Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20151007

Her government adam ward were shot dead on live tv in roanoke, virginia, the 246th mass shooting in the u. S. There have been 50 more over the past six weeks. The largest one in oregon, a gunman killed nine last thursday then himself. The gunman cited the roanoke shooter in his online post. Andy parker joins us today to talk about his fight to end the countrys gun epidemic. Into a battle over Academic Freedom. Academic freedom is often negligible when it comes to sexual critique of structural critique of militarism or state power. Amy we will speak with Steven Salaita whose job offer at the university of illinois urbanachampaign was withdrawn last year after he tweeted harshly critical of the 2014 israeli assault on gaza. He is out with a new book, uncivil rights palestine and the limits of Academic Freedom. All of that and more coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The u. S. Commander in afghanistan has altered the u. S. Account of the bombing of a Doctors Without Borders hospital whounduz, acknowledging called in the attack. The bombing killed 10 patients and 12 medical staff members. General John Campbell said while afghans requested air cover enabling an airstrike requires a rigorous u. S. Procedure. The decision to provide burial fires was a u. S. Decision made within the u. S. Chain of command. The hospital was mistakenly struck. We would never intentionally target a protected medical facility. Amy the New York Times reports general campbell has privately said u. S. Troops likely violated their own roles when they called in the airstrikes. Ahead of Tuesdays Senate hearing, dr. Margaret flowers was arrested for denouncing the bombing, holding a sign which read, bombing hospitals war crime. She joined other members of codepink who wore fake doctors garb covered in fake blood. Doctors without borders has said u. S. Forces knew the coordinates of the hospital and continued the attack for half an hour after being informed a hospital had been hit. Doctors without borders president Meinie Nicolai said the hospitals location was well known. The location of this hospital was wellknown, well communicated to all parties like we do in the conflict. The opposition forces, including the coalition forces, and the afghan forces. We have given the coordinates. This hospital exists for four years. It is a relatively big hospital. It is clearly visible and known to everybody. So a precise attack on this big hospital is not proven differently, leads us to a war crime. Amy Doctors Without Borders has called for an independent investigation under the geneva conventions. This comes as the taliban reportedly remains in control of at least half of kunduz, despite the generals statements to the Senate Tuesday the Afghan Security forces had retaken the city. Iraqi politicians are calling on russia to launch airstrikes against isil in iraq, following a new intelligencesharing pact reached between russia, iraq, iran, and syria two weeks ago. Meanwhile in syria activists are , reporting russia and the Syrian Government have launched coordinated strikes against opposition forces. Tensions are rising between russia and the u. S. Over the two countries diverted strategies in the region. The with sister manning the departure of syrian president bashar alassad. Russia is backing assad arguing his departure would create a power vacuum that can strengthen isil. Israeli soldiers fired live in mission stun grenades and tear , gas at palestinians during a day of mourning in bethlehem, following the funeral for abed shot dead by Israeli Soldiers the day before. Meanwhile, in new york, dozens of people rallied outside the israeli consulate to protest the recent killings of palestinian teenagers. I am an attorney and activist with the palestine right to return coalition and one of the organizers of todays rally. We are here today to stand in solidarity with our people in palestine who have called for a day of rage and International Support and street actions in support of their struggle and to publicize to the people across the world, specifically in new york, the conditions under which palestinians are suffering. Miko Bernie Sanders campaign has apologized to a group of students for justice in palestine activists who were asked to leave a sanders rally in boston unless they took down our sign that read will ya feel , the bern for palestine . His Campaign Manager jeff weaver said the decision was made by lowlevel volunteer and 100 should not have happened. The Justice Department is reportedly poised to release about 6000 prisoners beginning at the end of the month, marking the largestever onetime release of federal prisoners. The move comes as part of an bid to reduce overcrowding and ease harsh sentences for people convicted of drug crimes. Newly disclosed online postings show the mother of the gunman who killed nine people at Umpqua Community college in oregon kept multiple guns in her home and shared her sons passion for firearms. In the post Laurel Harper , criticizes lame states which restrict loaded guns in the home and boasts her son has much knowledge in this field. In one threeyearold posting, she writes about having two full magazines in my glock case. And the ar and aks all have loaded mags, she wrote. Retired neurosurgeon ben carson has become the latest republican president ial candidate to draw criticism for his comments on guns in the wake