Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20150916

Apologize to former tennis pro james blake after Police Officer threw him to the ground and handcuffed him in a case of mistaken identity we will look , at how the officer, James Frascatore, remained on the street despite being sued four times for using Excessive Force during false arrests. We will speak to one man who was pinned on the ground by frascatore for riding his bike on the sidewalk and hear the story of another man who was punched in the face after being stopped for a broken taillight. Then joy ann reid on, fracture barack obama, the clintons and the racial divide. But first, is oklahoma about to execute an innocent man today . We will speak to sister Helen Prejean about Richard Glossip. I have accompanied six people and two of them were innocent. That is in my second book, the death of innocence. They all had these same ingredients in it, the innocent ones that richard had. Amy all that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Attorneys for death row prisoner Richard Glossip have made a lastminute bid to save his life, saying the state of oklahoma may be about to execute an innocent man. Glossip is scheduled to die at 3 00 p. M. Central time today. On tuesday, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin denied him a stay of execution. Despite mounting calls from supporters to spare his life. Working asossip was a manager at the best budget in an obama city when his boss was murdered. A minutes worker, justin sneed, admitted he beat the man to bat. H with a baseball deat the case rested almost solely on sneeds claim. No physical evidence tied glossip to the crime. Glossips attorneys say sneed implicated their client in exchange for a deal to save himself from the Death Penalty. On tuesday, glossips attorneys asked the Oklahoma Court of criminal appeals to halt the execution saying new evidence further supports his innocence. We will have more on the case activisting antideath sister Helen Prejean after the headlines. The Obama Administration has directed an additional 250 million toward fighting droughtfueled wildfires in the Pacific Northwest as california Officials Say the raging valley fire is one of the most destructive in state history. The valley fire is one of three uncontrollable blazes currently threatening more than 15,000 homes in northern california. The cost of fighting the blaze has reached a record high this summer when the Forest Service spent 243 million in a singleweek period. At least one person has died in the fires. Earlier this week, california said jerry brown inis is the future care go other extreme weather news, at least 60 people have died after flash flooding tore through communities along the utaharizona border. 12 were killed after the powerful floodwaters poured down a mountain and swept away two vehicles in hildale, utah. Another four people were found dead in the Zion National park. The deadly extreme weather comes as a coalition of more than 400 organizations have called on the white house to stop issuing new fossil fuel leases on public lands and oceans. Among the calls signatories are climate activist tim dechristopher, renown environmentalist bill mckibben, indigenous activist winona laduke, environmental lawyer robert f kennedy, junior. A number of groups also joined the call, including the United Auto Workers union, Unitarian Universalist association, physicians for social responsibility, the indigenous environmental network, 350. Org. More than 67 million acres of public land and ocean are already leased to the fossil fuel industry. The Coalition Says that declaring unleased oil, gas and coal on public lands as unburnable would accomplish more in the global fight against Climate Change than any other single action taken by the Obama Administration. Meanwhile, in canada, a group of more than 100 leading activist, writers, musicians have released a wideranging call for economic and environmental change to address the deepest crisis in recent memory im a change. The leap manifesto calls for to build Energy Efficient homes, ending fossil feel subsidies, and cutting of a terry spending. Signatories include musicians neil young, leonard cohen, actors ellen page, Donald Sutherland and many more. Unveiled the manifesto on tuesday. All share believe that it is possible for canada to fight Climate Change in a way that changes our countries for the better. By bringing meaningful justice, creating more and better jobs for the people who need them most, restoring and expanding our social safety net, and welcoming far more migrants and refugees. In short, we can and must care for one another and for the climate. Amy in news from europe, about 150 refugees have crossed into croatia after they were blocked at the hungarianserbian border. Hungary has sealed its border with serbia and enacted new laws that criminalize border crossings with up to three years imprisonment. Meanwhile, president obama has spoken out about the growing global refugee crisis during a meeting with Spains King Felipe vi, saying the u. S. Needs to take in Syrian Refugees. Agreed that this is going to require cooperation with all the European Countries and the United States and the International Community in order ,o ensure that people are safe that they are treated with shared humanity, and that we ultimately have to deal with the source of the problem, which is the ongoing crisis in syria. And we discussed how we can continue to strengthen the cooperation, and i discussed the fact the United States