Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20240621

Came in one day with his soldier. He says, the exact words these cows are dangerous for the security of the state of israel. Amy the film airs this weekend at the Human Rights Watch International Film festival but the thumbs director wont be in attendance. Thats because israel recently deemed him to be a Security Threat and he went to jordan to get a u. S. Visa at u. S. Granted it to him but then said the visa machine was broken. He will join us from ramallah. All that and more, coming up. The top u. S. General says the United States may build more military bases in iraq as part of its escalating campaign against the islamic state. The remarks by chair of the joint chiefs of staff general Martin Dempsey came a day after the white house confirmed plans to deploy up to 450 new u. S. Troops to train and back iraqi forces at a training hub in anbar province. Dempsey said the pentagon is considering establishing more sites and a play even more troops. Saudiled airstrikes have destroyed houses, damaging damaged buildings and killed at least six people in the old quarter of the yemeni capital sanaa, a unesco World Heritage site. Meanwhile, Officials Say another saudiled strike this week hit a public bus on a highway in southern yemen, killing at least 20 passengers. U. N. Backed talks on yemens crisis are scheduled for sunday in geneva. In ohio, a judge has found probable cause to charge a Police Officer with murder for the Fatal Shooting of 12yearold tamir rice last november. Rice was playing with a toy gun when Police Fatally shot him within two seconds of their arrival. The ruling came after Community Leaders in cleveland took the unusual step of appealing directly to the judge, saying they were tired of waiting more than six months with no progress. Well have more after headlines. The police chief in salinas, california has asked a District Attorney to investigate after a bystanders video showed officers beating a man with their batons as he lies on the ground. Jose velascos mother says her son is mentally ill and was having an episode when she called 911. Police say velasco was high on methamphetamine and assaulted his mother. In iowa, a des moines Police Officer has shot and killed an unarmed man who police say was walking with a purpose toward her cruiser. On tuesday night, police say 28yearold ryan Keith Bolinger led officers on a slowspeed chase, and then walked toward officer vanessa millers cruiser. Miller shot him through her drivers side window. In louisiana, a decision to release the longestserving u. S. Prisoner in solitary confinement could come as early as this afternoon. Albert woodfoxs Immediate Release was ordered monday by a federal judge, but delayed when the state appealed to the fifth circuit. Woodfox is a former black panther and member of the angola 3, who insist they were falsely accused because of their political organizing. Of killing a guard. The guards widow, Teenie Rogers issued a statement, calling for woodfoxs release, because she believes he is innocent. She wrote i hope the appeals , court cares about the evidence and cares about justice. The judge has already said this is over. Let it be over. For all of us, she wrote. Albert woodfox has been in solitary confinement for 43 years. The International Monetary fund has recalled its negotiators from greek bailout talks accusing greece of failing to yield on demands for pension cuts. The move puts greece at risk of defaulting on its debts when its current bailout expires at the end of the month. Meanwhile, thousands of greeks rallied against austerity in athens. They cut our salaries and pensions in half. We are supporting our unemployed children were supporting their families. What else must happen so we take to the streets . Amy the former head of the International Monetary fund, dominque strausskahn, has been acquitted of aggravated pimping by a french court. Strausskahn had acknowledged participating in sex parties saying he needed recreational sessions while he was saving the world. He claimed he did not know the women were prostitutes. Some described his behavior as brutal. He was previously accused of assaulting a New York Hotel maid casey settled out of court. A draft United Nations report has found u. N. Peacekeepers routinely trade goods for sex with women in countries like haiti and liberia who are desperate for food and medication. The report details nearly 500 claims of Sexual Exploitation and abuse over several years, a third of them involving children. A federal employees union says hackers obtained personnel files including Social Security numbers for every current and , former federal employee. The Obama Administration has acknowledged records of 4 Million People were stolen, but the American Federation of Government Employees said the breach was larger than officials have publicly admitted. Officials have said it originated in china. Landmark rules to uphold a free and open internet go into effect today. The rules issued by the federal Communications Commission prevent corporate Internet Service providers like comcast from blocking access to websites or providing paid fast lanes for Internet Service. The companies had asked a court to block the rules while they appeal, but the court denied the request. Oregon Governor Kate Brown has signed into law a landmark measure expanding access to Birth Control. The law makes oregon the first state in the country to require Insurance Companies to cover a years worth of Birth Control at once, rather than forcing women to renew their supply every 30 to 90 days. Supporters say it could decrease unintended pregnancy by 30 . Rupert murdoch is poised to hand the reins of his media empire to his son. Murdoch, who is 