of the oregon massacre. Speaking tuesday on fox news, carson said he would have fought the shooter off. Not only would i probably not cooperate with him, i would not just stand there and let him shoot me. I wouldve said, hey, guys, everybody attack him. He cant get as all. Amy a day earlier, carson wrote in a facebook q a i never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away. Carson is rising in the polls, challenging frontrunner donald trump. In other news on gun violence, an 11yearold boy in eastern tennessee has been charged with firstdegree murder after allegedly shooting and killing his eightyearold neighbor. Authorities say the boy shot the shot makayla dyer with his fathers shogun after she refused to show him her puppy. An africanamerican transgender woman has been beaten and shot to death in philadelphia, marking at least the 20th murder of a transgender woman in the United States this year. The death of Kiesha Jenkins is part of what advocates have described as an epidemic of violence against trans people. In montana, a judge has blocked the use of the execution drug pentobarbital, saying it does not comply with a state law requiring an ultrafast acting perpetuate barbiturate before a prisoner receives a second, lethal drug. The move effectively halts executions in montana unless the state changes the law or finds a substitute drug. Meanwhile, texas executed Juan Martin Garcia tuesday using the same drug. Garcia was pronounced dead 12 minutes after the dose of pentobarbital began. One of the more than 50 women who say they were sexually assaulted by Comedian Bill Cosby has filed a lawsuit against him in california. Chloe goins says cosby drugged and attacked her at the playboy mansion in 2008. Cosby is accused of drugging and raping woman over a period of decades. In many cases, the statute of limitations has expired. Goins addressed cosbys other victims. I recognize that i have taken legal action that many of the other victims of bill cosby will never be able to take. For that reason, i offer this message to those great women your experience was just like mine and mine is just like yours. We are not alone. We did not ask for these attacks , and these attacks are not our fault. His has gone on long enough it is time bill cosby was held accountable for his crimes. Amy in addition to the lawsuit, bill cosby could potentially Face Criminal Charges in goins case. 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. On august 26th in roanoke, virginia, two journalists were fatally shot on Live Television during a morning broadcast of the local news station wdbj. 24yearold broadcast journalist Alison Parker and 27yearold cameraman adam ward died after Vester Flanagan approached the set and began shooting. Flanagan was a former journalist at the station who had been fired two years ago. Flanagan later shot himself. It was the 246th mass shooting in the United States this year. Later, a a month gunman named chris harpermercer opened fire at Umpqua Community college in roseburg oregon. , he shot nine people dead before taking his own life. That was the 294th mass shooting of 2015. Amy in a blog post written before the shooting, the gunman chris harpermercer wrote about Vester Flanagan, the roanoke shooter. He wrote i have noticed that so many people like are alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are. A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone. His face splashed across every screen, his name across the lips of every person on the planet, all in the course of one day. Seems like the more people you kill, the more youre in the limelight. Speaking after the shooting in oregon, president obama addressed the nation. Somehow this has become routine. The reporting is routine. Podiumonse here at this ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it we have become numb to this. We talked about this after columbine and after tucson, after newtown, after aurora, after charleston. It cannot be this easy for somebody who wants to inflict harm on other people to get his or her hands on a gun. Juan two more Mass Shootings have been reported since the one on thursday in oregon. Later that same day in northern florida a gunman killed two , people and injured another before taking his own life. Then on friday, one person died and four others were injured in a shooting in baltimore bringing , the years total of Mass Shootings to at least 296. Amy today we will spend much of the hour looking at the countrys gun violence epidemic. We begin with andy parker. He is the father of Alison Parker, the journalist shot dead in august while on the air in roanoke, virginia. Since her death, andy parker has vowed to do whatever it takes to end gun violence. He joins us from his home in collinsville, virginia. Andy parker welcome to democracy , now of course our condolences on the death of your daughter. Can you talk thank you, amy. Amy can you talk about alison today . Of course. I can talk about alison any day. What people saw on television was who she was. She was bubbly, bright, would light up a room. She made everyone feel comfortable. She was accomplished at just about well, not just about, everything she did, everything she picked up she was terrific at it. Probably more of a live in 24 years than most people do in a lifetime. A force of nature, and she really was. I think she has become an iconic figure in this struggle that were undertaking. Juan and that day that you