feels it is important for us to also take our share of Syrian Refugees as part of this overall humanitarian effort. Amy president obamas remarks come as he is reputedly weighing a meeting with russian president Vladimir Putin over the ongoing crisis in syria. The u. S. Says russia has sent tanks and artillery to syria this week in what Officials Say amounts to an attempt to set up a Russian Military base in western syria. The two countries have long been at odds in their response to the syrian conflict, with russia backing syrian president Bashar Alassad and the u. S. Calling on him to step down. Meanwhile, australia has launched its first air strikes inside syria monday targeting isil. France says it will also begin airstrikes inside syria against isil in the coming weeks. Pentagon Officials Say that senior military officers may have manipulated the conclusions of reports on the war against the selfproclaimed Islamic State in order to present a more positive picture to the white house. The investigation focuses on allegations that highlevel officials within the United States Central Command may have revised reports on the preparedness of the Iraqi Security forces and the success of the bombing campaigns in iraq and syria. The pentagons Inspector General is examining the claims. In news from the campaign trail, a new poll shows nearly 40 of republican primary voters view candidate donald trump as the partys best shot at winning the presidency as the candidates head into the second major debate tonight. The news poll also shows surging support for retired neurosurgeon ben carson and declining support for former Florida Governor jeb bush and wisconsin Governor Scott walker. The top 11 republican candidates will take the stage at the Ronald Reagan president ial library at 8 00 p. M. Tonight for a debate hosted by cnn. In st. Louis, missouri, residents celebrated mexican Independence Day tuesday by beating an eightfoot pinata of republican president ial candidate donald trump. Dubbed el trumpo, the candyfilled pinata was constructed over the course of two weeks by francis rich rodriguez, the owner of a local pizza shop. In japan, thousands marched outside the Japanese Parliament for a second consecutive day in protest of the governments plan to rewrite japans pacifist constitution to allow japanese troops to fight abroad for the First Time Since world war ii. Protesters demanded the resignation of japanese Prime Minister shinzo abe, who has backed the new legislation. One of the protesters spoke out. I came because all i care about is peace between asian nations, and i think security bills dont produce that. Amy in seattle, Washington Public School teachers are returning to work today after reaching a tentative deal with management to end seattles first teachers strike in 30 years. The Teachers Union voted tuesday evening to suspend the strike, which began last wednesday over demands for fewer standardized tests for students, more time to prepare for classes and better pay. The deal reportedly includes a 9. 5 pay raise over three years, mandatory 30minute recesses for Elementary School students, and a greater say for students in teachers in standardized testing. In connecticut, new Surveillance Video released from inside two juvenile detention facilities appears to show a number of incidents of Staff Members using Excessive Force against the youth. The videos, published tuesday by the office of the child advocate, show Staff Members at the Connecticut Juvenile Training School for boys and the nearby pueblo facility for girls tackling children, as well as shackling and isolating children in seclusion units. In one video, a girl named jenny, is tackled by four Staff Members after she refused to get off the telephone. She was later isolated in a padded cell, where she had a panic attack and was eventually shackled and taken to the er. The videos were obtained as part of an Ongoing Investigation by the office of the child advocate into conditions inside both facilities. In seattle, washington, police have fired an officer who arrested a 69yearold man last year for carrying a golf club in the residential neighborhood of capitol hill. White Police Officer Cynthia Whitlatch arrested African American William Wingate on july 9, 2014, after she accused wingate of swinging his golf club at her car. Dash cam footage shows wingate did not swing the golf club at the car. Wingate told the officer he used the golf club as a cane. In her disciplinary report, the Seattle Police department accused officer whitlatch of biased policing. And Juan Felipe Herrera has begun his term as the new u. S. Poet laureate. The son of migrant farm workers, he is the firstever latino to hold the position. He writes in both english and spanish. At his inaugural reading at the library of congress tuesday, herrada spoke out about the plight of migrants and refugees. It is very tragic, very tragic. As human beings, we must think about that. We must respond to that in whatever way. And it is a very personal way. Maybe there is a letter written or an organization, Community Organization or committee, or maybe as poets we can write something. Amy during the reading, juan filipe herrada and musician juan dies also performed a mexicanstyle ballad, known as a corrido, about the death of sandra bland. The 28yearold africanamerican woman who was found dead in a texas jail cell in july. Protesters have raised questions about her death. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Juan welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Juan welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. Attorneys for death row prisoner Richard Glossip have made a lastminute bid to save his life, saying the state of oklahoma may be about to execute an innocent man. Glossip is scheduled to die at 3 00 p. M. Central time today. On tuesday, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin denied him a stay of execution as protest group from supporters who say he is innocent. In 1997, glossip was working as a manager at a hotel and no, city when his boss, barry van treese, was murdered. A maintenance worker, justin sneed, admitted he beat van treese to death with a baseball bat, but claimed glossip offered him money and Job Opportunities for the killing. The case rested almost solely on sneeds claims. No physical evidence ever tied glossip to the crime. Glossips attorneys say sneed implicated their client in exchange for a deal to save himself from the Death Penalty. Daughterin sneeds own oryan justine sneed, wrote to , the oklahoma pardon and parole board last year asking them to spare glossips life, saying her father has considered recanting his testimony and that she strongly believes glossip is innocent. On tuesday, glossips attorneys asked the Oklahoma Court of criminal appeals to halt glossips execution based on what they say is new evidence. This week, glossips attorneys released an affidavit from the man who was imprisoned in a cell across from justin sneed and among all the inmates, it was Common Knowledge that justin sneed lied and sold Richard Glossip up the river. Incidentcribed one where sneed was fixing some food and laughing with other prisoners about setting Richard Glossip up for a crime richard did not do. We go to Oklahoma City where were joined by sister helen. Rejean as a catholic nun, she began her Prison Ministry over 30 years ago. She is the author of the vessel in book dead man walking. The books been translated into many like which is an turned into an opera, play, Academy Awardwinning film starring Susan Sarandon and sean can. She is an obama city for Richard Glossip. Refusedrnor of oklahoma to stay the execution, sister helen. What happens now . Interesting what has happened. Ive never seen this before. First of all, ive never been this involved intimately in a case of someone whos actually innocent as Richard Glossip is. The governor was saying, just show us she and the da david prater actually were saying things like, bring us your new evidence, bring us your witnesses. Because we have been through this case and were convinced that justice was done and we is guilty. Lossip it was an amazing thing that at da, level, like the local are saying to the lawyers, trying to say richards life, bring us your evidence and your witnesses and if they are credible, we will bring them to the governor ourselves. But what happened here, amy, is in january 5 i spoke to Richard Glossip for the first time and he told me he put me down, if i didnt mind, to witness his execution. So i knew there is no way i was going to just walk with him to his death. So i began, first of all, you have to recruit pro bono excellent attorneys and the lead attorney on this case has argued for the Supreme Court. I knew we would have a hard job. Then we hired, we got money, cobbled money together to get investigators. And don knight has been our man on the road. He is filled with the red dirt of oklahoma because he started getting in their to get the evidence and the witnesses that were never presented at richards trial. As you said, it was all on the word of justin sneed. So we need to do two things. We need to impeach the credibility of justin sneed as they did not do in the trial. And they found a witness. They found someone who was a methamphetamine drug dealer who taught talked about justin sneeds drug habit and that he was very addicted, that he robbed vending machines, food stamps, break into cars and still stereos to get money for drugs. Showed, in fact, he was not the one prosecution had presented as just a Maintenance Man who is trying to do his job and get money for his children, but he was a deeply addicted drug addict. They never presented him that way. And they are presenting that and then they are presenting what you just referred to, michael scott, were you actually have sneed bragging in prison that he set Richard Glossip up. And here he is in a medium security prison. They knew they had to get the new evidence to impeach his credibility, and that is what theyre bringing to the court, what they filed at 4 00 in the criminal court of appeals saying, this is evidence of innocence, give us a chance, give us a hearing. And with what we present, we know that we can bring this back to trial, and no reasonable jury would convict him, find him guilty, much less sentenced him to death. So that is where we are right now. Juan sister Helen Prejean, what do you make of the local reaction of the District Attorney calling this a b. S. P. R. Campaign at the last minute . I was there. I was amazed. No one had ever seen a local da come to a press conference. He was so angry. He was redfaced and shouting obscenities. That is also in the statement of the governor when she refused to give a stay. She says, this has been nothing but a Publicity Campaign by Death Penalty antiDeath Penalty activists to try to bring down the Death Penalty in oklahoma and in the United States. They upheld the case saying glossip is guilty and we will proceed with execution. You know what im struck by . You have competing narratives of truth i have learned this