Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20170816

Two years ago, she skilled a 30 foot flagpole at the state Carolina Capital and removed the Confederate Flag the day after the memorial for the parishioners or skilled in charleston. Plus, President Trump attacks the antiracist protesters who confronted the white supremacist in charlottesville. Pres. Trump what about the alt left who can charging at them as you say, the altright, due to have any someones of guilt . Amy we will plate excerpts of his bellicose News Conference yesterday and look at antifa for the eighth that fascist movement that has figured the streets to challenge White Nationalists in several cities. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President donald trump on tuesday defended his decision to wait two days before placing blame on White Supremacists for the deadly violence in charlottesville, virginia, last saturday. During a rambling and angry News Conference at trump tower. He repeated that both sides were to blame for the violence. Pres. Trump what about the alt left they can charging as you say, the altright, do they have any semblance of guilt . Let me ask you this, what about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs . Due to have a new problem . I think they do. Amy during the press conference, trump seemed to ridicule the National Movement to remove Confederate Monuments, saying the protesters would next want to tear down statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Trump also attacked antifascist trump also defended some of the White Nationalists who descended on charlottesville. Pres. Trump i have condemned neonazis. I have condemned the different groups, but not all of those people were neonazis. Believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacist brainy stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of the statue robert e. Lee. Amy also on tuesday, President Trump retweeted a cartoon showing a train running over a human figure with cnns logo over its face with the caption nothing can stop the trumptrain trump deleted the tweet several minutes after posting it. Trumps tweet drew immediate comparisons to the killing of 32yearold activist Heather Heyer, who was struck by a car saturday driven by neonazi james fields, jr. Mourners are gathered today for Heather Heyer is funeral. Meanwhile, more by Zurich Council stepped down in protest of trumps failure to fully and whiteonazis nationalists. The heads of the aflcio and alliance for American Manufacturing joined the ceos of under armour, intel, and merck who resigned earlier this week. Meanwhile, walmart ceo criticized trumps handling of the Charlottesville Violence saying trump missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together. On capitol hill, members of the Congressional Black Caucus revived calls for removing the monuments of the halls of congress. Meanwhile, officials in baltimore removed at least two confederate statues overnight after protesters cover the city soldiers and sailors monument in red paint, and after baltimores city Council Voted unanimously monday to remove them. This is Baltimore City Council Member brandon scott. Displayings that are these monuments were traitors to the United States of america, and we should not honor traitors with monuments anywhere within our country. These monuments are being used as beacons of lightning for the vile racism that is being spent out by altright and Fringe Groups throughout this country. We should not be part of that. Amy in memphis, tennessee, a large crowd linked arms tuesday and surrounded a monument to former confederate president Jefferson Davis, calling for the statues removal. In durham, North Carolina, police say theyre executing arrest warrants for protesters who tore down a confederate Soldiers Monument in front of the old Durham County courthouse monday night. This is Durham County sheriff mike andrews. Let me be clear. No one is getting away with what happened. We will find the people responsible. In fact, we have identified some of those involved in the removal and the damage of the statue, and we are working towards making an arrest. We are pursuing felony charges. When we arrest them, we will use every legal option available to us will stop amy on tuesday, North Carolina Central University student Takiyah Thompson was arrested on two charges of felony inciting a riot and three misdemeanor charges for bringing down the statue. Thompson is out on bail and will join us from durham after headlines. In healthcare news, the Congressional Budget Office warned tuesday that premiums for the countrys most Popular Health insurance plans could increase by 20 next year if President Trump makes good on his threat to end subsidies paid to insurers to help lowincome people afford health coverage. The cbo also estimates trumps proposal would increase federal deficits by nearly 200 billion over the next decade. In south korea, at least 10,000 protesters rallied in the capital seoul tuesday, calling on the Trump Administration to end its threats of nuclear war against north korea and calling on the u. S. To cancel the deployment of the thaad antimissile system. This is han chungmok of the group act for peace. August 15 is a day when we were free from japanese colonial rule. After the liberation, we were supposed to maintain peace as a freed country, but since President Trump took over, he has declared he was willing to risk war. Therefore, people gather here today to call for peace on the korean peninsula. Amy sierra leones president is appealing for international aid, as the number of people reported missing from mondays landslide in the capital freetown rose past 600. Meteorologists say the area has seen nearly 20 inches