84, will reportedly name his son james the new chief executive of 21st century fox, a multibilliondollar company which includes fox news. Murdoch will remain executive chairman. Puerto rican leaders are protesting the Obama Administrations unveiling of deep cuts to puerto ricos medicare program. As democracy nows Juan Gonzalez reports in the new york daily news, the cuts will mean a loss 300 million annually to puerto ricos government and healthcare system, which are both on the brink of collapse puerto rican leaders plan to protest the cuts at this sundays puerto rican day parade in new york city. Here in new york, the culture jamming activist group the yes men protested shells plans to drill for oil in the artic by handing out ancient shaved ice from the remnantsf from the remnants of the last icebergs of the north pole. Mike bonnano and Andy Bichlbaum described the action. This action is against drilling in the arctic. Shell is just getting ready now to launch their drilling rigs from seattle up into the arctic to exploit it for the first time. Were just try to make it more visible and this is a funny way to make it visible but light humor. And they like snow cones. So those two things combined seem to provide a sure recipe for letting people know. Amy the legendary jazz musician d composer Ornette Coleman has died at the age of 85. Coleman changed the language of jazz music, pioneering a new sound known as free jazz. In 2006, i interviewed one of his closest friends, the late jazz bassist charlie haden, who described how he first heard Ornette Coleman play at a club called the hague. They tell him to come up. He got his alto. It was the white plastic alto saxophone. He started to play in the whole room lit up. It was so brilliant. As soon as he started to play they asked him to stop. So he put the horn back in the case and started out the back door. Amy why did they ask him to stop . s music was completely different than traditional jazz. It was free improvisation. It was his way of improvising. It was improvising and creating a new cord structure to a song you are playing. That is the way he played. Amy thats charlie haden, who died last year. Ornette coleman died thursday of cardiac arrest in new york city. He was 85 years old. And the documentary filmmaker, publisher, journalist, and activist ellen ray has died at the age of 75. Ray was a copublisher of the magazine covert action Information Bulletin which exposed cia covert actions around the world, publishing the names of hundreds of cia agents. As a result, the law changed making it illegal. As head of Sheridan Square press, she published the memoir of new orleans District Attorney jim garrison, which became the basis of oliver Stones Academy Award Winning movie, jfk. Ellen ray is survived by her husband. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. A judge in ohio has found probable cause to charge a Police Officer with murder for the Fatal Shooting of 12yearold tamir rice last november. On thursday, judge Ronald Adriane of the Cleveland Municipal Court said there are grounds to prosecute officer Timothy Loehmann with murder manslaughter, and reckless homicide. The ruling came after Community Leaders in cleveland took the unusual legal step on tuesday of appealing directly to the judge to commence prosecution of the officer, saying they were tired of waiting over six months without any progress on the case. In a court filing, the Community Activists invoked a rare ohio law that allows citizens to ask judges for charges, bypassing police and prosecutors. Church pastor Jawanza Colvin was one of the eight who signed the affidavit. He told reporters that citizens are seeking justice themselves. We believe officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback cause the death of tamir rice in deeds that were unconscionable, the principal and criminal. So today as citizens, we are taking this matter in the matter of justice into our hands, using the tools of democracy as an instrument to ensure that every person, regardless of the race, religion, sex, orientation social class or profession, is ensured that their rights as victims come citizens, and human beings are respected in the courts and throughout society. Amy last year, tamir rice was playing with a toy gun at a playground when police pulled up and fatally shot him within two seconds of their arrival. They failed to provide medical help and tackled tamirs sister to the ground as she tried to help him. Handcuffed her and put her in the cruiser. Investigators recently submitted their findings in the case. Last month, cleveland agreed to increased racial bias training and tough limits on the use of police force after a federal probe uncovered a pattern of unlawful abuses. Meanwhile, a cleveland judge recently acquitted a white Police Officer who fired 49 shots at two unarmed africanamericans in their vehicle. For more, we go now to cleveland, ohio where were joined by Walter Madison. He is a lawyer for tamir rices family who filed the affidavits. And were also joined by Rhonda Williams, the director of the social Justice Institute at Case Western Reserve University. Shes one of the eight Community Activists who signed the affidavits in tamir rices case. Shes also a member of the collaborative for a safe, fair, and just cleveland and the author of, concrete demands the search for black power in the 20th century. Walter madison and Rhonda Williams, thank you for joining us. Walter madison, lets start with you. Can you explain what the legal avenue you pursued was, rather than waiting for a prosecutor in the case to bring charges . Well, it is a very fundamental concept of citizens for dissipating. In ohio, they have that right. There are few and there states there are few handful