heard the news of the shooting . Amy where were you, andy parker . Alison would normally go on way before her hits were on from 5 00 to 7 00 in the morning post up typically, we would catch up with what she did online. So we did not see anything live that day. We have not seen it. We wont see it. We were alerted by her boyfriend chris who called and said there had been shots fired at her and that is where we were. I knew something was terribly wrong because i spoke to alison every single day. Every day. Call hen she did not the first thing she would have done was to call dad or mom and say, look, i am ok, everything is ok. When i did not hear, i knew something was certainly wrong. Amy and chris is the anchor on wdbj . Right, right. Chris was the love of her life. And she the love of his. He has been going through some tough times as have week, but we learned, i guess, about an hour later that she had she and adam had been killed. Juan could you talk about why so soon after her death you have decided to be so outspoken on the issue of gun violence, the process that you went through to make that decision . Well, you know, i guess people grieve differently. We felt like, obviously, this was a kick in the stomach listen, i cry every day. My wife cries every day. Here and gohan sit into a shell, we felt like we had to do something and channel our grief into a way that perhaps we can make a change and make a difference. This is what alison would have wanted us to do. We realize i realized that day, the Governor Terry mcauliffe called me probably four hours after this happened, and at that point, i had made up my mind that i was going to do whatever it takes to try and stop this. And he said, andy, i got your back. He said, you go for it, im right with you. Amy that is the governor of virginia. So what are you doing . Can you talk about who you are taking on . What lobbies, what Congress Members . You are naming names. Absolutely. The people that are well, what a particular, Bob Goodlatte who is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee that has got over 100 bills elated to Gun Legislation that have been sitting on his desk. He is the gatekeeper and will not hold hearings on this. Ironically, he is the congressman that covers the area where alison lived. And i have met with this guy. His comment to me and chris chris and i both met with him. His comment to me was, well, we really need to enforce the laws that we have on the books. And i said, really, commerce meant . So the laws on the books are working . He said, oh, we have all these laws on the books and we cannot prosecute. The irony of it is, and he has been atf former atf agent on his staff. The irony is, he has cut back he and his colleagues have helped cut back funding for the atf. They have the same staff that they had 40 years ago. They have less enforcement officers within the d. C. Police do, and he is telling me that we need to enforce these laws. Meanwhile, he cuts funding for the atf. It is hypocrisy. It is duplicity. And frankly, he has blood on his hands. He takes money from the nra. It is the same with Michael Mccaul who supposed to be protecting us as the house chairman for homeland security. And i watched him last week right after the oregon shootings. I was on cnn doing an interview and i watched him after mine. The news correspondent noah was interviewing him was trying to pin him down on what can you do . Do you want to close these loopholes . Is or something you would do . The issue. O round their whole fallback is, it is Mental Health. It is not a gun problem, it is a Mental Health problem. Sure, it is a Mental Health problem. We can do things in this country. We can close gun loopholes. We can do universal background checks. Is it going to be a cureall . Of course not, but you have to start and do something. And i said in my next interview after that, listening to this guy, he made me want to throw up. Heres a guy that homeland security, the fbi has 1000 people on its nofly list, and mccall and goodlett helped the nra block efforts to keep these people from getting firearms. Go figure. They cant fly, but they can get a weapon. I mean, it is insane. It is hypocrisy. Like i said, these guys are gutless calibers cowards that blood on their hands. Amy you midget nra several times. The ability of the nra in the gunman defectors who back them to basically subvert the will of the majority of the American People who do support tougher gun controls, why do you think theyve been so successful . They have done you have to give the devil his due and i say that literally and figuratively, but mostly literally. They have had a 30 year jump on folks like every town which i have joined it is a recently new organization that mayor bloomberg has started. But the nra through the gun lobby you know, by the way, the nra only has a few members. I dont even think they have 100,000 members in this country. But where they get the millions of millions of dollars that they final into these campaigns comes from the gunman you fractures. Every time one of the shootings happens, there gun sales go through the roof. So they love the stuff. They will continue to fund through the nra the nra is really nothing more than a lobby. Some make over 1 million that fund money to numbers of congress. And they intimidate them and theyre just afraid to lose the money. Mcauliffeike terry rant against the nra in a red state, got a f rating from the nra and