that what you have is all the jury heard was the prosecutors narrative, and that glossip must have put sneed up to it. Sneed was just a hardworking man, trying to just send money to his children and all. And occasionally, might have done drugs. That is the way they presented him. What they did and with don knights work in these excellent lawyers, mark all of them who gave us the words to file with the court here, was here is another narrative that the jury never heard. Here is a drug addicted man who did not need an extra incentive like glossip to put them up to breaking into a room to still money for drugs, look at who he was and what he did. So that is what they been able to show by getting these witnesses, and that is what they presented to the court. I was amazed, and the da made statements in the local newspaper afterwards and he was actually saying things like, why did lawyers just come and present me there evidence and present me there witnesses . And if i had found them credible, i would have presented them myself to the governor. Well, he is not the decider and the governor isnt the decider crediblet is real and in a court. They had to bring that to a court. The reason the lawyers were asking the governor to give them more time was because in the of time thatriod had, theyve already been able to gather this much the evidence and they would simply say to her they were simply saying her, give a 60 more days and we will have even more to bring to the court. But they misinterpreted everything is an antiDeath Penalty campaign, and that we and the lawyers ought to be bringing everything to them. And Donald Knight said, i want to bring them eyewitnesses and then theyre going to get to those witnesses themselves and be trying to hold the whole trial that here right up front of the public . Theyre not the deciders this. It will be the court that are the deciders. Amy last year justin sneeds daughter wrote a letter to the part numeral seeking pardon and parole board. She said her father had spoken her recanting his testimony saying that is justin sneeds daughter. His mother is also same something similar. The significance of this, and did the parole board ever receive this letter . Mr. Sneed in a medium security prison now, he was not given the Death Penalty because he turned over glossip. The questions of Police Officers who interrogated sneed introducing this to them saying, if you say glossip is responsible and this is on tape you will not get the Death Penalty. Did this go to the board . Absolutely not, of course not. It wasnt even shown at trial that the jurors would have seen in the video the leading questions of the police detectives. They would have seen it for themselves. They saw nothing. So you have complete undergirding all of this, ineffectiveness of counsel never really put up the defensiveness as well. And i think justin sneed, he gave a different versions of it, so he gravitate he shifts back and forth from daytoday of what version, im not sure he even knows at this point. In a mediumod life security prison where you can get a decent job with pay and he doesnt want to rock the boat. I think he does come at times, have moments where, like that letter to justine his daughter, but he doesnt have the moral caliber or even i want to say a cohesiveness of moral caliber to be able to hold it together and stand up. Im not sure years, about18 come after the murder. Why is this coming out on the morning of the execution of Richard Glossip, if in fact, that goes forward today at 3 00 p. M. Central time in oklahoma . Because we got started so late. I talked to him on january 5. We need the Supreme Court was coming down with a lethal injection by the end of june. We assembled a Team Together come all pro bono, and we havent had much time to work. So they literally filed yesterday at four clock as it were still getting witnesses. Amy my nitrogen gas also been used since obama has passed that as a way of killing the Supreme Court is said, you kill people anyway you want. Were not even going to monitor you. If you want use gas, use it. You want to shoot them . Use it. They have given Carte Blanche to states, first of all, to be the ones who will try you know, begin you know, the ones who have control of trying the cases. Then they give them Carte Blanche to use whatever methods you want. Killing people is an cruel. They said it is not against the a commitment. That is the Supreme Court. That is why we have states like da bob nisire this who in after Richard Glossip, had 54 death sentences. So you have these pockets in states that are avid proDeath Penalty states, and they go after the Death Penalty every chance they get. , thankster Helen Prejean you for being with us, and we will continue to monitor this. People should check democracynow. Org, tweets and facebook as we update you on what happens today with Richard Glossip. Sister Helen Prejean, one of the worlds most wellknown antiDeath Penalty activists. Among her books is, the best selling book, dead man walking. Atn we come back, we look the case of the tennis star taken down by a new york Police Officer. What was that officers record . How many times has he been sued for brutality . Stay with us. [music break] amy walking down death row this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Blake literally did not know what hit him. A week ago today, blake, retired professional tennis star, was standing outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel in new york waiting for a car to go watch the u. S. Open. Surveillance