more rain than average over the past month. Meanwhile, in nepal, the death toll from landslides brought on by heavy rainfall rose to 115 tuesday, with another 38 people still missing. Officials say flash flooding has struck more than a third of the nepals districts, with more than 6 Million People affected. Elsewhere, about a third of bangladesh is under water from monsoon rains, with at least 29 people reported dead. While in india, at least 81 people have died from recent flooding. The extreme weather comes as nasa reported tuesday that last month was the hottest july ever measured, topping the previous record set in july of 2016. A landmark government report published last week has found the average temperature in the u. S. Has risen dramatically since 1980 and that the impacts of Climate Change are already being felt across the country. Despite those findings, President Trump on tuesday signed an executive order ending a requirement that federallyfunded projects have strict building standards that consider future flooding from Sea Level Rise due to Climate Change. Trumps executive order came as part of his proposed 1 trillion infrastructure plan. In washington, d. C. , 27 activists were arrested tuesday at a sitin outside the white house, where they called on the Trump Administration not to end daca, or deferred action for childhood arrivals. The policy, which was first implemented five years ago, grants Legal Protection for some young immigrants to live and work in the United States. Among those arrested were maryland gubernatorial candidate and former naacp chair ben jealous. As well as illinois democratic congressmember luis gutierrez. Hundreds more rallied for daca in cities around the country. This is nawsheen islam with desis rising up and moving, who came out publicly as undocumented for the first time at a protest tuesday outside tr i gotis because of daca the chance to be human and work for the potential that i know i have. The kind of potential everyone here today has. Unfortunately, many of you may have heard that Texas Attorney general paxton is demanding the cancellation of daca else he will file a lawsuit against daca. The lawsuit is filed, it is up to trump to defend daca. Trump will not do so unless we force them to do so. Amy in houston, texas, prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against a pair of Harris County sheriffs deputies who are accused of conducting a roadside stripsearch of 21yearold Charnesia Corley in an incident her lawyer calls rape by cop. Video of the june 2015 traffic stop released monday shows a pair of deputies shoving corley facedown onto the pavement after pulling her over for allegedly running a stop sign. Corley says the officers removed her pants, threatened to break her legs, and penetrated her vagina without her consent as they searched for marijuana. Corleys lawyer is calling on is calling for the appoint of a special prosecutor to reinvestigate the case. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Juan and im juan gonzalez. Welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin todays show in durham , North Carolina, where a crowd of activists toppled a confederate statue in durham on monday just two days after the deadly White Nationalist really rally in charlottesville, virginia. The crowd of activists shouted we are the revolution as a College Student named Takiyah Thompson climbed up a ladder, looped a rope around the top of the confederate Soldiers Monument in front of the old Durham County courthouse, and then pulled the statue to the ground as the crowd erupted in cheers. [chanting] [cheers] amy on tuesday, Takiyah Thompson was arrested on two charges of felony inciting a riot and three misdemeanor charges injury to personal property, injury to real property, and defacing a statue. She spoke in durham just before she was arrested. I think what we did was the best way [applause] and not just the best way, but the only way because the state and the klan and White Supremacists have been collaborating. Right, it wast just. I did the right thing. Everyone who was there, the people did the right saying. And if people will continue to keep making the right choices until every confederate statue is gone, until White Supremacy is gone. That statute is where it belongs, right . It needs to be in the garbage, incinerated, like every every confederate statue invested jump White Supremacy has to go. Amy Takiyah Thompson speaking in durham North Carolina. Shortly after she spoke she was arrested. She was given 10,000 unsecured bond. She was released last night and heads to court this morning. It just before she does, she joins us here on democracy now . Takiyah thompson is a student at North Carolina Central University and a member of Workers World Party durham branch. Welcome to democracy now i know you are under enormous pressure as you head to court after being arrested for climbing a ladder, looping a rope around the top of the confederate Soldiers Monument, and pulling down the statue. Talk about why you engaged in this and exactly what you did. Ok. I participated in a march and rally. I decided to climb to the top of the confederate soldier statue and put the rope around his neck and throw the rope down to the crowd. The crowd could decide if they wanted to pull it down or not. The statuteecause is a symbol of nationalism. It is a symbol of White Nationalism. The type of White Nationalism im talking about is the type of White Nationalism that is sending me Death Threats on facebook. I am talking about the type of White Nationalists that has killed a woman in a protest. We are talking about the type of White Nationalism that would drive a car at high speeds into a crowd of women and children. I think vestiges of