not that you have to be a good guy not to get murdered. Cafeteria ataw the a local montessori school. If you have a criminal background they say, is a backup. If you have a good background, is still happens. If your pants are down, you die. If your pans are up, you die. The problem is in people being killed, it is the people rendered invisible, and when they are legible, theyre still nobody. We need find a middle changes in society. Fundamentally, we have to do with the issue of White Supremacy. This is not racism, this is why supremacy. We live in a world where we believe white lives matter more. Because of that, even the most wellmeaning cop looks at a black body and still may have a bias. It is not just white cops. It is black ops. Theres a study at a stamper this has black Police Officers look at children as older and more guilty than they are. You see that 12yearold tamir rice and you shoot him like he is 21 having a real gun instead of a play gun because that is what happens. Redress this issue of White Supremacy and do with the weston a policing. Question of policing. Do we want them to have a different role . The whole idea of broken policing, of getting eric garner off the corner for selling loose cigarettes or chasing down a guy for selling cds when the store owner doesnt care, that is the policing that we have to change. , could you talk about what you think the impact of videos are like this on the perception of africanamerican the African American community and why you think language is so important we talked about cases like this . My first reaction to noting this is happening on social media and knowing there was another video with alton sterling was i cannot watch another lynching. And that is what it feels like. That is what it feels like really been through now. Even in that, even if i construct it that way, im not sure where the empathy comes from. Im not sure knowing watching these videos over and over again is engendering empathy towards the victims. I think the problem is people get retrenched into their already preconceived notions around blackness. They bring their script to these videos. They will offer justification. Even the people that would be more sympathetic, i think what it does sometimes is reaffirm their own distance from this type of violence, right . What theyre witnessing is the thing that keeps happening to black people and not a thing that is happening to us as a committed it, happening to us as a society, not anything that is being done and their name. It is just the thing that keeps happening to black people. I think there is value in seeing it for documentation purposes. I dont know how much it is doing in terms of shifting peoples attitudes around the reasons that these interactions are happening. When you talk about alton sterling and eric garner, these are men pushed into an informal economy on the basis for survival. For providing for their families. And then what we do is we criminalize those activities and we put them in contact with police every single day. And we have given police license to kill, license to use violence. The latitude to get off when they do. So what happens . What happens to them not even when theyre being killed, but just the fear they walk through everyday life with . Amy the issue of arresting these Police Officers. You have video of, in this case, people and badges killing someone. Arresting someone does not mean they will be found guilty. Why arent Police Arrested . , prior to theis video, we had witnesses. Very often we have black people standing and watching as we saw today. Black witness doesnt count. Are are written if you if you are invisible or nobody, then it doesnt matter. Amy and in these cases, we have video. In the case of rodney king, we had lots of video. Amy eric garner as well. The logic of White Supremacy is, what you saw isnt enough. If we had not beaten Rodney Committee from that time, he would have written ran to the committee. Amy we will do part two and posted online. Marc lamont hill and mychal denzel smith. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] rallo on this episode of eat drink italy i help make a cake that is as fun to eat as it is to make. Tony verdoni and i learn about the friuli area, its food, and its wine. An italian coffee fanatic teaches us espresso 101. And i help make a great polenta dish that is topped with two cheese sauces. My name is vic rallo, and i love to eat and drink italy. Follow me and ill prove it. Eat drink italy is brought to you by wine enthusiast, magazine and catalog, for wine storage, glassware, and accessories. 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