video shows what happened next. Undercover Police Officer ran at him, wraps an arm around his neck, tackle them and then dug his knee into his back. Blake, who is biracial, never resisted. The officer then handcuffed him. Police say the mistakenly identified blake as a suspect in a credit card fraud probe. On thursday, nypd Police Commissioner bill bratton said the arrest should not have happened. We are very interested in speaking with mr. Blake and hope to be hearing back from him to extend an apology for the experience he encountered. The concerns i have about what happened on the video as well as briefings ive received by the chief, the inappropriateness of the amount of force that was used during the arrest. Juan new york city mayor bill de blasio has also personally apologized to blake. At least one officer has been placed on administrative desk duty after the incident. Speaking on Good Morning America thursday, blake said believes the police need to be held accountable. When you police with reckless abandon, you need to be held accountable. I think, hopefully, im going to let people know that some of them need to be held accountable. These that are doing police work the wrong way need to pay for those actions and be shown it of the door or whatever they need to do to punish them. Amy as of elements in the case of mistaken identity continue to unfold, criticism concerns around the police union civilian , Complaint Review board, and the undercover officer who took blake down continues to mount. More is being learned about the record of officer frascatore who tackled james blake as he stood outside his hotel. He has worked for four Different Police departments in the last five years from florida to new york, has had five complaints in just seven months against him register with cicilline Complaint Review board. Thats more than 90 of the officers on the force. But the ccrb, an independent Agency Charged with handling complaints against the police department, has its own problematic history, criticized for covering up Police Misconduct and colluding with the nypd. For more on the story, were ained by Kenneth Finkelman , staff attorney for the legal aid society. He represented leroy cline, a queens resident who claimed that officer frascatore punched him in the face after the officer stopped him for a broken taillight. And amy rameau is a civil rights attorney representing warren diggs. He was can on the ground by two other officers as well as James Frascatore in genera for riding 2013 his bike on the sidewalk. He sued frascatore for assault earlier this year. We welcome you both to democracy now Kenneth Finkelman, lets begin with you. Of theu heard this story officer taking down the police star in front of the grand hyatt, the video, when did you make the connection . As soon as i heard the name. I was investigating this officer for over a year, and it was an unbelievable battle at the das office to convince them to drop charges against mr. Cline, and it were refusing to do it despite the fact the medical records show the only injury to this officer was to the middle knuckle of his fist and at the officer had told medical personnel that he punched somebody in the mouth and despite the fact we had to officers two witnesses in the vehicle at the time of the incident. I client passed the polygraph test. Once we started interviewing other people in the community who had similar experiences with officer frascatore, as far as having charges made up against them, being assaulted, people have never gone to ccr be ccrb, we were able to get the raw data concerning him from the ccrb because that was their complaint. We were able to use that raw data to get a subpoena and form former commissioner judge lopez signed it and that is when we found out about this audiotape. It was only because the audiotape was revealed which show that officer frascatore had lied about the heinz case. Officer frascatore entered a womans home without a warned and demanded a bicycle because he said it was arrest evidence in writing your bike on the sidewalk. Ms. Heinz said, what are you doing here . Why do you need the by . Then she got arrested simply then he lied in a sworn statement under oath in a complaint and said she it said, fu, im not giving you the bike. Audiotapey due to the they dismissed the charges. Now the ccrb is refusing. That is been the response to this absolute surge and police violence, so it is very, very disturbing that would be the response of the ccrb. Juan i want to turn to a recording that officer frascatore had with the girlfriend of warren diggs after he was stopped for riding the bike on the sidewalk. She had one of her children take the bike inside the house in a quickly escalated. This is an audio recording that she took with her cell phone. Wheres the bicycle that was out here . I need a bicycle. That is my bike. Coming in the house. Listen excuse me, i cant hear everyone talking at the same time. Can you back up . I feel threatened. I take the bike. This is what you want your kids to witness . Thats fine. Im going to arrest you and take the bike if you dont get out of my way. I will get the bike. Youll get it right now. Look what youre doing you are doing this. I am getting a bike. Can you back up, please . If you manhandle me, youre going to jail as well. Excuse me. Are you touching me . Are you touching me . Youre going to go to jail in two seconds. Dont come in my house. Let go of me. Let me get the bike. Let me get the bike. How many times do we ask you to get the bike . How many times