that and i think anything that emboldens those people and anything that gives those people pride needs to be crushed in the same way they want to crush like people. And the other groups they target. Juan could you talk about how the events in charlottesville influenced you or affected you, especially, obviously, the stunning symbols of those marches with torches on friday night through the campus of the university of virginia . I look athen charlottesville, a look at durham, North Carolina. I look at richmond, virginia. I look at atlanta, georgia, Stone Mountain the entirety of america and american history. I know that charlottesville is durham, North Carolina. It is america. The sentiment that was expressed in charlottesville is part and parcel of what built this country and i know that charlottesville can erupt anywhere. Amy can you talk about what happened when you were arrested . Where did they take you . You had to post cover 10,000 bond . Right. Out. Arrested was in and i think the powers that the new that if i was not released in a timely manner, that politically, that would not be a good move for them. So i was in and out very quickly. There, peopleot inside were recognizing me so i know that they knew with the climate in the situation in the city that they had to release me. Amy you are charged with felony inciting a riot, three misdemeanor charges injury to personal property, injury to real property, and defacing a statue. Your answer to those charges . The sheriff andrews and the establishment want to make a political prisoner of maine. They want to make an example of me. They want to scare people. They want to scare black people. They want to scare people of color. Who want to scare people are reclaiming their agency. They cant. As we have seen i have not been keeping up with headlines, but listening to the headlines from today, you cant keep your foot on peoples neck forever. People are what you rise up, as were seeing drop his country. Were seeing the black of White Nationalism and the rise of actual resistance. Im not talking about writing your senator. Im not talking about casting a ballot in a voting booth. Im talking about voting with your actions. People are doing that right now. Juan i want to turn to President Trump speaking tuesday at a press conference at trump tower in new york city. Pres. Trump are we going to take down statues to George Washington how about Thomas Jefferson . Do you like him . Ok, good. Are you going to take on the statue . Because he was a major slave owner. Response tos your the president equating the actions that have been occurring now with taking the statues of George Washington or Thomas Jefferson down . I think he knows what he is doing. I dont know how im not sure how to express how i feel about that, but i feel as though the people will decide. We live in a representative democracy. Our representatives are supposed to enforce our will. When our representatives failed to enforce our will, than the people are left with no choice but to do it themselves. In this instance, i cant really speak to whether or not people removed,ues of whoever but if the people do, then the people will do it will stop the people will find a way. Amy takiyah, youre certainly not alone in wanting statues taken down. Just today in the headlines, hours of the Congressional Black Caucus revived calls remove all the Confederate Monuments from the halls of congress. People were protesting in places like memphis, tennessee, a large crowd linking arms running the former president Jefferson Davis monument. In fact, robert eva lee, the confederate soldier, the monument to him in charlottesville, is what is at the core of the controversy here that theyre taking it down, said he did not believe in Confederate Monuments. The democratic governor roy cooper of North Carolina, your governor, initially tweeted racism is unacceptable, but theres a better way to remove these monuments. Saiday, he unequivocally the statues must come down. This is what he said. Unlike an africanamerican father, i will never have to explain to my daughters why there exists a monument or those who wish to keep her and her ancestors in chains. Some people cling to the belief that the civil war was fought over states rights. But history is not on their side. We cant continue to glorify a war against the United States of america fought in the defense of slavery. These monuments should come down. Amy so your governor is saying these monuments should come down to stop you just took one down. He says, there is a better way to stop your response, takiyah . Im going to the governor breed for now. Im glad he made that statement. Amy did he make a statement after you took the monument down . What was that . Amy did he make that statement after you took the monument down . Yes for stuff yeah, yeah. My problem with what his initial statement was that he is like, you know, there is no place for racism, and he goes on to say, but there is a better way. If there was a better way, we would not have been waiting honest 100 years to do that. Like i have been trained reiterate over and over is that there is no but and were talking about racism or peoples rights to life of peoples right to not be psychologically attacked with these the humanizing images. So theres only a right side and a wrong side. But i am glad he released that statement and i will him breathe. Amy takiyah, i know you have to go to court, but i want to ask you, the effect that Bree Newsome Newsome and her act two years ago in South Carolina when of shimmied up the flagpole the Confederate Flag on the grounds of the South Carolina State Capitol and took down the Confederate Flag, what kind of effect that had on you in your actions this week . Well, earlier