of states that share citizen participation rights. At its core, it is the most american thing ive seen in my life. What the government and any person would want is their people to be engaged, the involved with a system to that engagement, the citizen can realize and see transparency in the administration of justice. When you have that, what you develop is trust. And that is the very that is at the core of the problem in this country at this moment between africanamericans and lawenforcement. They dont trust their system. And they are authoritarians. Therefore, theres no legitimacy in their orders and or their version of justice. If you can increase that, then you will have people who are more willing to be obedient to law enforcement. When you have obedient citizens you can avoid the fuselage of 137 bullets fired into the vehicle at two unarmed citizens. That is just a of lack of trust. The low the law in ohio essentially says any person with knowledge of a felony can of your this accident affidavit and presented directly to a judge. In a judge and experienced jurist can invite with the affidavit and make the determination of probable cause. There is nothing elaborate, nothing circumvent theres no circumvention here. This is not anarchy. This is just law. Amy what does this mean exactly a coat is the officer charged . It means the people have been hurt and vindicated and validated by the seniormost judge in cleveland, ohio. The judge has been on the bench and study 81 and regarded highly as dust since 1981 and regarded highly. His record, reputation, and service to the community is beyond reproach. He, too, is a public servant. He heard the people. He has offer transparency in his opinion that you all have now suggesting that another Public Servants set of charges be brought. This is how our system works. I suppose what we are witnessing based upon statements i have read is a reluctance to simply follow the law. Anyone, if theres any group of individuals being anarchists and unamerican, it would appear to be our Public Servants, i. E. The prosecutor, if they sued should choose not to obey. The keyword is obey the judges recommendation. Amy he has a this recommendation. What happens next . We are going to wait and see exactly what happens next. Quite frankly, the world, the International Community is watching what the cleveland municipal prosecutors will do. They are Public Servants. They serve the people. Any people, when they arrest or make charges for any other citizen, they do so in the name of the people and the peace and dignity of the state of ohio. When their conduct is outside of the law, we have every right to bring that conduct to the attention of a judge and ask that charges be brought. So we shall see if they respect the law themselves, and we will take the appropriate steps at this point that is all the cleveland eight and myself at this point can say. We have done nothing but follow the law. Amy Rhonda Williams, what was your reaction when you heard the judges recommendation . We were very pleased that judge a dream come probable cause to bring these charges. Right now we dont have the charges. We are asking for the charges. Were asking for the arrest, asking for the system to move this forward in an expeditious and reasonable way. We are asking for everyone to have their right in a transparent, accountable Court Judicial system. So we were pleased. It we are not giddy. We dont think the struggle is over. We know there is a long road to achieve justice and a sense of justice. We are eagerly awaiting what is going to happen. Amy and how did you discover this rarely used ohio law . I was called i received a phone call, please, come here im a, what we have in mind a call by a colleague of mine, by pastor colvin, some of the other eight. Joe worthy was part of this, and little, rachel smith, pastor vernon. We came together and we listened. As we learned more, we asked questions. What does this mean . What opportunities does this give us . What kind of letter to does it afford as . So we said yes, we have been waiting more than six months. We want to see this move forward. We want to see some progress. We want to see it in the criminal Justice System with all its flaws. We know the criminal Justice System is not perfect. We know there is racial and other kinds of inequalities embedded in the criminal Justice System, but we want to see it move forward. We want to see it in a transparent and accountable way. We want to be able to follow the case. We want to see the case tried in court and not in the grand jury process. Which often happens sometimes. So we were excited to hear about this opportunity to take control, to take leverage to the law and be able to apply that law and apply our rights as citizens to speak out and say we want to see something happen. The critical thing here is citizen engagement. Citizen input. And we have been told all along in this process from november to now and even before because of the u. S. Department of justice Findings Report in cleveland, which establishes a broader context, that Community Must be a mage engaged. We have to provide the space for community to be really involved in invested and have leverage the decisionmaking power in the way the committal Justice System operates and the Police Reforms and transformation of culture and relationship to africanamerican communities and to the Police Department and other communities as well. Amy i want to ask about the record of the officer. Reports have emerged the officer responsible for tamir rices death officer Timothy Loehmann, was deemed unfit for Police Service over two years ago when he worked in the suburb of independence. A letter from a superior specifically criticizes loehmanns performance in firearms