did we ask you . Crying] youre going to jail because you did not listen. Please can70, i call somebody, please . Its ok, relax. [child crying] are there any other adults home . [indiscernible] i see your mom teaches you well. Thats great. Was pinned bydiggs officer frascatore and two others generate 12, 2013. He was riding his bike on the sidewalk. He sued officer frascatore for assault earlier this year. Welcome to democracy now set it up for us what happened that day. I was returning from the store, it was about 7 45 in the evening. I ride my bike industry. That is just something i do. All the way up until i get to my driveway. I pulled in the driveway and on the way down, hear someone yelling to me, stop, where you going . Me,m not sure if it is for because there is no reason for it, but theres nobody else outside at this time. Anyway, i get off the bike, begin folding it, and this is my routine coming in. Officer frascatore and two other officers come running down the driveway, where you going . Where you going . I said, im going home, which are problem . That said, what is your name and do you have id . I said, my name is worn, my ideas inside. The second officer asked me, do you have id . , myi said my name iswarren ideas inside. I will get it if you dont have a problem. I said i have to get my keys. They were in my back pocket. I proceed to get my keys out of my pocket and i turn so they can see the keys, not moving, got my hands up, moving slowly, take the keys out, take out the key that i need, nobody is speaking to me, nobody is saying stop or anything. I open the doors, two doors to get in. I step in. As soon as my second foot reaches the landing, frascatore grabs me, tries to pull me out. Just spins me around. I asked him, what is the problem . The other officer grabs my arm and they both take me out into the driveway. Im saying, what is the problem . What is this about . Frascatore punches me in the side of the head. The officer behind me, he grabs me around my waist, picks me up and slams the to the ground. Im like, what is going on . Arethird officer says, you riding your bike on the sidewalk. Im like, what are you talking about . Frascatore drops down on me. The guy behind me hit me in my back. Im getting hit on my side. I see two other cops come down. Im getting hit on, hit on. Asking, what are they doing . Nobody is saying anything to make us on screaming for my girlfriend. She doesnt respond. I starts coming, help as loud as i could. When the other two officers get down, one of the officers, i believe it was frascatore from the direction of where he came from, but i hear him say, mason. Im thinking, it is getting bad. Im being beaten and no one is responding. Nobody is outside, its dark, so i start screaming louder and louder, help, help, help, some of the help somebody help i close my eyes and im getting hit. I hear again, mace him again. I get maced a second time. Im still getting hit. An officer puts his arm around is choking me. Amy he has you in the struggle hold . Yes. I have this stuff burning my face, im trying to keep my eyes closed so it doesnt go in amy is it frascatore who has you in the strangle hold . No, he is on my side. The other officer that helps him pull me out of the landing amy the door. He is the one was behind me. But after i am down on the ground, all i know is frascatore s on my side. He is hitting me on the side. The other officer and him are trying to put my arm behind my back. Im scared there going to break my arm because i dont know what this is all about. Im just, help, help, help i hear my side door open and that is when my girlfriend comes out. That is when all of the hitting stops. Theyre just holding me down. Im out of breath. It is hard for me to breathe because the cop is to holding me. I hear her say, does it take that many of you to hold him . They tell her to be quiet. One officer goes to talk to her, and they start telling me to get up. Up. First of all, two of them are still on me. I have no energy. My body will not respond to me. I want to get up, but i cant. I cant get a post up my eyes are burning, my face is on fire. I cant really see anything. It is just it is bad. I dont know another way to put it. After a couple of minutes, theyre telling me to get up and finally they tell they decide to help me get up. They put the cuffs on me and then they pulled me up next to the side of the house and have me sit on the side of the house. Then they asked me, do you have anything youre not supposed to have . Im like, im not talking to you. You beat the crap to me, ive nothing to say. My girlfriend is telling me to relax. Im like, relax . Did you see what they did to me . She did not see because she was an outside. When she can, they stopped. Amy and your kids are there . Yes, i dont know what they saw, but i heard them screaming. ,hen the cops picked me up walked me to the front of the house, and they put me in the car. Juan what do they charge you with . They charged me with assault on an officer, resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, i dont know what it is called for riding a bike on the sidewalk, but they charge me with possession of marijuana and a 6th charge i dont even know what it is. They charged him with everything they could possibly have charged him with, that would justify the beating they administered. Resisting arrest, obstruction, assault on a Police Officer all of that was to try to justify the fact he did in fact sustain a number of injuries as a result of their assault upon him. Amy when did you sue