this week, i spoke to some news and asked me what was thinking when it was going up the statue. My response was, as i was going up the statue, i was thinking about the history of like black nationalist organizing in the struggle of black the black struggle, and diggin in that wae newsome. A model of possibility for me. I was speaking about her and people who believe in peoples power and the power that they have within themselves. People likeabout ella baker organizers, grassroots people who give power to the people and let them decide. Amy finally, Heather Heyer is. Eing buried today theres a memorial today, a major memorial in charlottesville. She was on the streets killed by cloutite supremacist who crowd his car into antiprotesters. What are your thoughts today, a white ally in this struggle . Heathersghts about murder is that it is a tragic death. Especially to be killed so , myently and so brutally condolences to her family. May she rest in power. I wont stop fighting and the people want stuff fighting against people who did this. Were not fighting against hatred. Were fighting against an ideology. Were fighting against a system. When you create a pseudoscience to prove you are superior your superiority to the world, were talking about more than just hate. Were talking about something a lot bigger than that. Of course this ideology is rooted in hate, but were talking about systems, systems of government, systems of disenfranchisement. That is what we are fighting against. We have you quality. And we have justice. Amy Takiyah Thompson, i would to thank you for being with us. Takiyah is a student at North Carolina Central University. She climbed up a ladder this week after the charlottesville attack, looped a rope around the top of the confederate Soldiers Monument in front of the old Durham County courthouse, and then pulled the statue to the ground. This is democracy now when we come back, bree newsome joins us from charlotte, North Carolina. Stay with us. [music break] amy stay strong by bree newsome. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan it was in 2015 following the massacre of nine africanamerican parishioners on june 17 in charleston, North Carolina, by white supremacist dylann roof that a young woman scaled the 30foot flagpole on the State Capitol grounds in columbia South Carolina. As Police Officers shouted at her to come down, bree newsome shimmied to the top of the flagpole, took the flag in her hand and said you come against me with hatred. I come against you in the name of god. This flag comes down today. You come against me with hatred and oppression and violence. I come against you in the name of god. This flag comes down today. Amy bree newsome recited psalm 27 and the lords prayer as she brought the flag down. Her action went viral and was as she and her ally were taken off to jail. The video was seen around the world. Bree newsome was arrested as soon as she touched ground, tyson, who stood at the bottom of the flagpole as she climbed up. Both were charged with defacing state property, and were later released on bail. Under mounting pressure, state legislators voted to remove the Confederate Flag permanently the following month. Go now to charlotte, North Carolina, where were joined by bree newsome, an artist, singer, and activist. Welcome to your thoughts on what happened to charlottesville and reflecting back on your actions, listening to takiyah as she has opted for today, facing felony charges for taking down a monument. Your thoughts . First of all, thank you for having me back. I think one of the most Dangerous Things that could happen in this moment would be for us to analyze the events on saturday in charlotte in a bubble or in a vacuum or were only looking at what happened in those few hours in charlottesville, and not viewing this as the combination of several moments leading up to this. If you will recall in 2015 when i participated in the action to lower the flag is North Carolina, that was also coming in the wake of a white supremacist terrorist attack. We have had a surge in both white supremacist groups and white supremacist terrorist attacks since the election of obama in 2008. The election of donald trump, in responselists to that election, really represent a racist backlash. I think takiyah was absolutely right in saying there is a anding fascist movement also a reactionary movement in response to that. Juan what is your response when you hear President Trump tried to equate the balance of the left and violence of the right . That isn ageold, you know, kind of racist technique, right . To create a false equivalency between things. Even during the civil war, you had slaveowners arguing that what the northwestern to do was to enslave them, that the north was infringing upon their right by demanding that slavery be ended. What donald was doing yesterday was nothing new. Creating this false equivalency between both sides. When we look at the footage they came out of charlottesville and then you compare that to the footage we saw in ferguson where people were being tear gassed by the police while standing in their front yards again, you have to remember in situations like ferguson and baltimore and charlotte, these were clashes that came in the wake of police killings. These were communitys were protesting police violence. You have the police using all of their forced to respond. When you compare that to charlottesville, here the situation was the city voted to remove Confederate Monument and then you had White Nationalists and fascist groups descend onto the city. Then you saw the fascists show up with weapons, with guns, with shields clearly coming for violent clashes. You saw a slow response from the police force. To create any