won as governor, so can be done. At the people who are in the pockets of the nra and the gun lobby, they have blood on the hands and they are cowards. Amy i want to get your reaction to another father, to the father of the oregon gunman who killed the nine people last week at umpqusa Community College who is also criticized u. S. Government policies, which he says allows his son to amass an arsenal of weapons. Ian mercer, father of chris harpermercer, made the comments in an interview with cnn. The question i would like to ask is, how on earth could he compile 13 guns . How can that happen . Talk about gun laws. They talk about gun control. Every time Something Like this happens, they talk about it and nothing is done. Im not trying to say that is to blame for what happened, but if chris had not been able to get a hold of 13 guns, it would not have happened. Amy that is ian mercer, father of chris harper mercer. Could talk, if you to that and also that chris harpermercer had cited the man who killed your daughter, alison, as an example that he was a nobody who then was on the lips of the world because of the people he killed. Isamy, part of the problem we have a lot of bad parenting out there. Unfortunately, you cant legislate bad parenting. You cant do anything about it. It you can do things like universal background checks and closing gun loopholes to at least help prevent these things, to mitigate some of this bad parenting. I want to know, certainly, he gets it, and from what i understand he does she never saw his son much, they lived apart on a but i want to know what his mother was doing and as we read these revelations that she she had an arsenal herself and was clearly involved in this young mans life. Frankly, she should be an accessory to murder. Account of her having all the weapons and bragging about it. She had to know something was up. Listen, my son has aspergers. He is scared to death. ,ost kids that have aspergers they are quiet and shy kids. They are usually bullied, which my son was, and they just shy away from these kinds of things. But we also were involved in his life and made sure that he became a good citizen. Obviously, this woman, this mother was worthless. And as i say, somebody should charge her as being an accessory to murder. Juan i was wondering, also, your reaction to the obvious frustration that president obama has been showing in his recent theements about some of recent Mass Shootings . Well, i am glad that he has finally addressed it the way he did. He mustve been listening to some of the earlier interviews that ive done, because it sounds like you took it right from my playbook. Have theis, we dont worlds market cornered on Mental Illness, but somehow we have the worlds market cornered on Mental Illness and people that are mentally ill and other criminals that can evade background checks and have access to weapons. And this has got to stop. I think as long as he keeps this up, i think between the president using the bully pulpit to not let this go away, i think the press because alison was one of you guys. She was a member of the fraternity. The press has been so kind and time withs with their this effort. They understand look, it could have been one of you guys. It could have been his cameraman that is here with me today. It could have been one of you. And so i think i think it is different this time. I really do. And i think we are putting a dent in it. And i think these congressman that were calling out, that i ancalling out, it is having effect. Amy andy parker, we are going to break they come back to you or you live in virginia and we will also be joined by gun control expert, Senior Vice President at the center for American Progress. I want to ask you about some of the comments of the president ial candidates and what they mean to you. Were talking to andy parker, the father of Alison Parker who was killed on air in roanoke, virginia. She worked for wdbj along with her cameramen adam ward when they were broadcasting live, by a former anchor on that network or former reporter on wdbj. We will be back in a minute. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The issue of gun regulation is emerging as a hot topic in the president ial or on the president ial campaign trail. On monday, democratic president ial hopeful Hillary Clinton vowed to curb gun violence. Quite it is a leading cause of death for young africanamerican men. The second leading cause for young hispanic man, the fourth leading cause for young white men. Violenceemic of gun knows no boundaries, no snow knows no any kind limits of any kind. And when this happens, people are quick to say that they offer their thoughts and prayers. That is not enough. How many people have to die before we actually arent . Before we come together as a nation . Ideally, what i would love to see is gun owners responsible gun owners, hunters, form a Different Organization and take back the Second Amendment from these extremists. Juan meanwhile republican , president ial candidates have avoided any discussion of gun control in wake of last weeks massacre at Umpqua Community college. Donald trump told nbcs meet the press that mass shooters are geniuses in a certain way. They are going to be able to break the system. Meanwhile, john kasich told the u. S. Hispanic chamber of commerce, i dont think gun control would solve this problem. The deeper issue is alienation. The deeper issue is loneliness. And ben carson