training, saying he could not follow simple directions, could not communicate clear thoughts nor recollections, and his handgun performance was dismal. Meanwhile, officer Frank Garmback, the officer who was driving the Police Cruiser when tamir rice was killed, also has a troubled history. Cleveland reportedly paid out 100,000 earlier this year to a City Resident named tamela eaton to settle an Excessive Force lawsuit brought against officer garmback. The settlement stemmed from a 2010 confrontation in which eaton said garmback rushed her and placed her in a chokehold, tackled her to the ground, twisted her wrist and began hitting her body. Walter madison now, officer garmback was the judge did not recommend him in a charge against him, is that right . Only against officer loehmann, the man who pulled the trigger on tamir rice . That is not correct. There are two recommendations for arrest for mr. Garmback for negligent homicide as well as dereliction of duty. It is interesting you point out their records because we have seen and heard a lot of victim blaming of a 12yearold child. It is quite puzzling to me because you have a 12yearold can only see the world through its eyes. I hardly doubt the 12yearold can appreciate the danger of a toy gun. Those are adult considerations, adult repercussions. So the more fair criticism would live with these officers who received hundreds of hours of training, they are adults Seasoned Police veterans. They should have the experience an Emotional Intelligence to understand the gate, the behavior, the posture of a child. In particular, outside of a recreation center, that weekly has saturday morning programming for adolescent children. Not even children, their adolescent children. So that is just a lack of concern and engagement by the officers in that particular community, which ultimately comes right back to the Relationship Building and the lack of trust. There are a number of contextual clues that wouldve suggested this was just a 12yearold boy. Amy and what is happening with tamir rices family right now . His 14yearold sister, his mother . Where are they living . How are they being taken care of . The mother is stable at the moment. Naturally, tamirs sister is having troubles come as any sibling would come having watched and separation anxiety watched her brother die helplessly, with a window seat. Tamir has a father. This is his first fathers day without his firstborn son. This was his mothers first mothers day without her baby boy. You can only imagine how they feel about having to put away a 12yearold child. Words cant begin to explain that. I hear the concern and the sentiment of officers good officers, concerned about the general characterization of them all being that officers. I do empathize with them, but i dont think for a moment they are paying theyre paying matches that of apparent. Amy i want to thank you for being with us, Walter Madison lawyer for tamir rices family. And Rhonda Williams director of , the social Justice Institute at Case Western Reserve University and one of the 8 Community Activists who signed the affidavits in tamir rices case. We will be back in a moment. What happens when a prisoner goes from complete solitary to complete freedom . Stay with us. [music break] amy almost free, by sarah quintana, a new orleans artist who was a pen pal with the late herman wallace, member of the angola 3 who was held in solitary confinement for more than 40 years. He died three days after his release from prison in louisiana last october. In our next segment, well talk more about the last member of the angola 3 who could be freed as early as today. Yes, this is democracy now , im amy goodman. The release of former black Panther Albert woodfox, the longestserving u. S. Prisoner in solitary confinement, could come as early as this afternoon. On monday, a federal judge ordered louisiana to immediately release woodfox, who is now 68 years old and was first placed in solitary in 1972 after he was charged in the murder of a prison guard. Woodfox is a member of the angola 3, and a former black panther who says he was falsely accused of killing i prison guard because of his political organizing. Despite the judges extraordinary ruling, woodfoxs release was delayed when louisiana appealed to the fifth circuit. Meanwhile, here in new york, hundreds of people rallied outside a manhattan jail last night to remember Kalief Browder. In 2010, at the age of 16, he was arrested after being accused of stealing a backpack. He would spend three years in new york citys Rikers Island jail, more than two of those years in solitary confinement. After a judge finally dismissed the case against him and he was released, he had refused repeated offers a plea bargain saying he wanted to go to court of prove his innocence browder , tried to reclaim his life. He went to Community College but in the end, the nightmare he lived through overwhelmed him. This past saturday, twelve days after his 22nd birthday, Kalief Browder wrapped an airconditioner power cord around his neck and hanged himself. According to the new york daily news, browder killed himself just days before he was scheduled to appear in court on charges described by his lawyer as baseless. Nationwide, the department of justice estimates that about 80,000 prisoners are in solitary confinement. Today we look at a new investigation by the Marshall Project and npr that reveals prisons are sending thousands of people directly from solitary confinement back into their communities with almost no help or preparation. In the state of texas, for example, only 14 of prisoners in the general prison population were released without supervision. But for those sent home from solitary confinement, that number rose to 63 . Many wound up