kind of false equivalency here ignores not only the current imbalance of power where we have really a White Nationalist representative in the white house it is clear when you see the comments from members of these White Nationalist groups that that is certainly how they view trump. They view him as an ally in the white house. But we also have a long history of white supremacist power structure. While it may be true on its face and there was violence violent clashes on both sides, there is an absolute imbalance in power boat presently and historically that has to be acknowledged. Amy so lets go to donald trump tuesday at this bellicose, angry News Conference he held in the lobby of his residence at trump tower, defending his decision to wait two days before placing blame on White Supremacists for the deadly violence in charlottesville, virginia, last saturday. During a News Conference, the president attacked the counterprotesters, repeating his earlier claim that he had made on saturday when he talked about both sides being blamed for the violence. Pres. Trump i do think there is blame on both sides. Iook at both sides think there is blame on both sides. And ive no doubt about it and you dont have any doubt about it, either. Reported it accurately, you would say. Heather heyer [indiscernible] trunk excuse me. You had some very best people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. Yet people in that group excuse me. I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a part from robert e lee to another name. [indiscernible] George Washington was a slave owner. So will George Washington now lose his status . Excuse me. Are we going to take are we going to take down statues to George Washington . How about Thomas Jefferson . What do you think of Thomas Jefferson . July can . He was a major slave owner. Are we going to take of his statue you . Youre changing history. Your changing culture and yet people i am not talking about the neonazis and the White Nationalists because they should be condemned totally. But you have many people in that people other than neonazis and White Nationalists. The press has treated them absolutely unfairly. Now, and the other group come also, you had some fine people, but you was i had trouble makers. You see them come with the black outfits and with the helmets and the baseball bats. You got a lot about people in the other group, too. Press has saying the treated White Nationalists unfairly . Pres. Trump no. There were people in that rally if you look, there were people protesting and very quietly the taking down of the statue of robert e lee. , that is thesome president of the United States, the 45th president of the United States speaking yesterday. On saturday, he sounded like this. Then on monday, he wrote a teleprompter speech under enormous pressure from his own party, from Business Leaders, from grassroots activists across the country, and read a speech where he said the names of White Nationalists neonazis, kkk he used those terms. Without the teleprompter, this is what he had to say. Your thoughts . Teleprompter, trump is the real trump. Twitter trump is the real trump. When we see him tweeting an image of the truck train running over a person with the cnn logo across their face. That is the accurate trump. I want to push back against this notion that there is blame on both sides. There is absolutely not blame on both sides. I am quite familiar with the local organizers in charlottesville. Several of them are clergy members. They been organizing for several months around the issue of removing this Confederate Monument, organizing, going to their city council meetings. They were successful. What followed is they became a target for White Nationalist organizations nationwide. This is not the first time we have seen White Nationalistss dissent on charlottesville with torches. There was also a klan rally a couple of months ago. The clergy were organizing in response to this threat that was being posted in their town by White Nationalist organizations on a national scale. They had planned a counterprotester a nonviolent counter protest. They sent out a call for clergy to stand in defiance of this plain White Nationalist rally on saturday august 12. They were holding a permitting on friday night when White Nationalists during torches surrounded the church. They were outside of the church shouting at people inside the church praying. Clergy members, people of all ages, children, and then they marched over to the campus of uva where they also assaulted round of thehas a monument and were holding a banner. They were unarmed. They we standing with a message against racist violence, and they were descended upon and beat. Again, there were no arrests made. Compare that you ferguson were you had 128 people arrested, where we saw images of families marching tune a daytime and police in tanks pointing several ruffles at them. Again, i think it is really dangerous for us to analyze the events on saturday without taking a broader view of Historical Context both recent and, of course, within the context of the past 100 years, the Voting Rights rights act, the civil rights act, these things are only about 50 or so plus years old. This is very recent history. Juan there was another remark made yesterday, it did not get quite as much of attention, by the rubric general robert tweetr who put out a saying theres no place for racial hatred or extremism in u. S. Marine corps. Values from the way marines live and act. It may have been in response to the factors a recen recent marine recruiter in charlottesville, but also speaks to the issue that the u. S. Military being so heavily integrated with so many africanamericans and latino soldiers, the generals must be concerns