implied that the oregon shooting victims didnt do enough to save themselves, and suggested he would have been more aggressive in confronting the attacker. And jeb bush seemed to shrug off last weeks mass shooting saying on friday afternoon stuff happens. Were in a difficult time in our country, and i dont think the answer to this. I think we need to reconnect ourselves with everyone else. It is sad to see. I resist the notion i had this challenge as governor. Stuff happens. There is always a crisis. The opals is always to do something, and it is not necessarily the right thing to do. Amy donald trump also argued against gun control in the wake of the oregon shooting saying the shooting highlights the need to address Mental Illness issues. This was ben carson in his own words on fox. Fox not only would i probably not cooperate with him, i would not just stand there and let him shoot me. I would say, hey, guys, everybody attack them. He may shoot me, but he cant get us all. Amy still with us from collinsville, virginia is andy parker, whose daughter, the journalist Alison Parker, was shot dead on the air in august along with her cameramen adam ward. Your response to what ben said, to what donald trump has said, to what Hillary Clinton is said, and what you understand Bernie Sanders thinks . You know, lets start with ben carson. For him to say that. I guarantee you he would be running like the coward that he is. That icomment like would do this and i would do that it is an affront and it is an insult. The other republican candidates, i will the second one is jeb bush who shrugged it off as you said and said, stuff happens. I mean, really . Ticket,e republican each one of these candidates, their reaction is in a well, lets do nothing. Which is, einsteins definition of insanity, which is what we have now. Certainly, Mental Health is the issue here, but there is got to be a way and there is a way to wrap these things together. The laws so some of that Mental Health professionals can talk to Law Enforcement and say, look, this guy is a ticking time bomb. Employers back and say, look, dont hire this guy because he was escorted out the door by police which is the case with alysons shooter. There are issues there that it is like cancer. You dont treat cancer with one therapy. You go the path of least resistance first and that is universal background checks and closing the gun loopholes, then you address the other Mental Health issues and employment issues. Oh, tosit there and say, suggest we do anything, nothing is going to work. That doesnt fly anymore. Glad that secretary clinton stood up and has taken the lead on this. I just hope that she doesnt backtrack. Bernie sanders has had a very dubious record in terms of his votes on gun control, so im not sure where he stands now. But i know ms. Clinton is the one that is at least standing up and making herself she has made a clear choice for voters in the upcoming election between her and the other republicans who deny this thing. There again, guess what . Theyre getting money from the nra. They have blood on her hands. Amy sanders cited several issues. Currently, he says, he will be releasing more conference of package that could join people across different opinions. Andy parker. I look forward to seeing that from him. A lot of thetected gun manufacturers with his votes several years ago that were very, very dubious. I am glad to hear that he is perhaps coming around on this. Juan and your sense, andy parker, Martin Omalley also who used to be in our neighboring state of maryland, his positions . He has called for stricter background checks and tougher laws as well. Your sense of his track record . You know, i honestly dont know enough about governor omalley to comment on that, but i think generally speaking, it should not be a partisan issue. The reality is, 90 of republicans dont support any kind of Gun Legislation, and just the reverse, 90 of the democrats do. I know peter king, john mccain, you know, they support common sense Gun Legislation. And let me also make something clear. This is an argument that the gun lobby whenever you try and advance or suggest any kind of reasonable, commonsense legislation, their immediate kneejerk reaction is, theyre coming to take away our guns. It is an assault on the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment chief Justice Burger suggested 30 years ago that and i think most people realize that the intent was not to arm every man, woman, and child him it was for militias. That was back when they were using muskets and they were used to make sure the british invaded again, that there were militias there to help defend the country. That was its intent. And that is what these guys every time you say, it suggests Meaningful Solutions to end gun violence, oh, youre coming away to take our guns. It is a false narrative. Amy andy parker, were also joined by Arkadi Gerney a Senior Vice President for the center for American Progress you previously worked as special advisor and first deputy criminal justice coordinator to new york city mayor Michael Bloomberg. He managed mayors against illegal guns, a National Coalition that mayor bloomberg cochairs. Arkadi gerney, talk about what you think most needs to happen right now. The conversation on television mainly these days is, youre talking about mentally ill people or criminals. Theyre going to get around the laws, so whatever regulations you put in place, lawabiding