homeless or back in prison. For more, we are joined by two guests. Christie thompson is a staff writer at the Marshall Project. Her new story is headlined from solitary to the street what happens when prisoners go from complete isolation to complete freedom in a day . Also with us is five mualimmak a human rights and Prison Reform advocate and founder of incarcerated nation collective a collective of previously incarcerated people. He was formerly incarcerated and spent 11 years in new yorks prison system for criminal weapons possession and other charges. During that time, he was held in solitary confinement for a total of five years. Welcome both of you to democracy now i want to begin with you christie thompson. Talk about what you found. What i and npr set out to do was find out how often prisons were taking someone from solitary confinement where they are locked down 23 hours a day, almost no human contact, and then releasing them the very next day back to their families. We reached out to all 50 directions department account in 21st day year, over 10,000 people were sent straight from segregation back to the community. What was even more striking is 26 states and the federal bureau of prisons actually could not tell us how often that was happening. We talk to many people who had had his experience. What was interesting without was how similar the stories were. They had a fear of crowds, difficulties to limit anger and anxiety. Like you mentioned, many in several states, these people are more likely to be released without any supervision. In many ways the prisoners that be the most help and support after coming home from prison are actually getting the least. Amy what trouble did you have in gathering data . As anyone who has dealt with solitary confinement notes states to find how these segregation very differently. And they track it very differently. Some states could only give us the number of people that were held in what is known as the minister to segregation, which are cells they use for allegedly members of people dating a threat to security. People they deem threat to security. Others, be a disciplinary or allegedly protected segregation for the inmates own safety. We cannot really compare the numbers. 26 states said, we dont keep track of that data. It would cost us thousands to provide it to you. So that was a real problem is that many states just did not know. Amy can you tell us the story of mark and brian . Mark spent a lot of time with his mother sarah garcia in austin. He first entered the criminal Justice System when he was 14 for armed robbery. Even when he was in juvenile detention, psychologist recognized marquette a long history of Mental Illness, anger issues, emotional disturbance and is our colleges that this is someone who really needs intensive treatment velasco street by skills training. He was moved to an adult prison at 17 and quickly ended up in a segregation unit because his cellmate told guards he was threatening to run away. Marks family talked about how they really watched him, even though hed always had these issues deteriorate even further, he was there because the prison thought he was going to escape and they held him until the day of his release. In july, mark came out of prison having the last 2. 5 years without any human contact basically, sitting by himself in a cell, and his mother said she felt that they like relief, she thought things were going to get better, she can start helping her son. But for many that is when the problems began. Amy at a Senate Hearing psychologist and solitary confinement expert dr. Craig haney talked about how inmates may have trouble adjusting to life after solitary confinement. One of the very serious psychological consequences of placing people in solitary confinement for long times is that it renders many people incapable of living anywhere else. In other words, you have to transform themselves. Or ways of acting and thinking and relating to themselves as well as the world. Premise on the assumption they will not be around other human beings. And they actually get to the point where they find it is frightening to be around other people. Many of the people i work with to come out of solitary confinement and go either into mainline prisons or come out into free society will talk about being anxious, overcome overwhelmed with anxiety when they are around other human beings because they become accustomed to being isolated or being. Amy that is dr. Craig haney testified before the senate. Exonerated texas death row inmate also testified at this 2012 hearing. He spoke about the selfmutilation. Out by prisoners in solitary confinement. A warning to our listeners and viewers, this is very graphic. I watched men literally self mutilate themselves. They have to be put on razor restrictions because they will cut their own throat their own wherever they can cut on their body. Just in front of you and cut themselves. In this one man in particular i watched do this, they took him to what they call the psychiatric ward. A few days later, he hung himself. All because of the conditions. There is a man sitting on texas death row right now who is housed in solitary confinement pulled his eye out and swallowed it. All because of the conditions. Solitary confinement dehumanizes us all. Amy anthony graves testifying before the senate at this 2012 hearing. We are joined also by five mualimmak. You spent close to five years in solitary confinement here in new york. Talk about your experience, why you would be put in solitary confinement. Does what anthony graves describe ring true for you, these horrific circumstances . Yes. He also brought the connection of death row, people can find come into normal people can find , how similar they are. And