that if the increasing division in society spreads to the military ranks, there may be problems even within the u. S. Military. I am wondering your thoughts on that . Well, yes, i think that is something they absolutely should be concerned about and should be proactive in addressing. Of course, we ow the military has its own history of racial segregation and then racial integration. We have a long history of africanamericans serving in wars and then returning home only to face segregation and hatred and inequality in a country that they fought for. Most recently, we had trump making this announcement about banning Trans Service members. In a time where the commander in chief is not really acting in his role and is not doing a uniter, not providing any kind of moral leadership or any kind of clear vision for the country that is positive, it increasingly falls on leaders and other sectors of the government not just in the government, but on a local level and average everyday people, to fulfill to fill in and stand and tak provide that moral clar. Jr. He leftields, the marines after four months earlier this year, and the White Supremacists report that juan was talking about, a former marine who let a white for mrs. In a socalled unite the right rally that took place on saturday. I want to turn to another White Supremacists Christopher Cantwell, speaking to vice on the day after the arlottesville protests. The fact that nobody on our side id, i would go ahead and call that points for us. Peoplet that it are killed anybody unjustly, i think, is a plus for us. Our rivals we showed that we wont be held. But the car that struck a protester, unprovoked . That is not true. You know that is not true. Ive seen the video. You have seen the video. The video appears to show some instructing a vehicle when these animals attacked him again, and he saw no way to get away from them except to hit the gas. Because our rivals are a bunch of stupid animals who dont pay attention, they could not just get out of the way of his car. And some people got hurt. And that is unfortunate. So you think it is justified. I think it is more than justified. The amount of restraint our people showed out there i think was astounding. What do you think this means for the next all right protest . I say will be tough, but were up to the challenge. Why . Tough to top . Someone died. I think a lot more people are going to die before we are done here, frankly. Amy Christopher Cantwell speaking to vice the day after Heather Heyer was killed. Her funeral today in charlottesville. Bree newsome, your response . Again, i continue to emphasize to people that this is not new. This is part of a long history and a pattern of white supremacist terrorism in this country. I think part of what people are struggling right now struggling with right now is recognizing that it is terrorism. The reality is, the greatest terrorist threat in the United States is and has always been from White Nationalists and White Supremacists. Heather heyer, her death is part of a tragic and long history of white allies who were standing with black activist fighting for justice who lost their lives, who were killed by White Supremacists. One of the most famous cases was the case of Cheney Goodman and schwerner, three civil rights workers who travel to mississippi in 1964 to register black citizens there to vote. The bodies were discovered several days later and it became clear that they had been murdered by the ku klux klan working in collaboration with police. So again, this whole question about is it terror . Is it not terror . That is a question that should no longer be asked. It absolutely is terrorism, by every definition not only are these acts of violence that are intended to cause terror, but there also politically informed. People using terrorism as a tactic to push an ideology. Theres absolutely no moral difference between a white racist plowing his car into a crowd of unarmed protesters to advance an ideology and some and who was inspired by isis plowing their car into a crowd on a street in germany for the same reasons, to drive home some ideology that they believe in. Theres no difference. It is terrorism. It should be labeled as such. It should be dealt with as such. It should be investigated as such. Not only should people like dylann roof and iteris from saturday be charged and prosecuted, there needs to be an investigation of these networks. How hard it they go . How far into the power structure do they reach . We know one of the closest advisers to the president runs are used to run a News Platform that he described as being a platform for the alt right. The altright, that term was coined by richard spencer, who we saw on saturday pressing up against the police line with shields. Certain points a where asking certain questions are ridiculous and it is just time to deal in reality. Amy bree newsome, they true being with us. She brought down the Confederate Flag on the South Carolina statehouse a day after the mass funeral for the nine africanamerican parishioners who were murdered by the White Supremacists at the emanuel ame church, dylann roof. Ultimately, the flag was put back up, then brought down once demand. Der general the governor at the time was nikki haley. Years before when she was asked about bringing down the Confederate Flag, she said no Business Leaders had called for that will step nikki haley, the current u. S. Ambassador to the united nations. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org. When we come back, we look at antifa, the antifascists on the streets of charlottesville and in over the United States different places around the world. Stay with us. [music break] amy there will be a light. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan President Trump is face is facing widespread criticism for his latest comments on the deadly White Nationalist protest in charlottesville virginia. Speaking at trump tower on tuesday, trump said the violence was called by what he said is the alt left. Pres. Trump what about the alt left that came charging, as you say, the altright, do they have any semblance of guilt . Let me ask you this, what about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs . Do they have any problem . I think they do. As far as im concerned, that was a horrible horrible day when a minute. Im not finished. Im not finished, fake news. That was a horrible day. Mr. President , are you calling what youre calling the alt left on the same moral plane . Pres. Trump what im saying is this. Yet a group on one side and a group on the other, and they came at each other with clubs and it was vicious and it was horrible and it was a horrible thing to watch. But there is another side. There was a group on this site you can call than the left. You just called in the left. They came violently attacking the other group. So you can say what you want, but that is the way it is. Amy President Trump comments were widely decried. Mitt romney tweeted no, not the samples to one side is racist, bigoted nazi. Morally different universes. Cornel west appeared on democracy now and painted a different picture of charlottesville than President Trump saying anarchists and anarchists saved his life. Get a number of courageous students of all colors of the university of virginia protesting against the neofascist themselves. The neofascists had their own ammunition. This is important to keep in mind. The police for the most part pulled back. The next day, for example, of the 20 of us who were standing, many of them clergy, we would have been crushed like cockroaches if it were not for the anarchist and antifashion who approached over 350 antifascist. We just had 20. We were singing this little light of mine. Amy antifa, meaning antifascists. They saved our lives. We would have been completely crushed. I will never forget that. To look more at the movement known as antifa, were joined by mark bray. His new book, antifa the antifascist handbook. First, pronounce it for us and then talk about antifa. Welcome it is pronounced onteefa. Is short for antifascists. President trumps comments that the alt left and alt right is historically misinformed and bankrupt. It has a global history that stretches back about a century. You can trace them to a tight in opposition to mussolinis black shirt, german opposition to hitlers brownshirts, antifascists who fought in the spanish civil war. Trace itsantifa can roots to britain that was responding to the xenophobic backlash against predominately caribbean and south asian migration in the 1970s and to the german a taunus movement of the 1980s which really after the fall of the berlin wall had to respond to neonazi ways. In the United States the most delicate antiracist action in the 1980s, 1990s, and the early 2000s which took some of these methods of confronting neonazis and fascists wherever they assemble, shutting down their organizing. As i said, going where they go. Today in an article i wrote for the Washington Post i explained this and show how todays antifa in the u. S. Is picking up the tradition where these groups left off. And their movement has really accelerated with the unfortunate us and as of the altright following President Trump. Another minor note i want to make is antifa is one faction of a Larger Movement against whites from see that dates back centuries and includes a whole number all never of groups that fight against sometimes using the same methods that are not necessarily antifascists. It is important to not assume this within one category. Juan mark bray, in your book, and i want to quote a few lines to music most people have an all or nothing understanding of fascists that prevents them from taking fascists seriously until they seize power [captioning made possible by democracy now ] very few believe there is any serious chance of persistent regime ever materializing in america. Wondering about that and the importance of understanding that concept of yours for those who are looking at what is happening today in america. Right. So the way people understand fascism or the way theyve been taught about it is generally exclusively in terms of regimes. The thought goes, as long as the parliament or government we are saved. As long as we are in parliament or government, were safe. But we can look at italy and germany and see, unfortunate, parliamentary government was insufficient to prevent the rise of fascism and not the is him and provided a red carpet to their advance. Because of that reason, people ago fascism in terms of all or nothing, regime or nothing. But we can see in charlottesville, in and out of neonazi organizing or the. Ascist president present is Heather Heyer paid the price. They argue that fascism must be nested in a but from the beginning that any kind of organizing needs to be confronted and responded to even if people are spending most of their time making jokes on twitter, it is still serious and needs to be confronted. Interesting talk during the South Carolina protest against the White Supremacists, there were flags fightingicans in spain franco. Right. One of the most iconic moments in antifascist history is the spanish civil war. From an international perspective, the brigades. They came from around the world to stand up to francos forces. Yet the support of mussolinis italy and the nazis. Book, thereed in my were a lot of problematic aspects. If we look at the role of the international brigades, we can see that antifascists view their