people will abide by them and they wont be armed and in the criminals in the mentally ill will be armed and they will just gun them down. Amy. Anks, first, i want to offer my condolences to andy parker. He has just shown incredible courage in making his voice heard under, of course, extremely difficult circumstances. So thank you for that. To answer the question, if you look at the United States and compare it to other countries, we have normal levels of crime, Violent Crime come and compared to other advanced countries. We have Mental Health disorders at normal rates compared to other advanced countries, but we have levels of murder and gun murders that are way out of line with other highly developed countries. If you look within the United States, ecb states with you see the states with the strongest gun laws have the lowest rates of gun homicide and gun suicides, significantly lower rates, than those with the weakest gun laws. And study after study has shown that. There isea that nothing that we can do about it is just false. And if you look at other challenges that we face in our country, for example, car accidents, we have been able to make cars in the last 60 years five times safer for every mile that a person drives in the United States today, they are five times less likely to die than they would have been 55 or 60 years ago. And that wasnt one intervention, it was a whole bunch of measures from seatbelts to airbags to drunk driving laws to culture change to better road signage. But we found a way to both culture, butcar make it much, much safer. And that is what we need to do with guns. Juan Arkadi Gerney, you have talked about it is not just the Mass Shootings that occur. Honestly, they get all the attention in the media. But it is the day in, day out gun violence that occurs in america and that rarely gets much coverage at all outside the local area in which it happens. Can you talk about that . Yes. What happened to Alison Parker was absolutely terrible, but had it not been broadcast on tv, two people getting killed is not National News in the United States, and it happens every day. In fact, 33 people are murdered with guns every single day in the United States. That is a Virginia Tech scale mass shooting. The Virginia Tech shooting was the most deadly mass shooting in u. S. History, but it is happening across the country every single day. It is very hard for our politicians and for the National Media to Pay Attention to it, to bring life to the stories. And we tend to only Pay Attention to these spectacular shootings, these Mass Shootings that are, of course, really awful, but underlying that is the everyday gun violence, which is just taking incredible toll. It as up to 11,000 or 12,000 gun murders a year, and another 20,000, 21,000 than suicides and accidents. Altogether, 33,000 americans every year were losing to gun violence. It is an incredible number. And the idea that we cant do something about it is wrong. All the evidence suggests we can do something about it, and were not going to get that number 20, but if we can reduce it by 1 ,. Hat is saving 330 lives if we can reduce it by 10 , that 00 lives, as many people as died on 9 11. Amy Arkadi Gerney, you have your of story about why youre so interested in this issue. Yeah, my father died when i was young. My mother was planning to get remarried and the person she was going to get remarried to was shot, murdered in a random act of violence. I think the remarkable thing in the u. S. Is that it is simply not uncommon for americans to know someone who has been shot and killed. It happens so frequently, that 70 people are touched by it that so many people are touched by it. The toll of gun violence disproportionately affects some part of our country, the sum disproportionally impacting young people and people of color, but if you look at it all, it affects all kinds of people. Young, old, black, white. And there is something we can do about it. We want to try to spare more people from the experience that andy parker is going through and so many people have gone through, of seeing a loved one lost to this. Juan could you talk about the Grassroots Movement you became a part of with former mayor Michael Bloomberg when the mayors of cities across the country faced with the failure of congress to act began banding together to try to do something about gun violence . Gunsthink the politics of is in the process of changing. In the movement for stronger gun laws is growing much, much longer and has been growing stronger over several years. But when i started working on this issue in 2006, there was barely any support, even among democrats in washington, to do anything. And really among the elected officials, the only stakeholders who are ready to sort of put their Political Capital and themselves on the line tended to be mayors. Because mayors are held accountable for crime. They saw what it was doing to their cities. Mayor bloomberg and the mayor of boston built this coalition which has grown to more than 1000 mayors. What we see now is the movement for stronger gun laws is very diverse. It is mayors, mothers, all kinds of people coming out of the woodwork. And we are seeing at the state level, progress in many states not just blue states, but purple states like colorado, which strengthened gun laws after newtown. Weve seen Ballot Initiatives like in Washington State last votedhere 60 of voters for universal background checks. Amy Arkadi