them . You know, i will let him tell. He was rather demoralized for a while. He wasnt going to pursue a lawsuit at all, his the delay in my filing the lawsuit for him. He came to me cork it was a few months after. He said to me and we talked about this. Ive had problems with Police Harassment and these types of things for a large part of my teens and early 20s. I have been through stuff. Ive had put had cases out of state were had to go to court and had no support. Cases dismissed. I try to pursue lawsuits, and i could not find anybody that would assist me. So when this incident came, i was angry and i wanted something done, but i just did not have any faith that anything would be done. Juan what ended up happening with the initial charges . They were dismissed. All the allegations were dismissed. Amy ultimately, you did sue . Yes, i fall the lawsuit for him earlier this year. Amy did you follow complaint with the civilian criminal review board . And do they respond . They said the Police Action was justified. This is substantiated that Police Officer frascatore failed to identify himself as required when he was asked to buy mistimeds miss heinz. Amy when you saw what happened to james blake, when did you make the connection between the officer who use the, this human torpedo coming out blake on the video and you . In the video, i cant tell because it is just the top and back of his head, so i did not realize it was him until the first reporters can to my house to speak to me. When they mention his name, im like, that was him . There were like, yes. Im like, well. Amy did you get a call from mayor de blasio for committee Police Commissioner bratton to apologize . Nobody. Juan Kenneth Finkelman, the whole issue of the solution criminal review board, the civilian review board, being run and civil rights attorney richard emery. What has been your expense with the ccrb in recent years . Ironically, it has become much worse gelling with them because they have a new policy of suppressing all information. It used to be you could get the raw data with freedom of information law. That data was useful. Now the position is, no raw data should be provided. They highlighted in her yearly report, as a matter fact, there being much more protective of Police Officers now. This is their claim to fame at this point. Legal aid society brought a lawsuit in the garner case to get the raw data, the Supreme Court agreed with us and now they are this is the most shocking thing because if we had not had that information in thecline case, nobody would be talking about this. They would all seem like separate cases. It is a live because we had the raw data, had the material and robert lewis from npr brought the story with the audiotape, that is why were here today. Amy i want to turn to leroy cline, what if your clients, queens resident who was pulled over in by officer frascatore 2012 for a broken taillight. This is cline speaking to cnn. Stop. Was a routine he asked me for license and registration. Where im from, i get pulled over a lot. This time i decided to ask, what am i being pulled over for . Frascatore completely ignored me. He said, license and registration. I said, sir, what am i being pulled over for . That is when he reached inside my door, unlocked my car door, and opened it. He tried to grab me. I did not know what was going on, so i swayed back and he came with three straight shots to my teeth, to my mouth area. At that point, i was delirious. It felt like i had no two front teeth at that time. I was grinning at the top of my lungs, and that is when his partner came around and grabbed my legs. Ofi was screaming at the top my lungs, and that is when his partner came around and grabbed my legs. He slammed my head into the front of my foot twice. He did a quick little pat down, handcuffed me. I had shorts on that had a string to hold them up. He popped that all. At this point, my shorts were at my ankles. My boxers were showing. Amy officer frascatore told a different story. He claimed leroy cline attacked him and bit his fist. He said he sustained permanent injuries while trying to arrest him. However, medical records revealed the officers cut on his hand was consistent with him punching cline in the mouth. Kenneth finkelman, you represented cline. Can you quickly summarize what happened . You also sued the police over frascatore . He did sue. Im a lawyer with legal aid, so we dont sue people. The only injury to the officer was the middle knuckle of his fist. I woulde to say like the city council to hold a hearing and call in the ccrb employees that were in charge of the investigation in thediggs case. Inz andleroy cline foundfind out why nobody any of these allegations to be substantiated, despite audiotapes in the heinz case and the Police Officers and missions in the cline case at a hospital that he punched some of you in the mouth. Lets find out why nobody substantiated these allegations. Amy but your client sued. This assailant is still on the force. They promote him to be a detective. Only actionccrbs is to suppress. I wonder if mayor de blasio even knows about this. I would like him to invite my clients to the Mayors Office and explain why the new policy is suppression of all new information. Amy we have to go to break that we will come back and we will be joined at the table by joyann reid. Thank you very much to Kenneth Finkelman. We will continue this discussion with amy rameau and warren diggs. Amy rameau is presenting warren diggs who also brought a suit against officer frascatore. Frascatore plus record is being opened up right now because james blake, who was the victim this latest time, it was caught on videotape and he is a tennis star. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. As we continue to look at the james blake incident of police brutality, were joined now by joyann reid, a National Correspondent for msnbc. She was the host of msnbcs, the reid report, and was a press aid in the final stretch of Barack Obamas Florida Campaign in 2008. Her new book, fracture barack obama, the clintons and the racial divide your coat we still have with us, warren diggs, who was pinned on the ground by officer frascatore and two other officers in january 2013 for riding his bike on the sidewalk. He came up on the sidewalk as he was going into his house. He sued officer frascatore for assault earlier this year. Amy rameau is his attorney. ,efore we go to joyann reid warren. You describe this horrific account to you as you went in because the officers asked for your id and you try to go into the house to get it, telling them in advance your going in the house, and frascatore started to beat you and then maced you. You are then taken to the police station. What happened . When i get to the police station, my face is still burning because of the maze, im officersn mud, and the behind the desk are laughing looking at me are are like, look at us, we have the predator here. At the time, i had dreadlocks and my hair was all over the place. That even pulled some of my dreadlocks out and were laying in the driveway when i got back. Theyre telling me i look like i was playing in the jungle. Like, what are you talking about . That is still in thing i was able to save. Theyre laughing. These are the officers behind the desk. They werent even there. They dont know what happened, theyre just cracking jokes and frascatore and the other guy with him are laughing. There was in the ms worker there and she is trying to ask them if they would release me to her custody so she could take me to get checked out. They were giving her a difficult time, telling her she did not have any jurisdiction or anything like that. Sayingtill staying stuff, laughing and all of that. So shes going back and forth with them. They decide to let her take me to the back. To wash the mace out of my face. When they bring me back to the desk, i see my girlfriend handcuffed to the chair in her nightclothes. And im saying, im asking, what are you doing here . Because all of the stuff that happened with her, that happened after they took me away. I was in the car and off to the precinct when all of that started, so i did not even know she had a problem with them. She is hank up to the chair and theyre talking about her, too. One of the cops is, which officers pack did she jump on to get here . And im like, why is she here . Why is my wife here . I represented ms hines. She was in the doorway scantily clad with silk pajamas. Are talking january 2013, so it is really cold outside. Flipflops. She has this encounter with frascatore who grabs her by her wrist, yanks are out of the doorway, cuffs her, dragged her down the hallway and she is concerned about her children being left behind in the house young children. Shes concerned about losing her slippers. He takes her to the van, shops or into the van violently and takes it under the precinct. Amy what about the kids . He goes back and at the children. That was captured on audio tape. He goes into the house and ransacked it without a warrant, without commission, without consent from i client. He went through their bedrooms, drawers, ransacked the place was a mess. Horrifying. Juan this is the same officer frascatore juan who did james blake as well. I want ask about the statement by the pda that recently issued by Patrick Lynch where he basically says that these are armchair pundits. This is what he said on tuesday, toing a scathing letter all armchair judges in response to the outcry over james blakes arrest. This is part of what he said it is mystifying to all Police Officers to see pundits and editorial writers whose only expertise is writing fastbreaking, personal opinion, and who have never faced the dangers that Police Officers routinely do, come to instant conclusions that an officers actions were wrong based upon nothing but a silent video. Your response . Im not saying all officers are bad, but frascatore is about apple among others. The reason why this continues to happen is because of institutional failure on the part of the institutions who are charged with protecting us from bad police, institutions were charged with sanctioning bad Police Officers who behave this way. It is because of their failure to take adequate action against these amy i want to bring the pba is part of parcel of the same sort of a fully representative, a bully agent for bad Police Officers who commit gross misconduct amy joyann reid, we have 10 seconds and then we will do a post show interview with you and we will played on the air. One of the things that we see that is consistent in many of these cases is the entire institutions to protect the officer and back up the story. One of the challenges, even for Police Officers when they witness misconduct they find troubling, it is difficult for them to come ford as well and difficult for prosecutors to get of these cases because everyone sort of agrees upon amy joyann reid we will talk about your book, fracture barack obama, the clintons and the racial divide. Warren diggs and amy rameau, take it so much. [captioning made possible by democracy now ]