solitary, you experience a few things. Sensory deprivation and human validation is missing. How to rereceive information we receive information . We are very social creatures. Solitary deprives you of that. There is no skills to use, so you dont use that. The most egregious punishment, because we think of the Hannibal Lecters of the world, we have to keep these people confined or they will jump up and bite your face off. That is not true. The report reveals five other six were for nondisciplinary infractions. The disciplinary infractions are based on your behavior. People with Mental Illness who behave outright or higher in there. I found over the years, the solitude brought more damage to my everyday actions and how i relate to other people, how do i talk. Remembering how to smile and a person looks at you or the importance of someone hearing you are not paying attention to you and rages you, the point of being ignored and rages you. And then they drop you off in times square, you have spiderman fighting the statue of liberty and thousands of people, documentation or social skills. 50 of people who commit suicide, we suffer from depression. If you cant take her life because you are restricted from it, now that you are free, those options are a little different. And the warning signs. Theres split of opportunity to see warning finds signs. Those were ignored, like the case in kalief. Totally ignored he was hearing voices. That is a form of schizophrenia. I suffer from that and so does my son. It is a different form when you are isolated in a box and then allowed into the loudest city in the world. It is a different form of attack. People live with these invisible scars every day struggle. Write down the block from here three people committed suicide coming home directly from solitary. This is something if we dont address, we are never going to end incarceration. Amy last year interviewed lance lowry, president of afscme local 3807 of the texas correctional employees, the union which represents texas prison employees. The guards. He explained why he had written an open letter to texas prison officials, calling on them to reduce the use of solitary confinement. Any place someone in solitary, you lose a lot of management control over that person. Theres not much more you can do. Correcting bad behavior at that point it is not a positive step. You dont have the steps and the ability to correct negative behavior, plus you have the aspects of industries increased exacerbation of Mental Health issues. I have seen offenders cut on themselves, go to the point of even rubbing feces on themselves due to the rapid deterioration. There is no sensory stimulation in these cells and that creates a major problem. Amy this is very interesting. He is head of the union that represents the guards. It is an impairment that affects everyone. You cant just say that Public Safety for these people incarcerated or the community that is negligent at the returning or the lack of training or therapy or even sympathetic support for these people coming out. It also, who is trapped in the informant while these people are going to these emotions . They do sentences 10 to 20 years, and they go through social emotions because they are trained not to keep eye contact, trained not to call people by their name but by numbers to recognize them as bodies. These people are trained because if you are human and you look at the person is a human and you call them as a recognizable name, not a convict, but a person incarcerated, it would cause you to reflect on yourself and treatment you would want to receive. Amy how are you organizing people not only coming under prisons, but helping people coming from solitary to . We try to monitor those inside and help them in starting the process. That is the problem. There is no connection, no phone call so you cannot properly prepare for your own release. People previously incarcerated now, possess all the positions of reentry in the state. But my coworker, a safe reentry advocate, and other words, helping people with Mental Illness Reenter Society because he has been through it. We have created a reentry advocate for men and women and supported by those who have been to the experience, know the hearts kind of the lack of programs, no chronic homelessness excludes you from being able to be housed when you come out. Youre not even considered homeless. So these laws have to change. Until then, we have to support those and we create projects to support but also guide. We need psychological when people come home that day, not make it to parole by 5 00, not somehow navigate through the entire new york system and go get your services in queens of the end by the airport. We have to treat people like humans. Meet them when they come out of the train station and help them to the psychological care and help they need, not just one day, but continuing afterward. Amy im just curious, five mualimmak, if you have opinions on the two prisoners that escaped from the when correctional facility . Clinton is a monster facility. It is the most historical torture speeding there. It is a place that is so far away amy Something Like 3000 prisoners. It is so far away, we tried to help a visiting program. We have a video visit project. But this is a facility that is historically known for its abuse, has not had ability. They have cameras in certain areas that are not necessary, so it is not a place that is totally countable in its own construction accountable in its own construction. It is like half an hour from canada. There actually was some good programs. There was rages ventral residential programs. We have 57. 