Gerney, were going to lose the satellite to andy parker in a moment. I want to ask, are you thinking of running for Public Office . I think of kill them apart the whose husband was killed i think of Kevin Mccarthys husband was killed many years ago. She went to her congressman and he said, he is not for gun control and she said, then im going to replace you, and she did. Are you thinking about this . Andy parker . Are you asking me . Im sorry. Im sorry, am i thinking about running . Amy yes. No. I feel like i am better served andn advocate and activist. You never say never, but i feel like that is my role at this point is to find the people to replace these people that are to come to our way of thinking on this issue. Thise got no plans at point. Amy we will continue the conversation. I want to thank you. Again, our condolences. Andy parker, the father of Alison Parker, who along with her cameraman adam ward, were gunned down as it were broadcasting live on television at her television station wdbj. They were outside interviewing the head of u. S. Chamber of commerce when they were killed. Arkadi gerney, Senior Vice President at the center for American Progress, thank you as well. We will be back in a minute. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman todays show with Steven Salaita. Last year, his job offer from the university of illinois at urbanachampaign was withdrawn after he posted tweets harshly critical of the 2014 israeli assault on gaza. Urbanachampaign had come under pressure from donors, students, parents and alumni critical of , salaitas views, with some threatening to withdraw financial support. The move was criticized both in and outside the school, with administrators accused of political censorship. Amy thousands of academics signed petitions calling for professor salaitas reinstatement, and several lecturers canceled appearances at the school in protest. The American Association of University Professors called the schools actions inimical to Academic Freedom and due process. In august, the university of painois urbana shot president resigned in a scandal that involved attempting to hide emails detailing salaitas ouster. Also in august, federal judge allowed for lawsuit filed by professor Steven Salaita against the university to proceed. Were joined now by Steven Salaita, the edward w. Said chair of american studies at the American University of beirut. His book, uncivil rites palestine and the limits of Academic Freedom, has just been published. Also with us his attorney maria lahood. We welcome you both to democracy now professor, talk about these latest developments. What has taken place around your case. Over the summer, there was an entire sort of freedom of information act dont of emails dump of the mills that led to an intensification of the situation that led to the resignation of chancellor wise and her secondincommand, the provost. Amy explain what happened. The emails that were released sort of pointed to a wide range of interests, converging around the issue of my twitter feed, which i find both amusing and mortifying simultaneously. There was donor pressure and there was a conscious effort to circumvent the open records laws, but also a conscious effort to undermine all of the normal processes of faculty governance. Juan there were allegations the chancellor and others at the school were using private email accounts to avoid having their conversations about you and the reaction to you accessible to Public Information request . Amy this is sounding president ial. Exactly. It said in writing, im deleting the emails as i send them. Amy the chancellor was forced to resign. Explain who else. The board also changed . Nobody from the board has resigned. The former chairman of the board of trustees amy Robert Kennedy son . Chairman ofas the the board that presided over a guess my termination last august. He has rotated off. The chancellor and the provost are gone, but the board remains intact. Juan maria lahood, and the status of the lawsuit and the grounds upon which you are pursuing legal action against the university . The professors case against the university is for breach of contract as well as violations of his First Amendment right and do process rights. The university attempted to dismiss it, claiming there was no contract, claiming his tweets were not protected and the court rejected that saying, of course i was a contract. If there wasnt, the academic hiring process as we know it would fail to would cease to exist. Of course, his tweets are protected by the First Amendment. There in the public interest. They were in a public forum. The university acknowledges that it was the tweets are the reason for his termination. Amy are you hoping to come back to the United States and teach at the university of illinois urbanachampaign . The primary concern of the lawsuit. Amy explain what happened. Explain where you are working on the job offer, etc. I was at Virginia Tech will stop i was a tenured english professor and offered the job at the university of illinois. I subsequently signed a contract it the university of illinois countersigned and every thing was set up for me to move and begin my position. Within around a week of my physical move from Virginia Tech one way, i received a termination letter out of nowhere from the chancellor, which sort of through my life into disarray. An this said i did not have income, Health Insurance or place to live. Amy your