struggle as transnational entrance historical. Anay, if you go to antifascist demonstration in spain, for example, the flag of the international brigades, the flex of the spanish republic is ubiquitous. These assemble some even the double flex of antifascism that people will freak really see a demonstrations come off and one being read and one being black, was originally developed as a german symbol come at which dates back to the 1930s. It is important look at antifa not as a random thought experiment that some crazy kids came up with to respond to the far right, but a tradition that dates back a century. Juan you also talking your examples of other countries, not only the period of the 1930s and 1940s, but more recent periods and england in the 1980s and in greece as well even more recently, and the byortance of direct action antifascists to nip in the blood or two beat back a rise of fascist movements. Right. Part of what i try to do in my book is historical lessons from the early period of the struggle that can be applied to the struggle today. One of them is it does not take a lot of organize fascists to sometimes develop a really powerful movement. We can see that with the rise of golden dawn in greece, which prides of the financial crisis, considered a joke by most. It was a deadly threat to migrants leftist and people of creekripes across society. This was true in the early part of the 20th century when mussolinis initial fascist nucleus was 100 people. When hiller first attended his first meeting of the german workers party, which he later transformed into the nazi party, that 54 members. We need to see there is always the potential for small movements to become large. One of the other lessons of the beginning of the 20th century, people did not take fascism and not the is him seriously until it was too late. That mistake will never be made whon by antifascists recognize any manifestations of these politics is dangerous and needs to begin the separated as if they could be the nucleus of some sort of Deadly Movement or regime of the future. Amy i want you to talk about the presence of Stephen Bannon Sebastian Gorka and Stephen Miller in the white house and what that means to antifa, to the antifascist movement. The other side of it is it is not just about how many people are part of fascists or neonazi groups. It is about the fact that far right politics has the ability to infiltrate and influence and direct mainstream politics. We can see that with the alt right. The altright is not actually a lot of people in terms of numbers, but theyve had a disproportionate influence on the Trump Administration and certain aspects of Public Discourse. The presence of pain and and gorka and miller in the white house really gives some sort of a hint as to why it is that trump yesterday basically said there are good people on both sides of this conflict, that friday night when there were neonazis wielding torches in not the style and they attacked nonviolence uva student protesters, that he said, oh, these are good people. Part of it is the organized street presence, but as we saw by confronting the organized street protests in charlottesville, this created the question of just how bad these people are. You played mitt romney condemned the fact there could be blame ascribed to both sides. Prior to charlottesville, that was the dominant media narrative. Most Mainstream Media was saying, violence on both sides, hands up, who is to say who is right or wrong. But by shining a light on with these people think has shifted the Public Discourse and pushed back the ability of some of these alt right figures to try and cloak their fascism. Juan what do you say to those who are maybe opposed to the viewpoints of the White Nationalists and white supremacist, it also attempt to condemn any attempts to shut them down or not allow them to speak or obviously, the American Civil Liberties union fought for the right of the charlottesville the White Nationalist to have their rally in charlottesville. How to combatn of fascism i think always things to come back to discussions of the 1930s and 1940s. Clearly, we can see that rational discourse and debate was insufficient. Clearly, we can see the mechanisms of parliamentary government were insufficient. We need to be able to come up with a way to say, how can we make sure never again . By any means necessary, this can never happen again. And the people who witnessed these atrocities committed themselves to that. The question is, ok, if you dont think that it is appropriate to physically confront and to stand in front of neonazis who are turned organize for another genocide now, do you do it after someone has died as they just did . Do you do it after a dozen people have died . Do you do it was there at the footsteps of power . At what point do you say, enough is enough, and give up on the liberal notion that what we need to do is essentially create some sort of a regime of rights that allow neonazis and their victims to coexist peacefully and recognize the neonazis dont want that and that the antifascists are right and not looking at a few liberal lens, but rather sing fascism not as an opinion that needs to be responded to respectfully, but as an enemy to humanity that needs to be stopped by any means necessary . Amy this is part one of our conversation. We will do part two and posted online at democracynow. Org. Mark bray is the author of a book that is coming out in the next few weeks called antifa the antifascist handbook. Lecturer at dartmouth college. That does it for our broadcast. If you want to signup for our News Headlines every day coming can text. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. 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