7 Million People who suffer from Mental Illness in this country and we do nothing to train the officers who care for people every day. Amy christie thompson, you broke what about the direction of corrections who himself and into solitary confinement. He is worked a lot on addressing the issue of people coming straight from solitary confinement back to their community because there was a tragic case in colorado and which someone who was accidentally paroled early from a segregation unit where he had spent years completely by himself and actually had written grievances to the prison sang, dont you have some obligation to prepare me to come out to the world, if you allegedly think im so dangerous that i cant be among other inmates, how can i be on the streets among other people . He was accidentally released and ended up murdering the former head of the colorado prisons department. So after that, there has been zero people that have been released straight from solitary in colorado since march of last year. There created new programs and new units. When i was interviewing rick, he sounded like he became very aware of what solitary can do to someone after spending only 20 hours by himself in a cell. Amy i want to thank you both for being with us, powerful testimony today, and we will link to your article at democracynow. Org. Christie thompson is a staff writer at the Marshall Project. Her new story is headlined from solitary to the street what happens when prisoners go from complete isolation to complete freedom in a day . And thank you too, five mualimmak, a human rights and Prison Reform advocate, and founder of incarcerated nation collective, a collective of previously incarcerated people. He was imprisoned himself spent , 11 years in new yorks prison prison system, and during that time, he was held in solitary confinement for a total of five years. When we come back, we go to ramallah on the west bank to speak with the film director who was supposed to be here in new york at Lincoln Center for the premiere of his film saturday night at the Human Rights Watch International Film festival. We will learn about israel and the United States role in preventing him from being present. Stay with us. [music break] amy dancing in your head, by Ornette Coleman. The pioneering jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman has died at the age of 85. You can go to our website to see our interview about coleman with one of his closest musical associates, the bassist charlie haden, who died last year. This is democracy now democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. The annual Human Rights Watch International Film festival isin new york city the one of its featured directors wont be able to attend his films u. S. Premier on saturday night. Thats because israel recently deemed palestinian filmmaker amer shomali a Security Threat and prevented him from traveling to jerusalem to obtain a u. S. Visa. Then he went to jordan where the u. S. Did approve his visa, but said the visa machine was broken. So could not issue it. Amer shomali had previously attended half a dozen european festivals without incident and his film has drawn international acclaim. Interestingly, the film shows how israel has historically tried to undermine any form of palestinian nonviolent resistance by branding such resistance as dangerous and threatening. The film is called, the wanted 18 and it recreates an astonishing true story from the first palestinian intifada when the israeli army pursued 18 cows. Thats right, cows. Whose independent milk production on a palestinian collective farm was declared a threat to the National Security of the state of israel. This is the films trailer. Early in 1988, [indiscernible] agreed to sell the town my cows. Lola and then there was goldie. We as palestinians, we deserve to have our home, our land, our freedom and deserve to have cows. For me as a teenager at that time it was about the fun and proving that we can stop israeli cars and vans and products coming into our city. The governor came with his soldiers. He said, and i quote the exact words, these cows are dangerous for the security of the state of israel. I cant understand how 18 cows can be dangerous for the security of the state of israel. [indiscernible] we had a full life. Complete, i would say. Amy that is an excerpt of the wanted 18 which will premiere saturday night at Lincoln Center for the walter reed theater at 6 30. The guest are now being joined with from ramallah, was supposed to be there to speak about his film after he premieres, amer shomali, the director of the wanted 18. Hes a palestinian filmmaker and visual artist. And here in new york, were joined by julia bacha, a longtime documentary filmmaker who has worked in israel and palestine for the last decade. Shes the creative director of just vision and currently working on distribution for the wanted 18. We welcome you both. Amer shomali, why arent you here here in new york . Can you explain what happened . High, thanks for having me today. Basically, applied for an american visa at the american consulate in jerusalem. In order to get to jerusalem you need to cross the main checkpoint blocking the road between ramallah where i live in jerusalem where the american consulate is. And to get that permit, you need to apply to the israeli army. I was rejected for security reasons. It is not a special case i tens of thousands of young palestinians who are labeled as a Security Threat to the state of israel. It is quite frustrating. Jerusalem is just 25 minutes away from here, from the studio like 10 minutes, but he still cant reach gimmick to see in jerusalem does not offer any facilities even if you sneak in illegally without a permit, they will ask you, where is the permit e . Amy but you went to many different film festivals i believe i toured the whole world, but not new york. Hopefully, soon. Amy