whole family was moving. Yeah, whole family. We ended up living with my parents. After around a year of going to different places around the country and speaking about the situation, i was offered a oneyear visiting professorship at the university of beirut. That is where i am now. Juan i want to ask about the firestorm this has created an academic circles. Some have come out in support of you. But there was particular professor at university of illinois am a terry nelson, a former leader who basically has supported the university, even though he himself in the past has supported werent sure chill after he was fired by the university of colorado, supported norman single sting when norman has been gone after terms of tenured situation. Your response to professor nelsons stance . It is a fantastic example of what a blind illogical ideological commitment to israel will lead one into. Theade a choice between preservation of Academic Freedom and the preservation of israels reputation, and you chose the. It is no more complicated than that. Amy were you surprised by the level of the response in support of you being allowed to teach at the university of illinois, both at the student level, University Associations . Explain all the levels that came to your defense. And what most surprised you. What most surprised me was the revelations of how many people were working behind the scenes on the University Side to re from this hig happening, to prevent me from coming on campus. That was most surprising. I wasnt expecting this intensity of response. As i wrote in the book, i expected academic trade publications to be interested in this, the people in the fields of American Indian studies, people interested in palestine. Is sort of took off. It signals the fact there is long been a profound frustration with the move towards corporatization happening in universities, and a lot of people see this as a very exquisite point around which they can rally. Demandria lahood, the ultimately of this lawsuit and where it goes from here . And has been a president for someone who has been hired, fired from the university then going back to teach their . First of all, professor Steven Salaita case is unprecedented. The fact he was severely dismissed because of his tweets is unprecedented. The lawsuit seeks his reinstatement, seeks compensation for all of his losses and punitive damages. Emailsve seen with the coming out, the university knew exactly what it was doing, what even before chancellor wise since a termination letter said, well, whoever sent that, im going to be deposed. She knew. They knew what they were doing. I dont want to put all of the blame on her. It wasnt just her who was responsible. The board was also responsible. Amy did in the chancellor say she was caring the water . Kennedy says she was supposed to put forth a united front, but she was doing what the board wanted. The board has sort of skated free and committee himself got an award of courage for leading the charge and firing professor salaita. She is not feel the one responsible. Of thehe revelations email on the firing of the chancellor now, that is going to strengthen your case if it ever comes to trial . Well, i think the fact that all of these emails have come out and they should continue to come out. We are in the middle of discovery now, so we are expecting more documents, more records. We will have depositions. Who knows what more we will find out . Hopefully, the university is in a position where they dont want to just have resignations, but they also want to do justice and actually reinstate professorsalaita. Has documented hundreds of cases of palestinian rights activists in the United States thing harassed, disciplined, fired, sued, threatened for their advocacy around palestine. 85 of these cases targeted students or scholars. Professor, can you talk about this in your own case . It is a stunning report, although, its earnings are not necessarily surprising for those of us who have been involved in issues of palestine advocacy on campus. We know there has long been forms of debt in some cases there is the criminalization. People whose jobs dont get tenured. Students get their chapter shutdown sometimes. It is fantastic and groundbreaking to have a similar document that chronicles some of these incidents. Nearly 300s incidents is less than two years, which is a pretty stunning number. Amy did the chancellor resign or was she fired, by the way . She resigned. But she resigned under a deal in which she was supposed to receive what was allegedly the remainder of her contract amount, but the board rejected. 400,000. She still gets she will still be on a paid sabbatical for a year and get to return to her 200,000 dollars, 300,000 faculty position, unlike professor Steven Salaita. Amy in the timetable of this lawsuit . When would you be back teaching at the university of illinois . Were still engaged in discovery. Amy we want to thank you both for being with us, professor Steven Salaita is now edward w. At said chair of american studies at the American University of beirut. Last year, his job offer from the university of illinois at urbanachampaign was withdrawn after he posted tweets harshly critical of the 2014 israeli assault on gaza. His book, uncivil rites palestine and the limits of Academic Freedom, has just been published. And thank you to maria lahood. That doesnt for the show. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or ma