continue with what you are saying. I crossed the main border to jerusalem many times. Im not really a Security Threat. Amy say he went sorry, we have a four second delay between new york and rommel off ramallah, making the conversation more difficult than if you are right here with us. So you did not go to jerusalem you went to oman. What happened there at u. S. Embassy. Explain what happened there at u. S. Embassy. I believe u. S. Embassy in oman had good intentions, but something went wrong with the system, so i did not at the visa yet. I am waiting to stamp my visa. Obviously, i will miss the first screening but i will have other screenings and new york and l. A. , hopefully, im going to catch those. I want to go to another clip of the film the wanted 18. Deced as a whole we need to boycott the israeli project. It comes from an israeli company. We wanted to produce a project that would produce the milk needed by our children and the population. A group of people thought why would we have cows wouldnt we have cows to make milk available from a local source instead of buying milk from israel . [indiscernible] in the intifada in 1987. This is my town. Those are my people. 10,000 people who gave israel amy thats go to another clip from the film. This is about the first intifada stop the film, the wanted 18. The military governor came one day with his soldiers threw the farm through the farm. Tagging each cow with a number on its body. And he told us that we have to remove the cows and get rid of them. I asked him why. He said, and i quote the exact words, these cows are dangerous for the security of the state of israel. I told him, i cant understand how can 18 cows be dangerous for the security of the state of israel . That is very strange. Amy from the wanted 18. These are 18 cows. Amer shomali, you directed this film with paul callan, who also wrote it. You lived in a refugee camp in syria, but learned of this story. Why did you feel it was important to tell the story today . I feel young palestinians and young arabs in general nowadays are faced with two options. One of them is to accept to be an absolute victim of the Israel Occupation for capitalism. Or to join isis, for example. I tried to show example that happened in the first intifada in the late 1980s, where again generation could manage to take action and decide what they want to do with their lives. It is highlighting the moment where we as palestinians new we wanted to do. And we had a third option, to choose a better future. I think this is important film, especially for young palestinians cant to see and respect themselves again. Amy you said the u. S. Embassy had good intentions, but that technical difficulties to give you your visa to come here for the premier. What were the technical difficulties . I have no idea, something with the system. I dont know. I have no idea. But they were smiling when they said that, so i believe they had good intentions. Amy do you have any thought that you might be of to make it in the next few days, although you wont be here for the premier . No. No no, i wont be at the premier, but i will be at the next screening, hopefully, maybe, on the 19th. Amy julie bacha, youre the impact producer of this film. The significance, especially for the Radio Audience you cannot see the claymation, the illustration of the cows, it is painful to talk about this as a hilarious film, but there are parts where youre holding your sides. We believe the film has the possibility of opening the conversation for people who might be feeling fatigued and helpless about this issue and humor opens that way. We really want communities particularly here in the United States, to start thinking about what are the stories we are hearing from the region and what are the stories about resistance that arrived to us. Historically, we have until the palestinians heavily used violence to achieve their aims when in fact, theres a very long history of civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance, which this film is one example of. And for amer to be able to tell the story with some humor, we hope we will be up to attract more people to join. Ame amy r, since you cant be here to directly address the audience on saturday nine, what message do you have for those who watch or are weighing whether to watch the wanted 18 . Quirks i think you see a different face of palestinians and a new take, new point of view, which is the cows point of view. It is crazy, but still today and same things happening in palestine under the label of security, Security Threat. For example, nowadays, as palestinians, we are not allowed to have 3g network on our mobile. We dont have internet on all mobile because they said having a frequency for the palestinians is a Security Threat. Everything can be a Security Threat. Like digging a well for water in the palestinian cities is a Security Threat. Everything can be labeled as a Security Threat, which is a valid excuse. Amy we have five seconds. Quirks like traumatized People Living under paranoid army control amy amer shomali, we have to say im here with my granddaughter, shorey and my daughter, claudine. Turkey is not just for thanksgiving. Its lean, tasty and sometime overlooked. I did this one just for you and taste it. I did it just like i do veal. Oh, wow. Papa, this is delicious. How did you make it . Well, this is how i did it. Take a skinless turkey breast and trim off the large sinew here. You want it completely clean. And now slice it into thin steak you can cut at an angle into large steak about about 4 to 5 ounce each. Now season the meat with salt and freshly ground pepper on both side. To cook the turkey, pour the oil from a can of anchovies into a very large sautee pan about 12 inches